On one of the emails I receive that covers a modern version of Mayan calender, the upcoming Solstice this Monday promises to be a very powerful time.  This Solstice is a door opening where many of the energies of the world come to a standstill, making it the appropriate moment for reflection before the lights comes flooding in on us again.

Excerpt: at the precise moment: Monday Dec 21 9:47AM PST, Yellow Solar Human day, 13Kan but also, know that during Solstice the Sun stands still for 3 days before the Return of the Light – so it is an auspicious window of time!

While these are important times to gather with our family and
communities, these are also important times to go deep within ourselves
and to let go of the old, making space for new life and new creativity
to blossom.

In this regard, I would like to share with you a message I found very
inspiring, in the hopes it might also move you to engage in personal
ceremony during this 3 day window.

The following message is from my dear friend and cosmic ally, Ariel
Spilsbury (author of The Mayan Factor and the 13-Moon Oracle):

"Dear Beloveds,

What a powerful "Duir" door this Winter Solstice offers! Solstice means
Sol-sun and stice..stands still. Far from the frenetic energy that is
promulgated by the culture, the three days around Winter Solstice are a
time to go inward, to "stand still" in the darkest time, to deeply
inquire into what shadow baggage is calling to be totally released
before you enter into the cycle of the Return of the Light. Some things
are true, and sometimes they are truer still. This is one of those
times. We have been personally and culturally in a process of
dissolution of our baggage for many years now, and THIS solstice is
time to look at what single shadow you have carried in your life that
is like a "curse" or "spell" that you have "been under", that you are
truly ready to take FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR ITS CREATION AND FULL
RESPONSIBILITY FOR ITS RELEASE!

What pattern has come down your family line that you have felt to be
completely unable to be changed, so powerful was its "spell"? And by
spell i mean the strength and tenacity of the belief system or pattern.
Reaction is a portable prison.* Culturally this is a potent time to
break the spell and break free! These dark days during Solstice are
particularly powerful for that process, so please consider taking time
to do a deep contemplation to discover what the spell has been and do
an intentional ceremony to release it for yourself and the collective
One!

This does not have to be a "heads down, serious, un-fun" process. It
can be as easy as asking yourself, "I wonder why I would cast this
spell in my life and who is the character in me who is continuing to
perpetrate it in my movie and further more "I think i will just make a
new casting call and REWRITE THE SCRIPT of my life movie without that
pattern!!  That could be a lot more fun way to look at doing this
process. "How can I animate and amplify the most desirable story/script
for my life? What NEW VOW do I want to put into motion in my life?" For
moving through the "duir" of the new year, these are questions worth
answering in a Solstice Ceremony. As starhawk says in a wonderful chant
you can use, "The Wheel is Turning, What Will You Give to the Night?
Response: _____________ is gone with the night. Answer that and truly
give it to the Dark Mother to be transmuted, that the Divine Child in
you may be birthed this Solstice!!!

Starhawk's traditional Solstice Greeting: "This is the night of
Solstice, the longest night of the year. Now darkness triumphs; and
yet, gives way and changes into light. The breath of nature is
suspended; all waits while within the Cauldron,  The Dark King is
transformed into the Infant Light. We watch for the coming of dawn,
when the Great Mother again gives birth to the divine Child Sun, who is
the bringer of hope and the promise of summer. This is the stillness
behind motion, when time itself stops; the center which is also the
circumference of all. We are awake in the night. We turn the Wheel to
bring the light. We call the sun from the womb of night. Blessed Be."

"The winter solstice is the shortest day of the year and the longest
night, known also as the Mother Night. It is considered to be the start
of a new year and the rebirth of the new sun. We honor the power of
darkness, the Divine Mother, the womb of creation. Yule is the return
of the sun and rebirth of light. It is a time of new beginnings and a
great time for dedication to new projects. We celebrate and welcome the
rebirth of the sun Goddesses. Winter Solstice is a magical time for
visions. Rhiannon rides through the dreams of her people by night,
transporting them to the place between the worlds where they can create
their own visions, giving them a gift of what they need most, helping
them to make their dreams real. Let us collectively dream a new
heart-centered world where our visions of Heaven on Earth are
manifested."