Winter and the element of AIR
Ceremonial and Ritual Guidance for the season.
Winter in the Mayan Medicine Wheel represents the element of Air and the sacred White Road; the Sac Bay. It is encoded with the acknowledgment of the wisdom in our blood, the Star Nation and the Ancestors, all who have come, gone, and will forever be as part of the Universal energy we exist within.
The elemeahead.
Winter and the Element of Air
Ceremonial and Ritual Guidance for this Journey Through the Mayan Medicine Wheel
Winter in the Mayan Medicine Wheel represents the element of Air and the sacred White Road; the Sac Bay. It is encoded with the acknowledgment of the wisdom in our blood, the Star Nation and the Ancestors, all who have come, gone, and will forever be as part of the Universal energy we exist within.
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.
This season we embrace the element of air in the Medicine Wheel of the Maya, from the deep emotional currents of fall and the element of water. Breathing through our growing awareness as we continue this journey through the medicine wheel. The element of water in fall flowed into the element of air in winter, giving the opportunity to grow to master ourselves as emotional beings, all in order to be more receptive to great mystery.
In the wheel of our life cycles, winter is the place of the elders, those with white hair, the ancestors in the stars It is a time to access deeply rooted wisdom, times of slower intentional movements and deep contemplation. This time of year the strong winds blow in Guatemala — a season of purification.
Water sources us as we build knowledge and grow the presence of wisdom in our lives. Inviting us to understand more deeply our place in the great web of life with each year that passes. Testing and inspiring us as we all grow from being children to youth, adults to elders, and if we wish, the keepers of stories and wisdom for the generations to come. We honor our ancestors in fall and now look forward for the promise of life we are here to give in winter.
In the northern hemisphere when the earth appears to rest in winter. Trees move their energy towards the ground — rooting, tapping and spreading in the soil to nourish themselves and the communities they live within. Mirroring its canopy with its root systems. Growing and attuning in invisible ways to communicating with all of life around it through symbiosis — even with our own exhaled breath. Our spirits can do the same at this time of year. Rooting and nourishing, working just as the trees do through winter. In our own unseen multidimensional ways when the nights are long and cold we too can tap into the strength of ourselves. Understanding how fragile we can be without that grounded knowing of our place, we can see through the dark where we may need care, movement, change and growth. If we focus we can emerge stronger by spring, embracing this time of darkness and all that can be accomplished through it.
The energies of winter can themselves be catalyst for personal growth and transformation when honored, or breakdown and collapse when neglected. Without any intention, we feel them. But with awareness and gratitude, it is a time we can ourselves more compassionately, honestly, and responsibly. Bringing fuel to our fire in spring through our own breath, offerings of presence, sacred smoke, fire, song and silence as we navigate. And through our altars and celebrations we can learn to truly receive the gift of life, tuning into the essential blessings of this time of year.
Winter is the season of seeing — and ancient rituals of scrying. Times of visioning that would take place in the home following the ancestral celebration times of fall. Setting a new altar around the winter solstice point of the longest night (and longest day for our kin in the south) to dedicate to seeing. Ceremonies for dreaming into the new year were ritual to look into the lunar year ahead. Warmed around a central fire and in connection to the flames as we celebrated the cycles of all we were completing. Individuals and whole communities would scry for a visions.
Winter is the time of making offering to see for the 13 moon dance of our existence ahead. We can find own connection to this as we set altars and adorn our homes this season. Welcoming in the dreams and visions we need to guide us on our path in ways that are authentic and warming for us. Insights for planning and protection as much as for preparation of the new possibilities emerging. This was the time when the harvest of our ancestors had to sustain life and the obvious natural consequences of every action would be accounted for. We gave gifts and burned away old grief, we rejoiced in fertility and honored all that passed that year. In essence we scryed to prepare for better outcomes and grow our understanding of ourselves. As we rooted, we visioned for our futures and our place the cycle of life for the generations to come. This time of year we are invited to look at all we carry and share out in this world. To count the seeds and stocks in our holding (both literal and metaphoric).
And then at the times that we most needed, we would work as community to keep each other warm and uplift the spirit. share with each other and stoke the flames of hope in our shared humanity. Like the seasonal process itself, where the light slowly builds and longer days of sunshine gradually awaken life to express itself upwards again from the roots. It is a good time to allow the energies of new life and inspiration build slowly within us so that by spring we will be bursting with readiness.
This Fall into Winter time of the year we remember the seeds of our own life and lineage(s), the ancestors that came before and the ones calling to us from the future and we pray that the things sprouting in our consciousness can be the source of emergence for new expressions, solutions and love in all forms and actions. May the content we’re sharing out this season be an inspiration to you and all your light, may you be well, guided from your deepest roots, nourished by the flowing waters of creation, strong, steady and beautiful!
With blessings from Earth Peoples United.. Wishing you and yours well this season, may these offerings enrich your life and spirit!
Make it stand out.
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.
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.
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.
May all your hopes, dreams and prayers be carried upon the wings of eagles..
High into the air, and there to fall softly upon the ears of the great spirit.
William Purcell
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.
Daily Rituals.
Work with feathers and sacred smoke.
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.
Make it stand out
Introduce your brand
Daily Rituals.
T
Create a—- Altar for the— .
Fall is the season of abundance and harvest, where the seeds planted in the spring have sprouted, matured, flowered, and finally ripened into fruit and seeds for the next generation. We encourage you to ask for permission to harvest from the land around you (be sure to only gather what is abundant, over harvesting is always an issue we must keep in mind), or go to farmer’s markets or local farms (especially with U-Pick options to get your own hands in the harvesting) and choose an assortment of natural things that have diverse color, texture, and meaning for you, to offer as a gift to the Mother Earth.
Choose a place in nature that has meaning to you (ideally that will be undisturbed for awhile) and introduce yourself and your intention to create a harvest altar as a gift to the land. It is good to smudge, sprinkle some flower water, offer a pinch of tobacco, or some way to prepare the space. Then lay your offerings in a beautiful way as you feel called, speaking or singing your prayers like most of our relatives do - the bees buzz, the birds sing, and offering the vibration of our voice has an effect on the earth around us, it is part of our gift and offering! If it is a safe area, you can add some candles into the mandala and burn incense or other smoke offerings as part of your gift. Make your offering as beautiful as possible and speak your gratitude for the Mother Earth and all the abundance we have in our lives. Let your prayer and inner expression guide the outcome.
When you are complete, sit with the altar in meditation and reflection. Observe what you created- what does it reflect about you, what patterns do you see? Observe how nature is inter-reacting in these moments- are there bees and butterflies that have come to check out the flowers? Has the wind stirred anything? Are there certain animals making themselves knows? Stay as long as you need.
Then, when you feel complete, offer your gratitude once again and extend the invitation to the Earth and the spirits to receive this offering however they choose, and leave it to become part of the Earth once again, infused with your love and prayers. Once you have gathered your things and are ready to leave, stop one last time at the altar to say goodbye. We often kneel and touch our forehead (third eye) to the Earth and kiss the ground in reverence and acknowledgment.
Feeding the spirit of life.
This is the time of the thinning of the veils. The phase of the year in which many cultures undergo rituals of making altars to hold collective ceremonies to honor the ancestors. Celebrations where offerings are made into altars that spread out and transform the home and community for a moment in time, setting the space to feed the spirit of our loved ones. So that we can open to contact again with the ones who came before through the sacred spaces we create, adorned with flowers, foods, and the pictures and personal affects that symbolize and celebrate who their ancestors were in life. Forever with us in spirit, we take the time at this time of year to spread out the things they truly savored in life. We gather the flavors and aromas that bring us to them in our own being as encoded memories in all we stew and brew to share around the table.. And we feed the spirit of our ancestors through our own beings.
Take the time to reflect on your own sense of place and purpose, as the ones living on because of them, still here giving life. Sometimes in the process of connecting through ancestral offerings we are also making peace and setting things in order. And in this way, we can make space in our lives for more fulfillment of being through these rituals of honoring. It is not a time to dwell on grief or loss, instead it’s a time to choose to be with gifts we have been given, to learn from what we have lost and choose to live life fully in acknowledging its sacred fleeting, yet infinite, nature. Appreciating your bloodlines and being willing to be open to the inspirations that comes to you for your own ancestral altar…
Many celebrate these rituals at the end of October and first days of November. You may do as your wish, but it is recommend to select a time sometime after the Full Moon this October and before the New Moon in November.
This is the season of the thinning of the veils. The phase of the year in which many cultures undergo rituals of making altars and hold collective ceremonies to honor the ancestors. Where offerings are made into altars that spread out and transform the home and community for a moment in time. We can open to contact with the ones who came before through these sacred spaces we create, adorned with flowers and foods, and the pictures and personal affects that celebrate who they were in life. We spread out the things they truly savored, sometime the simple vices too, their favorite food and drinks. We take the time to make and gather the flavors and aromas that bring us to them in our own being and memories of them.
We feed the spirit through our own beings and take the time to reflect on our own sense of place and purpose, the one living, here to still give life. And as the dimensions are thin at this time, we can receive more through this presence with all that makes life delicious and colorful. Sometimes in the process of connecting, we are also making peace and setting things in order. And in this way, we make space for more fulfillment of being, we receive guidance and create inspiration in our lives. It is not a time to dwell on grief or loss, instead it’s a time to choose to be with gifts we have been given, to choose to live life fully in acknowledging its sacred fleeting, yet infinite, nature.
Use this share to prompt your own self guided creative ritual this season with respect of distinct cultures that move your heart in their beauty of expression. Seeking the guidance for your own altars is the first step of feeding the spirit of your ancestors. Appreciate your bloodlines and be willing to get curious and be open to what inspirations come for you to incorporate into your altar.
Start by taking time over a sunset to contemplate what moves you to perform this ritual, watch the sky change and turn to twilight, see how the veil of night drops and note your intention. Use this meditation in nature to seek understanding about the one(s) you feel called to honor. This can be done regardless if we know the names or stories in our blood. It can be a biological family member or kin we chose in life, an animal ally who journeyed with us, it can be as you wish. Of course this all becomes part of the ceremony, as each relation is its own, but be open to what arises for you in this time. Seek the vision for how you will connect with the spirit of our ancestors through intention and ritual. Set your intentions. Now, the gathering begins.
Choose a place in your home where you frequent often to prepare a space to make an altar — your kitchen, dining room or living room are good options so you can be with your altar. This step takes some practical cleansing and rearranging to dedicate a space. As we do this, we stay present with our intentions and create the ritual in your mind, think about the particular foods and flowers, all it takes to gather and prepare, and plan. Some of this process takes gathering family artifacts, and the more you create space in your life for these ancestral altars you will learn to keep these items in order, ready for your next ceremony.
Once the space is clean, smudge your home and then this altar, allowing the sage or pure copal incense to rest in the center of your empty altar space to purify and prepare for the creating of your offering. If you do not have these plant medicines to work with, use your all natural smudge and call in the sage and copal to the space within your intention.
The copal incense in particular is a ceremonial gift to the spirits, said to call them home with the sweet offerings of plants aromas and the sweet essence of the trees. It is good to prepare to have it as part of your actual ceremony when foods and drinks are offered.
The altar itself can be as you wish, but is always built upon a first layer of a clean white cloth and incorporate a raised level or stepped area to symbolize the journey between the dimensions we make to meet again. Use the colors your spirit calls, but do not limit yourself in the image of another culture. Honor and respect them by sharing your own, honoring your own beauty. Now, build away and let it develop over the time of at least a week. See how family members may add or change things with you and be grateful for life in every step of the way.
For the ceremony itself, it is a time to gather in the hearth to cook the foods together that hold the stories of their life. Before beginning, repeat the smudging practice of clearing your whole house, your kitchen especially and then place the burning incense on the altar, light your candle(s) and pour some water for each other- your first offering of nourishment. Offer a glass to the altar together and let the process unfold.
You want to spread the table and dedicate a long afternoon and evening to being with the altar and the honoring process. We use this time to play music that holds stories and speak the tales of lifetimes into the bowls and pots you stir to make the foods that call you to them, and them to you. This is a ritual of healing your own relationship to life by connecting with the simple sensual gifts of it, like food and color. Let yourself tell the ones you love how to celebrate you, as in actually talk about your death and the wonderful things you want to have happen to celebrate the things you love. Share in the container of celebrating life and trusting in the eternal connection that we do have with each other. Let this look like what it is for you, over a dinner and food blessed with stories. Pause before partaking and call them home with your words, thank them for their lives and offer a spirit plate of all the foods, ask them to join and feast with the ones still living.
Make every part of this evening ritual. No matter if your guests stay the entire night or leave, dedicate your whole evening into the next morning to being with the altar and intention to connect. Let the glow of the altar illuminate insights and allow more gratitude for life in.
Many celebrate these rituals at the end of October and first days of November. You may do as your wish, but it recommend to select a time sometime after the New Moon in October and before the New Moon in November.
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.
