The Winter Solstice, as Nadir of the Year, is energetically similar to the Dark of the Moon and to the Grandmother Spirit. Characterized by absence of light and presence of emptiness, with active energies at their lowest ebb. Psychologically and spiritually these are times of resting in potential, of entering the suksma sarira (astral or dream body) and karana sarira (causal body) to review images from the past, shed toxicity and negativity, find rest in inactivity, allowing our spirits to recharge themselves and form pure strong intentions for the future.
Cultures around the world traditionally celebrate light at this time of year. The Light is 'hiding' and we remind it of our love and our hope for its return by lighting candles, speckling the night with colored Christmas lights, honoring the Star of Bethlehem, or wearing colorful clothes at Divali. The Light Comes Out Of Darkness.
Of the Ten Tantric Wisdom Goddesses, Dhumavati, the Grandmother Spirit, most closely resonates with the Nadir, the Winter Solstice and the Dark of the Moon. David Frawley writes of her, "As the Grandmother Spirit she is the great teacher who bestows the ultimate lessons of birth and death. She is the knowledge that comes through hard experience, in which our immature and youthful desires and fantasies are put to rest."
"Dhuma means 'smoke.' Dhumavati is 'one who is composed of smoke.' Her nature is not illumination but obscuration. However, to obscure one thing is to reveal another."
"To develop latent energies we must first recognize them. This requires honoring Dhumavati."
"Dhumavati shows the feminine principle of negation in all of its aspects. On an outer level she represents poverty, destitution, and suffering, the great misfortunes that we all fear in life. Hence she is said to be a witch or hag, troublesome and quarrelsome. Yet on an inner level this same negativity causes us to seek a greater fulfillment than can be achieved in the limited realms of the manifest creation. What obstructs us in one area can release a new potential to grow in a different direction. Thus she is the good fortune that comes to us in the form of misfortune." ("Portrait of an Old Woman" by P. Bellotti, left)
Yet there is ultimately a clear, subtle beauty in Age, a fullness in its emptiness that enchants us and gives us the Good Witch, the magical Crone. This 'clear, subtle, magical' energy can be felt at this time of year, if we can just quiet ourselves enough to perceive it.
The wisdom teaching continues, "We don't really know who we are or where we are going in life. Our life is a limited light between two greater darknesses. Dhumavati or 'smoke' embraces us on both sides."
"True Knowledge only begins when we set the ordinary thought process aside. What we call knowledge can never take us to the truth. Dhumavati is ultimately silence itself."
At this Season of Solstice, when active life energies withdraw into the heart of reality, diving deep within the 'sleep of potential,' let us enjoy the Silence both within and without, celebrating our own magical Silent Night.
"Moonbow" by Takahiro Takagouchi for National Geographic Magazine
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