Pellucid.

I woke up in the middle of the night, and felt the silence of the world. It was Solstice Eve; the night before the shortest day of the year.

Pellucid. The word came to mind. I knew it described what I felt, but had to look it up to find its meaning – transparently clear.

I got up; went to the bathroom, made tea, fed the cats. I got into a quiet state – just letting my mind go calm.

What came next was a section from a book that Alicja Jones, a highly gifted intuitive and healer, is writing – Own Your Power: 365 Meditations to Becoming Your Higher Self.

Alicja devotes her March 23 Meditation to the notion of stillpoint.

With each breath we take, there is a slight hesitation, a fraction of a second in between each breath in and each breath out. That point of hesitation, the point where the breath changes direction, that fraction of a second is called the stillpoint.

We model our experience of the stillpoint after the Creator’s experience, only cosmic time is not on the same scale as human time. The stillpoint – this fraction of a second in cosmic time – lasts approximately twenty years and seven months as measured in human years, according to the teachings from the spiritual realms. We are currently in this period called stillpoint. It is happening right now, having started on 5/5/92 and slated to end on 12/12/12, after which time the reversal period begins, the out breath of God.

During stillpoint, creation goes into a “void.” Just as we shift energetically, from in breath to out breath, so does the Earth shift energetically…

The in breath of the Creator – the period we have been in for millennium after millennium – is accompanied by thoughts of separation. However, the out breath brings with it thoughts of unification and agreement with the Oneness of all life. In addition, the out breath, which starts after 12/12/12, brings with it thoughts of peace, harmony, joy, and assistance for those less fortunate.

We each need to do our part in helping the planet, by working to upgrade the layer of thought forms surrounding it; the “collective unconscious.”

During this period of stillpoint, we are told to breathe deeply every chance we get. Our breath links us to the Prime Creator; to the Source, Pure Love, Pure Essence, to Spirit!

We have the cosmic stillpoint, of which Alicja writes. We have our personal breathing stillpoint.

There is yet another – the stillpoint of the calendar year.

Twice a year – during the solstices – the Earth pauses in her energy cycle.

We note the Winter Solstice with the Twelve Days of Christmas – which used to be the Twelve Days of Solstice – so called because with ancient measurement tools, it took twelve days to measure that the days were getting discernibly longer.

Just now, we are entering into the darkest time – the most quiet time – of the year.

The Earth is getting ready to begin an expansion cycle, and we will do the same with her.

Come February – right about Candlemas (Feb. 1st) – we’ll have a surge of energy, and will be excited about spring cleaning. If we’ve created intentions about exercise or changing our diet, these will be easy to implement with the new energy. And come March (especially, around Vernal Equinox), we’ll feel the course of springtime energy running through us as the Earth wakes up, leaves appear, and flowers start to bloom.

Right now, though, is our quiet time.

Honoring Ourselves by Honoring the Quiet Time of the Year

Honoring this quiet moment of Winter Solstice is a way of honoring ourselves.

We are at the transition between two major archetypes right now; both powerful, and both feminine.

We have just completed our Isis/Empress archetype. Isis is the great nurturing goddess.

Doesn’t it feel right, somehow, that our two major end-of-year holidays are about nurturing? Between Samhain (Oct. 31st) and just a few days after Winter Solstice (Dec. 21st), we have our two most loving, nurturing, and feeling-oriented holidays. These are also the ones where we take vacation time and travel to be with those whom we love.

As the end of Isis’s season approaches, we have a compelling drive to connect emotionally. We write Christmas cards and shop for gifts. We host parties and go to gatherings. We bake and roast our most luscious, densely-sweet recipes of the year. We revel in emotional warmth, even as the days grow shorter and colder.

This is not just a natural rebellion against the approaching dark.

Rather, it is our intrinsic – very deep and subliminal – acknowledgement that this is a season of love.

Why Is This So Difficult?

The Season of Isis – the season of love, nurturance, and emotional connection – transitions during the Winter Solstice to the Season of the High Priestess.

This is a huge shift.

When we are in our Isis mode, we want to bond and connect. We crave warmth and companionship.

As we move into our High Priestess mode, though, we naturally and innately enter into a different way of being.

Whereas Isis is all about feeling, our High Priestess is much more emotionally neutral.

In our Isis mode, we move directly into emotionally-warm situations – or even those that we think should be warm, but are sometimes fraught with tensions.

In our High Priestess mode, we are more detached. We observe without becoming caught up in the observations.

Where our Isis wants to cuddle, our High Priestess is content to sit quietly by the fire, and let her mind open to receiving insight and wisdom.

Governed by our Isis mode, we commit too much – time, energy, and emotional resources.

Right now, our inner High Priestess is calling us to withdraw.

Lesson One: Allow Yourself to Step Back a Little

Falling in love with yourself – during the darkest time of the year – means honoring your need for withdrawal. Both your body and your psyche now require some quiet time.

Take a look at your schedule and your remaining commitments.

Be ruthless.

What can you prune out? What can you simplify? What can you postpone?

Right now, your most important goal is to create time for yourself.

Within the next eleven days, you will use this time – even (and perhaps especially) if you are not visibly doing something.

This is the time of year when we are called to be, not to do.

Doing will come later.

Much love – as you enter this season of loving not just others, but yourself –

with love and laughter- Alay’nya

P.S. It’s not necessarily a bad thing if your body wants to sleep a bit more. This is what mammals do at this time of year.

Think of yourself as a great big Mama-Bear who just wants to hibernate. Or rather, eat warm and yummy foods, have something hot (and perhaps slightly alcoholic) to drink, and then take a nap.

If this is what your body wants to do; go with it.

Cut your commitments to the absolute bare-bones minimum, and let yourself sleep a bit more.

It’s hard to fall in love, with yourself or with anyone else, when you’re sleep-deprived.

The first step of falling in love with yourself is to adequately care for yourself. Then, we can get a little deeper.

Have a good nap, dearest one!

Jump-Ahead

Did you just join us?

Thank you!

I’m thrilled that you’re here.

And I’m writing this part – this paragraph – to you on January 1st, 2014 – whereas the previous material was all written days ago.

But if you got here now – means you probably picked up an invite from me on Facebook, on LinkedIn, via an email – any number of ways. A friend could have directed you here.

And it is just possible that you really wanted to get what I’m writing about today – January 1st – on Resolutions and Intentions – before it is ten days down the road from now.

So – I’m breaking with my own protocol and offering you a Jump-Ahead. Click on this link to read about Resolutions and Intentions.

And once again, thank you for joining me.

Let’s have an absolutely merry, fun-filled, and fabulous year ahead, shall we?

yours with love and laughter – Alianna/Alay’nya