The Feminine Side of Christmas

Solstice Eve. 

There was a time when the people knew that the stag so often depicted in Christmas decor was actually a Mother Deer. It was she who carried the burden of providing the conditions needed for survival, namely the life-sustaining light of the sun. 

In our modern scientific minds we know the sun exists as a result of physical processes. To us the idea that rituals are needed to ensure the sun will continue to shine for yet another day is nonsensical and primitive. We often forget how far we stray from knowing how vulnerable we truly are, how dependent on the daily cycles of the sun, how fragile and helpless compared to the unpredictable forces of Nature. It's as if we live in permanent bubbles - house, to car, to restaurant, to mall - believing that so it is and will continue to be.

When we open to receive the possibility that this time is holy and full of spiritual truth and wisdom, despite the commercialism and triviality that now surrounds us, we help to change the collective consciousness. I'm not referring to any specific religious belief or tradition but to the indwelling wonder and inspiration in the cycles of life. For many of us it's easy to submit to despair and gloom, or, conversely, to false gaiety and forced connections, and forget the the true magic and majesty inherent in this season.

I've been imagining the Feminine heavy with child and in labor. She's not looking for shelter but for the warm embrace of our hearts. She looks for receptive people to welcome the birth of the Sacred Masculine unencumbered by the patriarchal conceptions of power-over, self-righteousness, and narcissistic zeal. Think of the Sun in it's generosity and radiance, in it's ability to engender life in the entire planet. There's nothing else like it that we know of in our cosmos! 

This is the Feminine Side of Christmas - on Solstice Eve the Mother Deer, symbolizing the mystery of birth - the endurance, humility and grace - upholding the Sun between her antlers (which she does not shed as does the stag) - the desire and will to live and thrive with hope for all.