If like me you've always struggled with the materialism, consumerism and wasteful excess of this so called holiday season, asking unasked questions like "but what does nature want us to do at this time of year?" you will find solace in this post which reveals an ancient pagan approach to the period following the Winter Solstice designed to connect us with the seasons, to help us plant our dream seeds for the year ahead and to receive Higher guidance while the veil between us and the non physical world is at it's thinnest, so that our lives might fully sync with Nature, working with Her to become who we were meant to be, the best version of ourselves; a version which does not through its greatness take anything away from nature, the oft forgotten and little respected Great Mother of all humanity.
The deception
The majority of us experience cold winters, a time of year when nature withdraws, conserves and gathers its energy for the upcoming season. The days feel short and dark while the nights feel long and much darker. There is a stillness in the air which contrasts the busy feeling of summertime and as much as we might believe ourselves to be somehow separate from nature, we are of course intimately connected with it, so the invitation to withdraw into ourselves, to become still, to conserve our energy and to prepare accordingly for the year ahead isn't all that hard to see, yet we don't see it because every one of us has been trained since birth to do the polar opposite.
To worship consumerism, shopping, excess, noise, movement, social events, intoxication, artificial lights, plastic decorations, butchered trees in our living rooms and a fat man in red who delivers gifts to our laps like amazon.com without any thought of how or why or consequence, it's just a magical event which should not be considered further, for fear of logical minds starting to see cracks in the story.
Whispers of a past truth long forgotten
Here in the South of France it is believed by some of the older folk that the 1st to the 12th of January should be observed closely because there is a connection between our temperament and the weather on each of these days and their corresponding month of the year. So if you feel rubbish on the 3rd of Jan and it rains in the afternoon, this is telling you to prepare for a difficult situation in March (the 3rd month) with potential bad weather for the second half of the month.
In Spain 12 grapes are eaten at midnight, each one representing a month of the year ahead. They must be eaten at exactly the correct moment, ideally with the correct temperament, each one in sync with the 12 chimes of the clock. And should you fail to eat one of the grapes on time, or find yourself with a negative thought in mind, this will impact its corresponding month in the year ahead.
In the UK & US we take our Christmas decorations down exactly 12 days after Christmas, for fear of inviting misfortune if we do not. Plus we have holly, ivy and mistletoe hanging in our homes to release beneficial spirits (according to tradition) but must remove or burn these green offerings when the 12 days are up to avoid unwanted spirits entering by the same route.
We even have a song entitled the "The Twelve Days of Christmas" which is a cumulative song, so you collect more and more words as the song progresses. Not unlike the French idea of collecting information for the year ahead based on 12 days of observation or the Spanish idea of eating 12 grapes on time, collecting 12 positive months ahead.
3 verses from The Twelve Days of Christmas (1780)
On the first day of Christmas my true love sent to me
A partridge in a pear tree
On the second day of Christmas my true love sent to me
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.
On the third day of Christmas my true love sent to me
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.
I sung these words many times as a child but never considered who is this "true love" they speak of?
Could it be nature herself, our Great Mother here to help us with Her bountiful gifts?
And from what have all these different 12 day/12 month traditions originated?
When the veil is thinnest
The concept of a period in which 'the veil' between physical and non physical is at its thinnest comes from the difference between the solar year and the lunar year, a difference of around 12 days which are seen as being outside ordinary time in many European folk and esoteric traditions.
Rudolf Steiner and later teachers treated these “outside time” nights as especially potent for inner work, prophecy and seed‑planting for the coming year.
So while this concept is unquestionably an old one, it had all but been forgotten by modern society until now.
Lara J. Day
I came across Lara in this recent Alfa Vedic interview in which she breaks down the history for us, speaking of a time in which this period was celebrated by offering kindness to others and also free love which likely took the form of orgies! Masters became slaves and slaves became masters, while anyone knocking at the door would be treated with gifts of fine food and drinks.
In the song "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" we hear "Oh, bring us some figgy pudding" and "We won't go until we get some" because it was simply expected at that time to treat rich and poor alike.
But the idea was ultimately re-shaped by those very same masters who didn't like this tradition which stemmed back to a pagan belief system free from attachment to any religion or idea of one true God. Religion is of course the "opiate of the masses"(Marx) so polytheistic practices which take away from the one true God story have been erased over time by those who would have us see them as our saviors and leaders, with roles never to be reversed. Leaving God as something firmly outside of ourselves, a being we can never really connect with.
But what these pagans believed about the 12 Holy Nights following on from the days of festivities was much more dangerous to those who would control us, because it provided a means to connect as one through our Great Mother and become an indomitable force.
Lara J. Day presents the idea of a 13‑night initiatory window: 12 nights corresponding symbolically to the 12 months ahead, plus an additional 13th night as a kind of higher octave synthesis of the whole cycle. She proposes the night of the 24th as the first Holy night which represents the full year ahead, with the 25th Dec to 5th Jan representing the upcoming 12 months of the year.
The importance of journalling
She tells us to be still and observant at this time, recording in dedicated journals our thoughts, our feelings, our actions and the events of each day, suggesting that everything is relevant and the deeper lessons will be revealed later in the year. Often in unimaginable ways which will baffle and entertain us.
Day also sells Oracle cards to go with the 12 Sacred Nights but i think the most important tool here is our journal.
Sabrina made me a note book two years ago for my birthday so i will use this as my Sacred Nights Journal.
And will continue to do so every year for the rest of my life!
Steiner proposed New Year's Eve (31st/1st) as the night to represent the entire year, as opposed to Day's suggestion of the 24th/25th, but it seems to me these dates are equally powerful simply because they precisely mark the moments we have all been programmed to do something other than inward reflection and outward observation.
Steiner and Day may not agree on the 24h period which represents the entire year ahead but they certainly agree on the founding principle of 12 magical days & nights connecting up with 12 months of the year and the need for stillness at this time, permitting the inner wisdom & guidance to surface naturally, while remaining observant and consistently journaling the events of each day.
Natural light enhances us naturally
Day expands on Steiner's ideas by suggesting we minimize artificial lighting during the Sacred period, favoring candles and firelight when the light of the day is gone.
I created this bees wax candle a couple of years ago without really knowing why or when i might feel like lighting it. Well, now i know it was made for this. To be lit every night for 13 nights after the sun goes down.
Even the wooden sculpture next to it seems important in this moment, made when i was just 21 years old, from a piece of wood which whispered its truths to me, asking that i keep it with me always.
For three days the sun 'stops moving'
If we follow the sun and its final position on the horizon each evening we will see it stop moving on the Winter Solstice and remain in the same place for three days. A time of uncertainty perhaps for our more observant ancestors? Why has the sun stopped moving they may have wondered? Before finally on the fourth day it begins its journey back again, towards summer, towards longer warmer days, towards the opposite end of the cycle.
Not unlike Jesus, right? The Son of God dies for three days before rising again from the dead. A famous story known by everyone, yet i believe it is based on the movement of the sun during the Winter Solstice and even the words themselves The Son and the sun point to a connection. The meaning of words can change over time so the annual death and re-birth of the sun became the celebration of the death and re-birth of God's Son, not so much to fool anyone (despite being in Easter now!) but to connect us with the sun's natural cycle and remind us of the potential for re-birth in the period following on from the three days of inactivity.
Personal observations
When i was a child my family & i would volunteer at a homeless shelter during the Christmas period, making & serving food, offering new clothes, giving massage, washing feet and listening to their stories. It felt really good to do this. Much better than the feeling of staying at home in front of the TV, not far from the tasty snacks. So i think Christmas is the time of giving, but we should give to those who expect it the least, those less fortunate than ourselves.
By doing this we re-balance our energy/karma/aura whatever you want to call it, in preparation for our re-birth during the 12 proceeding days, during which we remain calm, still and open for guidance.
As a sungazer i have become aware over the years of a very special kind of energy which floods the earth every morning with the very first light of the day, some referring to it as a type of laser light, full of information and possibilities. The most useful light a human can experience!
It isn't possible to see this light unless you are high up or looking out over a very flat plain, like the ocean. But when you do see it and hold your intention for the day strongly in that moment as the first light hits the dark land, you can tap into it and basically see your desire manifested that day.
The last time i saw it was this summer, staying in a beachside hotel in Empúries, Spain. I knew the sun would offer me this opportunity in the morning so i was up early, ready to receive it.
And the day & night which followed were indeed, as requested, much better than the ones preceding them.
When i heard Lara speaking of the first light of the year, the twelve day period after the three day pause in the sun's movement, as being special because it contains an energy which connects up with the whole year, it just made sense to me and i see now that sungazing is a daily version of this very same annual practice.
Final thoughts
I have felt driven since learning this information to share it with you immediately, before the Winter Solstice and the Sacred Nights, making sure you have enough time to prepare your journal and perhaps buy or even better make some candles to illuminate your evenings.
Even without these things one can still just become conscious of what is happening, observe, turn inward and remain open for guidance.
I have commitments already on the 27th and 31st, two parties at our house no less, so it is what it is. But does this mean March & July will kick back at me somehow?
I think not if i stay observant and make sure to update the journal. Even if i am drunk!
Will give you feedback on that next year.
The clouds seem to dance with joy when i am on the right track with my thoughts and this occasion has been no exception.
The 12 Sacred Nights remind us that everything is relevant, everything is important, everything is connected. So as we go through our 12 days & nights we become more conscious of what we think, say and do because suddenly these things have direct consequences for us in the future.
When we see that lost dog in the street and can't be bothered to try and find its owner we might just turn this thought around, reminded by the possibility that due to our lack of action in this moment we could find ourselves lost in the future, with no one coming to our rescue! We strive to be better people during these 12 days so when we become not only aware of but also a part of the direct connection between our actions and their consequences we live as we were meant to live. We find our soul purpose. We brighten our Light for others to feel its warmth.
And i can think of no better lesson to teach my children, no better way to celebrate this time of year, and no better time in human history than now to push this message out into the world with a shout.
Don't follow the masses!
Follow nature.
Love & Light everyone 🌱