So this time of the year can be a little bit crazy-craze
for some people—it can feel a little bit crunchy and hard.
And I've talked a lot in the past about really
re-infusing the mysticism into this time.
In this video, I want to talk about how to truly create
a magical December—how to have this whole month
be one that you really enjoy.
I'm Asia Suler of One Willow Apothecaries
And this is your guide to creating a
magical December.
Number one is: make time for self-care
You've probably heard this in a lot
of different places already so far this season—
this emphasis on self care.
But I kind of want to give you a little bit
of a different angle—to maybe go a little bit
deeper into your commitment to this.
You know, when things are difficult or
hard, that's actually the best time to create
and craft new patterning in your life.
It's pretty easy to say, "In the new year, when
things calm down and are really quiet—Oh
I'm going to make time for meditation
or exercise, or yoga now
It's a lot harder to make that time when our
schedules are really busy.
But what actually happens for us,
on a mental, physiological level, is we are
retraining ourselves to prioritize self-care.
When we can make time for self-care,
when we don't have time, what we're telling
our deeper consciousness, is that this is truly
important to us. And we will actually
start to change the way in which we see and
process our time in our life.
You know, time is really variable. Time
is really in the eye of the beholder
You've seen this when you're with someone and you're
having a great time and the day just flies by
versus when you're sitting at the computer and writing emails. It's like
an hour is an eon.
Time is very flexible.
And by doing this kind of activity,
by making time when you truly feel like you
don't have time, what you're
doing is you're finding the flexibility of
time. You're stepping out of the very strict,
linear viewpoint of time,
and you're finding this "time out of time" for yourself.
And in so many ways, this is what
this December month was traditionally about—
when we enter into this moment in
time, of the sun just beginning to start to
return again. We're going into the deepest, darkest
part of the year, when
your dreams, and your daytime, would really start to
interweave. In a lot of ways, that what this
season was actually about— this
essence of "time out of time." You know this is
the darkest part of the year.
And traditionally, before we would have
all these lights that we could just easily flick
on in our home, we would be spending a
lot of time in darkness. We would be spending
a lot of time sleeping, and going in and out of
different states of consciousness and the dreamtime.
Really, the lines of time would have
started to become blurred. And I want you to be
able to embrace this for yourself now, and working with this
idea of making time when you have a hard time finding
time, is the fastest and most potent way to
step out of limiting or constricting timeframes,
and step into the truly mystical essence of this
season. Number two
is to simply remember the magic of this time.
If we look at many different temples and earthworks around the
world, we see that so many of them are actually
aligned to the solstice, and most often
the winter solstice.
Because this was such an important and
mythic moment for people.
If you think about the way things must have been
before we had out modern conveniences, it was
pretty profound to enter into this super dark
time, and then have the light return.
Because this is what the solstice really is, is when
the sun begins to shine brighter, begins
to come closer to the Earth. And what a time
of hope. So as we move into the solstice season,
embrace the deep richness of the darkness now—
that magic that can come out of this time of liminality
and the unseen.
One way to do this is just to simply spend more
time by candlelight—to turn of your lights early,
get into the darkness, and enact a small ritual
Whatever magic means to you. To really
connect back into the deep roots of
mysticism that this season holds.
The third tip for creating a
magical December month is to really
get "hands on" with your experience here.
This season of gift giving can be really beautiful, and that
kind of gets buried sometimes, under all these layers
of commercialism, which means that we're
in big box stores, or driving around in our cars,
or getting stressed out about the list of things
we need to get and wrap,
but what happens when we take all of that away and
we just interact with our hands with something tangible?
All magic arises from relationship,
and it's a lot harder to have a relationships with a big
box store, than it is to have a relationship with
a plant or a craft that you're working with
directly. I really encourage you to
make some time and try creating some things
with your hands, whether they are
as gifts or simply as objects or totems for
you to connect back into this time.
You know these long winter months were traditionally when
people would be crafting—you'd be
sitting around at night when there was really nothing
else to do, and you would be
spinning yarn, or you would be carving spoons. So this
really connects you back into your ancestry,
to the ways in which humankind have
traditionally marked this time.
There are so many wonderful herbs that you can
work with to create medicine and
to really craft special gifts for your
loved ones. I have two videos
you might want to check out here on Youtube:
Infusing Mysticism into your Holiday Season,
and, My Top Five Favorite Herbs for
the Holiday time. And both of these highlight plants
and ways of creating medicine with them that will
truly bring the season alive for you.
If you're interested in going even deeper and being even more
guided in your practice of medicine making this December-time,
then I have a whole course that was specifically created
for you: Holiday Magic and Medicine Making.
I go into my absolute favorite herbs
for this time. And tutorials
for how to take those herbs, ID them,
work with them, and turn them into truly
beautiful and unique wintertime medicines.
So if you liked this video, and you found like the Grinch
it's making your heart grow ten times bigger,
then share it with your friends and family—
let's really make this season one that feels
good and nurturing, rich and
magical for us all.
And I'd love to hear in the comments below, what
your favorite holiday rituals are.
Whether they're religious or nonreligious,
what are your ways of marking the true specialness of this time?
Thank you so much for watching,
and may you create a truly wonderful season
for yourself.