Intuitive rituals.
We all know that there are multiple traditions attached to points during the year such as Christmas, these can be diverse and have lots of interesting origins.
I had an interesting conversation a few days ago with a friend from Lithuania, who mentioned just how many of their Christmas celebrations are very pagan, this isn’t surprising as the Baltic and Scandanavian people’s were some of the last to convert to Christianity.
She was telling me that their big day is Christmas eve, this being marked by a meal containing twelve dishes without meats and how its considered very important to have everything cleaned, the clutter cleared out from ones home etc by this time.
To me this and the reasoning behind it seems very clear. Central to the understanding and worldview of Yoga and older traditions, the year is a cycle, a solar cycle, split into twelve lunar phase, months – moonths! As we move towards midwinter, we encounter the point where the sun is at its least prominent, at the shortest day, this can be seen as a culmination of the earths orbit around the sun and simultaneously the beginning of the next circumnavigation.
Our lives aren’t distinct from this, we think and remember in terms of years, its how we mark our lives too. So it makes perfect sense for people, cultures and societies to have celebrations, festivals and occasions to both measure and symbolically and physically signify these.
So recalling those Christmas eve activities, consuming twelve dishes, like midwinter consuming the twelve months of the year, clearing and purifying, thus bringing everything that has been tangible about the year, to an end.
One thing has to end for another to begin….
This is not only a pleasant thing to do, this is also exceptionally healthy, after all, Ayurveda indicates, the importance of following and aligning with the patterns of the natural world which we are obviously an integral part of. Doing so means that we become in harmony with nature.
And, just as the ending of one solar year, growth cycles and activities allow the next to begin in the natural world, so this also can occur for us, by consciously recognising this and marking it. So that we are somewhat cleansed, purified and refreshed to begin the next solar cycle well.
So many of these celebrations are very instinctive and natural, you may find that you are already doing something like this, or at least thinking of it. These rituals are very valuable as the more subtle parts of yourself and your mind respond very well to these.
Interestingly enough, the Ayurvedic term for following the year is ritucuarya, this Sanskrit prefix ritu, is where we get the English word ritual from, so you can perhaps see why ritual is so valuable throughout the year.
In whatever way you find yourself drawn towards it, I hope your way of marking and being during this time serves you well and prepares you for a new year.
