As many of my readers know, the early Christian Church carefully "hijacked" (or redirected) the focus of the major power times that occur each year. For instance, the birthday of Jesus, which most scholars agree could never have happened around December 25th, was placed practically on top of the time of the winter solstice, or December 21st. There's been a lot of debate about Jesus' true birth date. Some feel that the reason why Jesus was referred to as the "Lamb" over and over again in the Bible was because he was born in the spring, during the month when the sun is in Aries. Aries is the sign of the Ram in its mature form and the sign of the Lamb in its infant form.

The indigenous peoples knew that the winter solstice/Yule time marked the darkest day of the year, not just physically, but metaphysically. It is the time when the shadow energies temporarily gain an upper hand here. So who had the bright idea to place the celebration of Christ on such a dark day, one so out of synch with Jesus' energy? Those wonderful tricksters of the early church, that's who. They were also the ones who decided to bring in the blood sacrifice elements of the faith, which have never been part of the true gnostic version of Christianity. All that blood drinking, flesh eating stuff is a carryover from the cult of Mithras in Persia and even older Babylonian religions.

I mean, just ask yourself. Does drinking blood and eating flesh sound like something that's going to connect you with Jesus? Doesn't the very practice tend to remind you of other things, like, say......Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles? Hasn't that ever struck you as odd?

The dark energies of the winter solstice time are counteracted by the energy of the summer solstice, when the day energies, the solar energies, grow strongest. So everything has its balance.

What's fascinating to me is how the ancient wisdom of the eight major pagan holidays or metaphysical power times has been so carefully hidden away by the church structures which overlaid this ancient wisdom. They purposefully obscured the teachings about these power times for their own shadowy purposes. If you knew that there were eight times a year when your prayers stood the strongest chance of being answered....IMMEDIATELY....wouldn't that be cool? The early church fathers didn't want this known by the "masses" and still don't to this day. And yet, that's what the eight power times carry with them. The eight major power days are each an incredible doorway through which everyone can enter into cocreation with Spirit. If you do artistic work, meditation, prayer, or any form of spiritual expression during this time, you'll find it easier to tap into feelings of flow, harmony, and light.

Even Yule/the winter solstice can be used in this way, if you're careful to honor what the shadow has to teach you. It's a great time to purge yourself of darkness, to spiritually purify yourself, and to realign yourself with a Higher Power's love. But if you ever wondered why you're always running around completely stressed out and grumpy every December, it's because the moody energies of the winter solstice are bearing down upon you.

Our natural inclination at that time of year is to do as the bears do....to slow down, go within, nurture ourselves, and take stock of all that has happened over the past year. But we don't do this. We have this artificial overlay of the Hannukah and Christmas holidays to contend with, which would actually be more rightly placed in the springtime, when all of us would more naturally be attuned to the joyful, light-hearted energies of the season. It's hard to enter into blissful celebrations when you're busy purging the psychic debris of the entire past twelve months. And that's what is happening to all of us, energetically, at the winter solstice time.

The eight major power times that the indigenous peoples identified long ago...times when the "veil" between dimensions becomes the thinnest, and spiritual seekers can more readily access the energy of the Divine (or the shadow, if they seek it through dark ritual)...are:

Ostara or the Spring Equinox –March 21 or thereabouts.

Beltane, also May Day –(April 30 but usually celebrated May 1st)

Litha/Summer Solstice –(June 21st or so)

Lammas/August 1st

Mabon/Autumnal Equinox –Around September 21st

Samhain/Halloween –October 31st

Yule/Winter Solstice –Around December 21st

Imbolc/Groundhog Day- February 2nd

This last one, Imbolc/Groundhog Day, is the one that is rarely spoken of. I wanted to point it out here for everyone as a reminder that the three days leading up to Imbolc and the three days coming out of it are powerful times to make use of the energy veils being so thin. If you want to set some intentions about things you wish to create, or if you want to heal, or if you want to spread prayers for peace outwards on the planet, your intentions will carry a lot of weight on the etheric planes at this time.

The next power time following Imbolc is a big one, the astrological/spiritual New Year, and it occurs March 21st this year. That's the spring equinox.

Imbolc still carries some of the heavier energies of winter with it, but it is a powerful period for reflecting, for taking stock, and for getting clear about goals you would like to implement in the spring.

If You Live in the Southern Hemisphere

Please note that the pagan holidays are reversed if you live in the southern hemisphere.

So the winter solstice would be celebrated June 21st, the first day of your winter, and the summer solstice would occur on December 21st, the first day of your summer.

Imbolc would be celebrated at Lammas time (August 1st.) Lammas, in return, would be moved to February 2nd.

Halloween, while still celebrated secularly on October 31st, would actually be energetically happening on Beltane (April 20th or May 1st.) Beltane then gets moved to October 31st.

And the spring (March 21) and autumn equinoxes (September 21) would be switched.

Basically, the metaphysical energies of each holiday are oriented to your local seasons, when certain openings occur in the magnetic field of the Earth. They are reversed for the northern and southern hemispheres.

You can read more about the energies of the eight power times at my past article:

How To Use the Energies of Halloween and the Eight Major Pagan Holidays

Meanwhile, have a happy Imbolc and a joyful Groundhog Day! Here's to reclaiming the spiritual power of the eight holy "power" days! They belong to you...not to some crusty old guy in a robe.