Winter Solstice 2010: Deep into the Darkness of Winter

Reconnecting with your innermost
self can open the doors to an
entirely new and unpredictable path.

Tailoring A Personal Retreat
This winter solstice, I won't be traveling, so I intend to spend time attending to my home and creating a sacred space. I'm deep into intention to create a personal winter solstice retreat.

* Prepare my meditation space * 

* Set intention for solstice celebration

as earth makes the gentle rotation from darkness to light. *

Winter Cold Fastens its Grip : Inner Retreat

Every winter solstice I find myself meditating to a different vibration than from the year before, allowing myself to listen to the quite voice within.

Make Your Own Retreat: 
If you don't have the time for a retreat get-away that is organized outside of your home, you can still find retreat within your own home.

1) Find A Room, or a Spot Intended for Meditation
In our guest bedroom, I re-arranged the space so that I have quite spot in the corner of the room. I've placed a little rug and a meditation mat in front of a small table. I put a few candles and significant photographs on it. All of it can be easily tucked away when guests stay in the room.

2) Set a Time for You and No Excuses to Cancel
For the next few days, set an intention and a time to step away from routines, relationships, and environments. Sit with yourself for 15 minutes, or longer. Practice silence.

If you have difficulties getting away from others, then let your family and friends of your intentions. Set the stage and let everyone know what you want makes it easier to drop into stillness and examine the undercurrent of your life. Once you do, you can plug into a connection with your divine nature.

Full moon over the Red Sea at Wadi el Dome Marina, Egypt

SIGNIFICANT Winter Solstice 21 December 2010

A most providential time as moon energy will be very extraordinary

Start to bring your awareness to this very auspicious time and begin to prepare yourself for the winter solstice. As the daylight is shorter and the days are cooler, the space around us creates an environment for reflection, prayer, and quietness. In Cairo, the December solstice occurs at 01:38 AM on December 22, 2010 (11.38pm UTC, December 21, 2010). The next day, another second of daylight lingers to bring a little sliver more of sun into our waking hours.

The Full Cold Moon

We will also have a full moon that begins at 10:13 AM. This December full moon is called Full Cold Moon. Sometimes this moon is referred to as the Full Long Nights Moon and the term "Long Night" Moon is a very appropriate name because the nights are now indeed long and the Moon is above the horizon a long time.

This particular full moon makes its highest arc across the sky because it's diametrically opposite to the low Sun. The moment of the Winter Solstice at 1:38 a.m comes just over 15 hours after full moon .

Last, but certainly not least, this will also be the night of a Total Lunar Eclipse. Observers in Western Europe and western Africa will see the opening stages of the eclipse before the Moon sets.

Sometime give a talk to yourself, 'How I can be great'
Fifteen minutes, thirty minutes on how you can be great.
Make it a secret tape, and then listen to that electronic voice as a meditation;
it will work 100 times better."
~Yogi Bhajan