a useful ritual to get through the holiday season
What with all the emotions and family collisions of the holidays + the cold weather for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, our hearts could all use a big hot electric boost right about now, no?
Luckily: I've got just the thing for that.
A little background:
In my on-going work alongside my INFLUENCE course participants, I've been communing with the Sun lately (we all choose planetary deities to work with for the 12-week duration of the course).
The following simple contemplation came to me while working at my solar altar....
... I've found it's very useful for:
shifting your mood
getting in touch with your in-born loving-kindness
centering your perception in your heart
Solar Heart Contemplation
1) Get quiet and settled - lightly notice the narrative in your mind that you usually identify as "you" - all the stories about who you are, what you want, what's happening in your life and whether or not you like it-
.... and gently say to yourself "That's not the full truth of who I am, for now I'm setting all the story aside."
2) Next, imagine that your physical heart is the Sun. It's the literal sun in your chest. Feel the heat, the light, the electricity, the power.
... and gently say to yourself "I'm the Sun of awareness, shining with love." Allow yourself to feel how the brilliant hot golden ball in the center of your chest is the real "you" - bigger and more primary and more alive with the warmth of love than your memories or your projections about the future.
That's it.
Stay with the contemplation as long as you can, up to an hour, just aiming to visualize / feel / sense your heart as the Sun, and your sun-heart as the center of your being instead of all your "mind story stuff."
You might notice after a few minutes that the notion that "you" might be identical with your inner monologue seems like an actually super-funny idea, and your heart takes on much greater "gravity" - i.e., your awareness feels anchored to your heart rather than your chattering mind.
The Sun, after all, is the center around which everything else in our solar system spins. Talk about magnetism! ;)
You might also notice that the longer you stay with this contemplation, the more everything in your life seems easy and possible - because you know, why not? You're the Sun!
This is a very energizing practice so you may not want to do it right before bedtime.
I hope you give it a try and tell me how it goes.
Note: this contemplation isn't just fanciful - it lines up with the Qabalistic / hermetic cosmology that identifies both the Sun and the human heart with Tiphareth, the seat of the higher Self. So the contemplation is a vivid way of affirming a deep truth to your unconscious mind through image and feeling.