Into the Sacred Dark

An Unservice and blessings from the holidays of light

Happy almost-Chanukah!

You are invited to join me for a Chanukah Shabbat Zoom Unservice on Friday, December 3, 6-7:30PM EST. Click here for details and to register:

I love this time of year. So many traditions celebrating and invoking light in the darkness.

Last year, I shared some new (to me) thoughts about Chanukah on Instagram, which you are welcome to listen here. Considering all the blessings of the darkness at the darkest time of year really shifted my relationship to Chanukah (and Christmas, and Solstice, and Yule) so now when they come, I revel in them all and lean into the dynamic relationship between darkness and light.

And also, I think about how miraculous it all is…

the light comes back
the light lasts
the sea opens
birth
each one of us
self-actualization
places where all the elements meet:
-bodies
-the seashore at sunset
-havdalah
parthenogenesis
waking up over and over
evolution
developmental leaps
neuroplasticity
the beginning (again) of a cycle
butterflies (and other transformations)
technology that enables us to connect across time and space at the click of a button…

What miracles do you revel in? Celebrate? Long for? Share here:

And I have been meditating on the darkness. I wrote her an ode:

Come, the sacred dark
envelop me
flutter over my eyelids
so I may release
the tension of sight
for a little while
and lean into the velvety night

you smell like
a smoky, spicy campfire blanket
the morning after the fire

you taste like
salty, sweet milk
dripped tenderly
onto my waiting tongue
enlivening me, sustaining me, meeting me
with perfect nourishment
cell for cell.

you sound like
a slow, steady heart beat
drumming through my bones
my heart
my belly
my womb
my feet
your rhythm rocks me home

and nestled here,
behind resting lids,
I see gentle explosions
of colour and light
with every beat
with every swallow
with every breath.
explosions of bright
possibility
bodies intertwined
bodies free
rainbow-hued petals
in bloom
green, verdant
and luscious blue
and aching, pumping red
and blazing yellow.

Darkness,
in your sweet embrace
I can see it all
feel it all
wonder at it all
destroy it all
and start over and over again
dreaming possibilities
into all realities
I can let it be
and let it go
and let myself rest
in what is
the thisness of the moment
breath by breath
right now (now, now, now…)
and I am enough.

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I would love to hear what darkness evokes for you. Maybe it feels painful, ugly, hard, lonely? Or maybe beautiful, potent, soft? Whatever is real for you is welcome. Feel free to share here:

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Are you yearning for connection and kinship?
Whether in one-on-one spiritual guidance and mentorship, or in sacred weekly Living from the Heart Red Tent or New Moon communities, I would love to connect with you and support you. We are meant to be in community and kinship. We are meant to thrive together. We are not alone.
Check out my offerings here:

We are awakening and you are my people. Let's rise together.

xo,

Annie