Winter and the element of AIR.
Ceremonial and Ritual Guidance for the season.
The Winter in the Mayan Medicine Wheel is the element of Air and the White Road.
The element of Air cannot be seen, but it is felt and seen in what it moves or touches, and so is associated with Spirit. It can be a gentle breeze bringing the pollen to fertilize, or a whipping tornado destroying everything in its path. When we send our prayers to the directions, we call upon the winds to carry our prayers to their destination. When we make offerings to the ceremonial fire, it is the air that takes the smoke of theses medicine through the zero point (the doorway between physical and spiritual) to the Spirit world to be received by our ancestors and supernatural beings.
Air is what manifests our entrance into this world when we take our first breath and marks our exit from the physical body with our last breath. Every breath in between is a journey to rediscover the Great Mystery that is our life, and to become aware of the sacred gift that it is to be alive. Each breath offers us the opportunity to release what we no longer want and bring in the energy and potential of something new. And while we can go longer periods of time without water or food, if we cannot breathe even for a very short time, we die quickly.
Breathing is also one of the only processes in our body that we can control consciously, while also happening automatically without having to think about it. The molecules of the air that we breathe are the same ones that traveled through the bodies of our ancestors, and will move through the bodies of our future generations, and so holds the power to connect us.
The White Road, known by the Maya as the Saq Be, is also the path of the stars that we see in the night sky that many know as the Milky Way. This part of the life’s wheel and planetary clock represents clarity, cleanliness, and purity. And in this place, we as a human species aspire to know Spirit, to understand the Great Mystery, and to be in partnership with that which is sacred. This road takes us through the unknown and the intangible, but it definitely is a force to be reckoned with. In this road we go through our life’s challenges as well, but it is of the inner journey from the mind to the heart, where the spirit re-buds into a full potential being. This is the journey when our visions start to become clear, and we can start to crystallize those visions.
In the northern hemisphere, Winter is time to go within for reflection and introspection. It is when we can pause to enjoy and appreciate the harvest that we worked for through the year so that it can sustain us through the time of great darkness and cold. It is the time to assess what we have, and plan for the year ahead.
Daily Rituals.
These are some simple ways to connect with the Water and integrate them into your daily life. Keeping a journal to capture your insights is a great tool as well.
As the calendar year comes to an end, take the opportunity to focus on your breath and meditate and contemplate all that happened in the year that is completing. And again using the breath to center yourself, make the prayers for your life and envision the sacred work of the year ahead. This is a good time plan, prepare, and request visions for the year ahead. You can also burn incense or smudge like sage or cedar, to create cleansing smoke that can help make the invisible realm visible during your visioning process.
Take time to work with your breath: experiment with different frequencies and rhythm of your breath. Notice the effect that is created in your body and mind. Use the breath to meditate.
Work with feathers and sacred smoke.
Feathers hold the ability and memory of flight within them. Take any feather that you have and hold it, studying the feather. Within in it are many little hairs, called barbs, and each one is a feather within a feather, with its own central shaft and tiny barbs called barbules. The edges hook together to make the feather smooth. Because of this need to work and connect together, the feather is strong and a symbol of unity.
When we smudge, we are using the feather like a broom – it has the ability to move the air and cleanse the thoughts. Light your sage, cedar, or other incense to make smoke, and then treat the smoke as an energetic bath, using the feather as a sweeper to sweep energies, traumas, and emotions away from the body. You can “sweep” your altar and home in the same way to cleanse it of any negative energies. You can the feather and smoke to send a blessing by using the force of the wind created by the feather to direct your intentions of wellbeing to the place you want them to go.
You can wet the feather by using water or flower water and use it as a blessing and a spiritual bath of the aura, or energetic body. Feathers can be shields, tools to push energy, to sweep, and to bring good energies to you. Observe and learn to use their force to push away negative energies, and to bring abundance and beauty to you.
Breathe with the Tree of Life.
Give yourselves spacious time by yourself for this ritual. You will need to choose a tree that you will connect with, and find a natural cord or rope that is long enough to tie around yourself and the tree (a woven sash or belt is ideal). Also bring a crystal or stone that can fit in your bellybutton.
Greet the tree and make an offering to it (you can use a pinch of cornmeal or tobacco, smudge, or a strand of your hair), requesting permission to connect with its essence. Find your place to sit, then place the crystal or stone in your bellybutton and tie the cord around your waist, making sure it goes over your bellybutton, and tie the other end around the tree, then sit comfortably on the ground. Feel yourself weaving the energetic strands of connection with the tree, and as you sit, and move forward and backwards, feeling the tightening and loosening of the cord as if you are weaving, and allowing the pressure on the crystal or stone bring your awareness to your bellybutton.
Breathe in and feel the cord tighten, breathe out and let it relax. When you breathe in, the tree is exhaling. Our breath out is the breath in for the tree. This is a way of making love. Do this for several hours in meditation and calmness. Listen for the tree’s song, for the invisible sounds. You are reconnecting with the Tree of Life. Awaken the connection that is hidden from most humans now. You may be gifted by entering a collective consciousness.
When you are complete, thank the tree and untie yourself. You can offer the crystal or stone as a gift to the tree, or bring it back with you. Journal about your experience and capture any messages you received or insights that came.
“Still, like air, I rise.”
— Maya Angelou
“If you want to conquer the anxiety of life, live in the moment, live in the breath.”
— Amit Ray