longest night Archives | Faulk TaiChi

Today we experience the most hours and minutes of darkness of any day in the year, a day when the sun is at its lowest point. From the Essene Book of Days — “The ancient people used this time of ‘longest night’ to focus on the power of darkness. Not the negative image of darkness, but the richness of that unknown, dark, fertile, deep part in each of us wherein our intuitive, creative forces abide. In modern times, it is a time for owning one’s shadow, so as to transform any negative energy associated with it into the energy of creation and psychic ability. We must accept and know our Darkness before we can fully know the Light.”

This is a Yin time of year, a time for reflection, a time to look inward. Many spiritual and religious traditions acknowledge the darkness, asking followers to embrace the darkness, because in doing so, we will be ready for the light to come. The light WILL come. May we have confidence in knowing that this day, Winter Solstice teaches us that we need to follow the seasons and natural flow of nature. We need the yin of darkness and yang of light to create balance our lives.

For those of us embracing Tai Chi energy and movement, we follow the yin and yang of nature and work to create internal and external balance by embracing the light and darkness of our energies.

Here we are in the day of shortest daylight of the year, winter solstice. In the northern hemisphere we are at the farthest point from the sun. Some of us celebrate this day, a time to reflect on the darkness, on our shadows waiting for the light to return. Some of us don’t like it at all and just say it won’t be long until we have more minutes of daylight.

I noticed this year, and we mentioned it in Tai Chi classes this week, that the publicity this year seems to be on this day being special, unusual, a day to really pay attention and look up into the sky. Why look up? Because this solstice is going to include a full moon and meteor shower. Both are worth looking into the sky to catch a glimpse. These phenomena are filled with light, a full, bright moon, a shower of light flashes from the meteor shower, the light we are longing for. Maybe it will be cloudy and I will look up to see darkness or outlines of clouds. Even if that is the case, I feel some excitement about the cycles of nature that cause me to be still, look up, get outside of myself.

So, if you live in a place where the sky is clear and the sun has set, look up. Note that the winter solstice is here and you might see something spectacular. Paying attention, attuning ourselves with nature rhythms may produce a few moments of “wonder”.