Questions to sit with over the Christmas and New Year period

The Christmas and new year period sits at a time that has had festivals of significance associated with it for thousands of years prior to the Christian age. The most prominent of these is the winter solstice which is celebrated on 21st/22nd December in the northern hemisphere (21st/22nd June in the southern hemisphere, where the seasons are reversed). From the time of the summer solstice the power of the Sun and of the outer light has been waning as we move from autumn into winter. The 21st December is the day of the shortest daylight and longest night, a time of maximum darkness on the land. However, from this low ebb the power of the Sun gradually starts to increase as the days go by, giving rise to the idea of the winter solstice time as a time when the light of the world is reborn anew from the darkness of winter.
It is not surprising therefore that the Church fathers in the mid 2nd century chose to locate the birthday of Christ around this time, thus combining the celebration of the birthday of Jesus with the ancient celebration of the rebirth of the outer an inner light of the world that is the winter solstice.

With this in mind here are two questions regarding our inner growth that we can reflect on at this time of year. Amidst the social whirl of the holiday period, if we can make some quiet time available for these questions they may help us enter the new year in a greater sense of alignment and purpose:

1) 'What is it that is finished and dying within my life that I need to let go of in order to provide room for new life?'

The year is reaching its end and we find ourselves at the end of many of the creative cycles that we have engaged in during the year. We can reflect upon the outer and inner aspects of our life that have lived our their time, and that now need to be released and let go of in order that we may move onto new levels of seeing, being and acting in the world in the new year. If we hold onto parts of our being, persona, relationships and so on that are in reality no longer serving us, then we can prevent that which is ripe for manifestation in our life from arising.
When we ask ourselves this question we may be able to identify particular phenomenon that we need to release, or we may just feel a general sense of releasing old patterns of energy in our life.

Having done this we can then go onto the second question:

2)'What is it that has arisen within me this year that may act as the seed for new creativity within me?'

During the previous year there may have arisen ideas or feelings within you that have not yet been articulated, but when you ask yourself this question they naturally arise or pop into your mind. These are areas of your life that you now have an opportunity to develop or grow into. Like the previous question we may find that specific, identifiable goals and ambitions arise that we feel enthusiastic about. Alternatively there may just be a general sense that there are seeds that have been lying dormant within our being that are now ready to spring forth and give rise to new life. Asking ourself this question can help to fill our mind with a sense of positive anticipation with regard to what is to come in 2010, and we can take this momentum with us into January and beyond.

Wishing you all a very blessed Winter Solstice, Christmas ans New Year!