Welcome, December!  The annual shopping, baking, and decorating marathon is well underway. In fact, the finish line is fast approaching. You stop and ask yourself, am I ready? You have all the right stuff: the gifts are wrapped, the lights burn bright, the cookies await, but do you have what counts most of all? Is your spirit ready to pause for a prayer of gratitude for the gift of another year of life and love?  In the Northern Hemisphere, our planet approaches the winter solstice on December 22. The shortest day of the year marks a heavenly shift when the dark begins to recede and the light to expand. The solstice brings increasing light and has long been held as a sacred time of year.

As a spiritual teacher and energy healer, I invite you to celebrate this seasonal cycle by creating your own personal rituals to mark the passing of darkness and the coming again of healing, life-giving light. The winter solstice is a time of rebirth, a special window of peace and renewal. The quiet calm of a long winter’s night welcomes you to look within and nurture your connection to Spirit. Think of how much energy you pour into the external preparations for the winter holidays. Now is the perfect time to honor your own inner light with renewed attention, awareness, and gratitude. What are some gifts that you can give your spirit this December? 

Here are 3 blessings of the winter solstice to refresh and replenish your spirit:

1.    Your Angels Are Near. Wisdom traditions tell us that the winter solstice marks the bending near the angelic realm. With “angels bending near the earth to touch their harps of gold,” now is the moment to reach out to your angels for healing energy and guidance. Send forth your prayers and listen closely for loving assistance from these heavenly messengers who are waiting for you to beckon them into your life. 
2.     The World Slows Down. At the winter solstice, the longest night of the year, the sun appears to pause before the return to shorter nights begins. The word solstice means “the sun stands still.” How welcoming is this idea of the world standing still just long enough for you to breathe! If all the hustle and bustle of life stopped for a moment, what would you do? Take a nature walk, play with your cat, listen to quiet music, light a candle? Devote a journal entry to the idea of pausing and slowing down. Picture the still, peaceful beauty of planet Earth as seen by the astronauts. Let feelings of love and gratitude rise and refresh your spirit.
3.     A Traditional Time of Reflection Begins.  The return of the light that follows the winter solstice has long been seen as a time of awakening for higher consciousness. The growth of your inner light reflects the growing return of sunlight to a world in need of healing energy.  The time is right for you to nurture your meditation practice, to diminish your personal darkness and increase your light. You can dedicate this period of reflection to examining your life’s goals and dreams, your life purpose. How will you move forward on the path of spiritual growth in the months ahead? How will you contribute to your own healing and thereby help to heal the world? Is there a way for you to honor the solstice by spreading some light to others who are in need?

Make your December a turning point and a time of renewal. Use these rituals to shine your light of love and heavenly peace into the world! Connecting with the healing energy of your guardian angels is easy when you know how to commune with the angels. This is the perfect time to connect with and communicate with your angels of energy healing.