Embracing The Darkness - Igniting The Light

I send you Solstice Greetings

From me to you.

We are in the solstice time of the Earth -- the shortest night in the Northern hemisphere and the longest night in the Southern hemisphere. And a few days ago we had a full moon.

During solstices and equinoxes as well as full-moon times, the cycles of energetic intensity increase -- a lot! We have a tendency to experience more challenges and perhaps go a little wacky. Cultures across the planet and probably for eons have established celebrations, festivals, and other types of ceremonies to help us humans cope with the ENERGY.

Honoring Our Darkest Hour

The Wilderness

The wilderness is an area of land that has been largely undisturbed by modern human development. Were people are going to take refugee and go back to source. Wilderness areas usually lack roads, buildings, and other artificial structures.

We have lived with nature for thousands of years. Because of human population growth and development, many wilderness areas are threatened. The effects of human interaction with wilderness areas can be direct, such as a campfire or freezing creek.

The Winter Solstice

Early humans kept track of the days by observing the Sun as it “moved” across the sky and cast shadows during the day and at different times of the year.

The Winter Solstice has played an important role in cultures worldwide from ancient times until today. In fact, many of the customs, lore, symbols, and rituals associated with the holiday seasons across many spiritualties and religions are actually associated with winter solstice celebrations.

The Shadow

The shadow is simply the dark side of someone's personality. And what is dark is always known only indirectly through the light that they also shine. That is, one discovers their dark side as something belonging to others: friends, relatives, fictitious characters, etc. This is why the meeting with the personal shadow is considered to be a moral effort. The importance to integrate the shadow is huge.

Courage is calling. Some would say it’s good that it’s hard, that it deters the people that don’t want to look inside.

The Call to you on this day?

How do you honor both the light in you and the darkness?

What do you do to exercise both these energies within you? What physical exercises, psychological inquiry, emotional expression, and spiritual ritual do you harness?

Go out and connect to this time, this experience.

Dr. Ryan Westrum is a clinical psychologist and licensed marriage family therapist that specializes in healing spiritual emergency, psychedelic experiences and all things experiential. Contact Ryan at healingsoulsllc.com or ryan@healingsoulsllc.com