The WayFarer Shaman

Solstice/Advent 4 Last night of of darkness growing, light fading....amidst the clamour of covid, and the strident sounds of shopping beckoning, this journey has been an oasis of silence; a contemplative experience of the balance of inner and outer life.Tonight, the wheel slows infinitesimally; stop an moment, breathe into the space in you where self and world meet... into that Michelangelian moment of the divine and human reaching out to each other. Here is the experience of... such deep knowing of the I-Thou relationship relationship of dark and light... Still we awaken to the every day pleasures and angsts- will it be a clear night so I can witness the Great Conjunction; can't wait to hear the voices of my brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, the grands, especially the new ones as we gather around the computer screens this week-hope all can make it; the beauty of the lights up and down the roads-life goes on in all its complexity and simplicity. The days of the Solstice/Advent/ Hanukkah journey have been such a gift of love, connection, insight, warmth, even trepidation at what the waiting for the light to return might reveal- I think of how Covid is changing us all, illuminating the multiple paths and choices of what could be, opening doors to heretofore unconsidered possibilities...I am both afraid and welcoming. What is your journey like? See more

The 3rd Sunday of Advent/Solstice Journey I have been looking forward to this day since the beginning of the advent journey, anticipating Joy, anticipating a burst of light in the darkness, anticipating a release of the ever present burden of these times. As the day wore on I felt none of this, only a deepening awareness of the surrounding encroaching darkness. Sadness tinted with despair, a teaspoon of anger flavouring, and wrapped up in tiredness were my companions this da...y. Yet moments of companionship with my partner, a sharing of connection with a friend, watching the pheasants, crows, mourning doves, chick-a-dees, nuthatches, blue Jays and squirrels gathering together around the seeds, taking a walk amidst the fog and mist, eating the nacho treat...so many small moments of joy permeated my day. Sometimes I sense in the everyday way of life that there is an expectation of discrete and separate experiences. Yet over and over I discover, remember, am reminded that separation is a learned experience; today joy walks hand in hand with sadness , each enriching the other in the mysterious way that shit enriches the earth, the sun softens the darkness or bread rises with yeast. The journey is made bearable. The light, soft and flickering dances in the darkness... See more

Sundown today we lit the first candle of Hanukkah commemorating the freedom won from the Greek King Antiochus and his army by a small band of Jews called the Maccabees. Hanukah celebrates the re dedication and purification of the Second Temple of Jerusalem and the miracle of the oil. As a young child I knew nothing of Jewish history beyond what was taught through the lens of Catholicism in church and school. Jewish people were hidden from me; my first real life awareness occ...urred when I was reading a history book of my grandfather's about the horrors of the concentration camps. I was eleven, the photographs were graphic. Later, in my teens, I became aware of the Jewish background of some extended family members, of how they left their European home pre-war and came to Canada. Their story is one of many in my family that remains largely unspoken. So many secrets inhabited my childhood, it has taken years to begin to unravel them. I celebrate Hanukkah to honour and remember the steadfastness, courage, vitality and tenacity of the Jewish people throughout the thousands of years of persecution; I light the Menorah to celebrate the light the Jewish people give to the world, a visible presence of integrity and humanness; I light the Menorah on this, the first night of Hanukkah, to be a beacon, a reminder that in the dark a light will guide me. Hanukkah is a story of perseverance, strength, faith and joy. It reminds me to play as well as to pray. Hanukkah connects me to the unknown stories of relatives and friends,of strangers too. And in the silence of the light I feel the deep connection of friend, foe, family and the eternal other...somehow, like the underweb of trees we humans, beyond the ken of mind, touch each other. See more

Today is the 1st Sunday of Advent. My partner and I created our Advent/Solstice wreath and lit the first purple candle tonight, turning off all lights beforehand. When I was a child growing up in a Catholic household, Advent was a significant time though Christmas Day gifts were surely part of the coming event. Today I cherish this period, the quietness, the stillness , the dark itself for the opportunity to sit, to listen, to become aware of the ‘something coming’ Inside and... outside me. Am I ready, am I open, am I fearful , am I accepting of the new and unknown life that is coming. I still call it Advent though I am no longer a Catholic in the form of my childhood. It is the coming into place, view or being of something so significant , so universal, so potentially life-changing, that calls to me. Each year is the same yet different as the wheel of life turns and turns and turns. Tonight just after we lit the candle, said our prayers and blessings, the full moon rose over the water, and trees, and hope settled in my heart. See more