This is a time of year when meeting obligations is practically a religion. But if we yield to busyness and don't tend to our inner lives, we may miss the real magic of the season.
I have always been a big fan of the Mystery. Leaning into transcendent experiences is definitely my jam. That's why the Mystery card (below) is one of my favorites from The Dreaming Oracle (co-created by Cara Roxanne and myself).
Carl Jung believed that the divine—what he called the Self—lives within us. Often symbolized by the star, the Self is our essential, luminous wholeness. Encounters with this powerful archetypal energy never leave us unchanged, but they can be elusive. Indeed, it's hard to commune with our divine natures when we're busy preparing the house for an onslaught of relatives, or trying to get every single last piece of paper off the endless pile of problems that is our desk.
But something deep within us needs to commune with this eternal, generative energy, even if it means just one minute spent staring up at a starry sky and pondering the miracle of our existence.
So this holiday season, I urge you to tear yourself away from your to-do list and turn your gaze toward the pulsating holiness at the core of your being. Take a walk in nature, attend a religious service, explore your dreams (my favorite spiritual practice), or just take a few deep breaths—whatever helps you to drop away from the winter frenzy
and give your attention to your inner life. As you do, you just may find yourself illuminated by the most radiant of lights—your Self. Follow that glorious star and shine on.
Illustration by Cara Roxanne
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