Basking in the Radiant Dark
A message from Vera de Chalambert:
As we countdown to the Winter Solstice and its much anticipated Great Conjunction, I was called to hold Vigil through the Night until Dec 21st, and want to invite you to join me if you are so moved. I have started on the night of the 1st, and will continue until the night after Solstice. Use this time as you wish, pray, sit, chant, ritual, meditate, invoke your soul, send blessing. Two hearts praying through the night are better than one, many, a torrent of tenderness. I will hold space every day at 3:30 am EST for an hour. You are welcome to join me, but don't have to do it on my time. Let this field support you whenever and however feels right. We are all learning to see in the belly of the whale of change. Join me in releasing this strange epoch of a year, blessing its painful losses and its deep gifts. In invoking and trusting the world crowning in our hearts.
Come sit, rest into the sweet unknown, sing the beatitudes to the holy dark. Let the night bring its medicine. There is no agenda here, or cost. And whether you hold vigil in the night with me or not, if you want to receive a little shot of beauty from me, a poem or a quote, or a meditation for these dark nights, I am sending something every day until solstice that has touched my heart. Just respond to this email with "Vigil" and I will put you on the list. Its just a love gift.
Secondly, I am offering an online retreat, Basking in the Radiant Dark over the next 3 Sundays at 1pm EST. I have never offered anything like this without organizational support, but my prayer is to hold a simple and beautiful space for all things in our hearts to come to rest. Here is a little description:
BASKING IN THE RADIANT DARK
"Whom should I turn to,
if not the One whose darkness
is darker than night,
the only one who keeps
vigil with no candle,
and is not afraid --
the Deep One, whose
being I trust ..."
~Rilke
From time immemorial our mystics and prophets have taught that to approach the Mystery we must move through Holy Darkness. In fact it is this capacity to enter the realm of divine unknowing, terrifying uncertainty, radical discontinuity with business as usual that is traditionally seen as a sign of spiritual leadership. Moses must enter the “thick darkness” of the Cloud, Christ consent to the kenosis of the Cross, the tantric masters become intimate with the mandalas of loss in the messy, hopeless, initiatic darkness of the charnel grounds.
Today we all are called to step bravely into the darkness of our times. The uncertain, unsettled, un-mapable disruption of the poly-crisis. This is no cheap calamity, it is sacred collective initiation. Intuitively humans have always known that there is an aspect of Reality that emerges to mercifully guide and protect us through the Dark Night the moment we consent to our holy ordeal. And in every tradition we look, it is the Eternal Feminine, the Great Mother, the very ground of the Being, Herself Darker than night, that emerges to harness our spiritual crisis, assist our spiritual evolution, initiate and transfigure the soul. The poet Rumi says:
"Be ground.
Be crumbled.
So wild flowers will come up
Where you are."
Don't rush in to fix it. Let life have you. Let the Mother have your bones for her holy Stew. She knows how to turn our hungry ghosts into allies. Our psychic lead into gold. Crumble and let Her transfigure. Invite the truth you have been keeping at bay. Feel what you don't want to feel. Hold fast to your tenderness. Let your brokenness shine. How else will you know that Love has already swallowed you, even when you fail, even when you struggle, even as you cry out into the dark. Darkness is Holy. Darkness is medicine. Do not discard this doorway into grace. Our wounds are holy passages. Our darkest, most desperate nights, ways to wholeness. The Poet Rilke said, "I have faith in Nights."
We can trust the Mystery, it will not fail us.
This retreat is my heart offering, a time to bask in the Mystery with kindred souls through these darkest, longest, holiest nights, see what wisdom the mystics of the world have to offer about such times when we are moving through Dark Night of the Soul, receive the transmissions of Holy Darkness through meditation and poetry, invoke Mercy, share blessing, practice listening to the Deep. Whatever burden you carry, come lay it down, whatever night is yours, come rest.
The retreat will unfold over 3 weeks, with 1.5 hour sessions each Sunday at 1:00 EST over Zoom, Dec 6, 13th and 20th. All sessions will be recorded for all participants. The suggested donation for this retreat is $70. Or you can pay-what-you-can. Everyone is welcome
Register HERE or at the linked image below.
Im also including a sister course from my sister Maya Luna, she will be holding space for the Holy Dark on Saturdays until Solstice with her course Luminous Darkness: The Light in the Heart of the Dark Night of the Soul. OK. Off to bed for just a little bit. Hope to meet you all in spirit in the heart of the night.
With love,
Vera