Holidays, Family and the Divine Child Within

On Choosing Peace

Christmas. Hannukah. Kwanzaa. Diwali. We need every opportunity to celebrate that we can find. Every moment, every breath is worthy of celebration.

Dear Reader;

The following is a transcript of a live transmission received some years ago, on the topic of the holiday season and the challenges we often experience; for some in being alone; and for some in coming together with family and friends.

The idea of a religious holiday is something we humans have created. Our experiences of coming together to celebrate particular traditions, teachings, stories and legends, have come and gone throughout the history of humankind, and they will continue to morph and change. There isn’t one static, designated form. These gatherings and these celebrations are, like all human constructs, a revelation of what is going on within us, that is then expressed collectively.

And so when we take the lifetime of a human being such as Jesus Christ and interweave his story with ancient goddess and pagan rituals, and then modernize it all with commercial impulses, and intersect with various archetypal traditions from different cultures around the world, we end up with what we now call ‘the holidays.’  

There is no mistake that Christmas falls very close to other religious traditions, such as Hanukkah and Kwanza. So many impulses to gather and honour and speak to an aspect of our humanity occur around this time of year. What we want to do is to feel into the origins of that energy, and then feel into where it takes us as we do come together in community and in families.

In making our choice to incarnate into this dimension, we agreed to let go of our memory of spiritual peace. We agreed to be cast out from “Heaven” so that we may embark upon the journey of return, of movement toward it.  And in the rediscovery of it, of course, to claim embodiment of it in a whole new way.

Many religious traditions throughout history have focused upon the idea of birth, rebirth, and a pure birth, a virgin birth shall we say. The idea of a child of great purity magically arriving without all the baggage of sexual shame and ancestral patterning, and that this baby is a representative of the Divine.

And when this baby arrives, there are signs and signals, extraordinary events, paranormal events, and while the child is humble, beyond this human simplicity and humility, there is an expansive awareness of the profound nature of this extraordinary soul. That this child has come with a message, to teach us something about ourselves we seem to have forgotten, and of which we need to be reminded. That this child is, in fact, something beyond what we are in our human nature, as an aspect of the Divine itself.

This archetype is of course, an expression of awakening. It is a metaphor for the possibility of being born from our God, and yet bring our memory of our relationship to God with us. In this embodiment we look the same as others, we still walk with dirty bare feet, we may wear simple cloth robes, we might have long brown hair or beards and dark olive-toned skin, we might just be a very ordinary being in the heart of the world, deep deep in the heart of the Middle East, in what we might want to call the navel, the root of the umbilical cord of the world.

In this ordinariness there is an opportunity to remember who we are. To remember that we are none other than God, a child of God, Goddess, Spirit, Source. That we are born in absolute purity and brilliance. That as we dare to stand in this awareness of who we are, we will be recognized as such, and we bring incredible hope to the world with this possibility. We bring stories of a new time and a new day, and we dare to walk forward, even into danger, even into resistance, even into misunderstanding, betrayal, physical suffering and death, in service of this awareness, in service of the role that we find within ourselves as Source incarnated, Source coming with a teaching to share.  

So on such a holiday, in such a story of celebration, of course we want to gather together with others in our communities and families, to bring the vibration of this sensation together and to magnify it. Wherever two or more are gathered in His name, it is said, whenever we come together, we become much more than the sum of our numbers. Energetically we exponentially magnify our power.  

And if we dare to stand in this vibration of pure and guided and divine birth, regardless of our spiritual traditions, then we are empowered, we are awakened to extend this vibration to others and to receive it into our own hearts. This is why all the songs and poems, stories and traditions around these holidays have to do with light, even in the dark days; the giving of gifts, whether it’s a little one everyday or many on one day; the cooking of very specific and memorable meals that are traditional; and in these songs, an invitation to peace, toward higher and more pure concepts, toward something that elevates us above and beyond our daily lives and the struggle we confront all the rest of the year.

This quality of celebrating the light, even within the darkness, is as firmly embedded in our goddess and pagan histories as it is in any of our organized religious traditions. The idea of bringing nature into our home by erecting a tree and then honouring the tree and decorating it in beauty, these rituals speak to a very primary hope within us, that there is meaning, purpose and alchemical transformation found in every experience of this world. And if we dare to open, we are reminded of our hope, our faith, and the glory of divine expression through music that makes our skin tingle and our hearts sing.  

When our ears hear The Hallelujah Chorus being sung, when our hearts vibrate with the power of the word and the notes, we are in fact being reminded of what is true so that the illusions of the challenges of the rest of our lives may fall away into their place. And we return to our purity, to our wholeness, in this opportunity for birth.

So whether we have any consciousness about this aspect of what our holidays are about, whether we have any awareness of this or not means nothing; we feel it.  So we can say we’re no longer allowed to say Merry Christmas, we can say that we’re going to change the rituals, we can say, oh I’m not so fond of Christmas anymore, I’m not going to go to these Hanukkah gatherings anymore, we can choose to attempt to extract ourselves from something we may think is a holdover from our childhood, but the truth is, that vibration is active around the planet as a whole and there is no escaping it, it’s everywhere.

And our material selves, our human selves, of course attempt to express this through spending money and feeling the pressure of having to give things in a certain way so that what we give will be received in a certain way, so that we are perceived as someone who loves. Who loves enough to spend the money, to show up as a loving parent, child, sister, brother, friend.

And underneath all of this is a call to remember our connection with the Divine. It’s a call to say, there is meaning, there is purpose, and it is there for each and every one of us; we only have to feel it, we don’t even have to understand it. In fact sometimes that is the best way, to begin with simply opening our hearts and saying, you know I haven’t read the Bible or my meditation practice has fallen away, or I don’t really believe in this religious tradition… that doesn’t matter.  Because if we can stand in the vibration that is awakened on the planet, and we can open our hearts to that frequency, then we are transformed and we participate in the transformation that is there for us all.

Now this means there is an opportunity for a great light to rise up and come forward.  And it is there, it is real, it is available to us, and it is experienced in many many ways.  Whenever the gates open for the light to arise, we know what comes with that experience, what is a part of the equation, and it is that the darkness will be illuminated. The darkness will be shown to us. And it will be shown to us bathed in light, and given to us as an opportunity to choose.  

This is why, in amidst all the desires for joy, for happiness, all of the parts of us that want to experience what we think the celebration should be about, that in the midst of that what is so commonly felt is the polarity of that beauty, of that light.  Because what we see instead of the light are the ways in which it has been missing.

And so the one who feels that their opportunities at this time of year are less than they would like them to be, maybe they don’t have a loving family to go to, maybe they’re on their own, maybe they don’t have money to spend on gifts, maybe they feel fractured and separate from the way they think a family and community and love should be, many individuals will in fact find that their suffering is accentuated. Their fears, their nervousness, their anxiety, their loneliness. They may find waves of tremendous darkness and despair come up in the moments where they wonder if they’re pretending too hard, they’re trying too hard to achieve something that might be there for other people, but no not for me.

Similarly of course, as we come together in community and with family, all that has been unaddressed, all that we have tried to pretend isn’t there, will gather and sit at one big table. The mother who didn’t love us, the father who was absent, the sibling who bullied us, the cousin who used us, the grandparents who created a legacy of punishment or denial in the family. And then all the spouses, the partners, who bring into the mix their own dynamics, their own woundings, their own desires, their own search for light.

And of course, the children.  We hear so often, Christmas is for children, the holidays are for children.  And very often we don’t realize when we say that, that the holiday, the celebration, the rituals, are for the child within each one of us, as well as those who are still physically small. And the child within each one of us wants to have that traditional food, wants to have one more opportunity to gather and sit with the family we so desire to give us love. Is it possible that this year, this particular day, this moment in time, we may reverse our experience of being the outsider, of there never being enough, of it always being painful, of it always being a memory of what has gone missing in the past?

As with all other Awakenings, and this is a celebration of an Awakening, they bring with them deep truths, and those truths are never easy because they ask us to integrate, to be without judgement. They ask us to open our arms and be welcoming to the whole of the picture, not just the part that we wanted to construct in a certain way.  We want so much to receive unconditional love, and yet so often we find it so challenging to give, to others or to ourselves.

And here is the magic, here is the answer. That it is when we begin with our own internal agreement that we will be the gift giver to our own hearts on this day, in these holiday times, that we will recognize that when we open our arms wide, it is aspects of ourselves we gather to us. That we will, in this generosity of spirit, find that we are so at peace, so resilient, so capable of joy, that the conflicts which may have pulled us down into darkness in the past will soften, like that mirage on the horizon, and melt away, and we will be left with the gifts of our own making, we will be left with the gifts of our own receiving.  

When we make this choice a conscious one, before we enter into the cave of the bear or the arena full of lions, before we cross the threshold where we will be greeted by shadow aspects of ourselves, and ourselves only, when we embody the understanding that this is the day where big-bellied men fly through the sky and drop gifts through the chimneys to every child in that incredible image of absolute generosity, when we dare to allow ourselves to feel that possibility within ourselves, for ourselves, we match ourselves to the vibration that is intended on a planetary level.  And in this place we generate, we call to us that which matches that vibration. We call to us the reflection of the self that we have offered to the world.

Now, of course the inner voices are saying, well that’s all well and good, sounds very easy and pretty, but then the actual experience takes place.

But here’s the thing: that experience is utterly malleable. We tend to freeze our perceptions of our loved ones in time. We assume that they are what they have always been and always will be.  And we assume that that aspect is going to be difficult and painful to us, because it always has been. And we assume that if we’re confronted by that, we are going to feel the loss of the love, we’re going to feel the emptiness, we’re going to feel the void. None of which is true.

The most resistant and avoiding soul is still always in motion, is still moving. The most obstreperous relative cannot help but be affected by your joy. And it is the most delightful game to play at any gathering, it’s a game you play only with yourself, and it’s even more powerful if you tell no one about it until afterward. When you walk toward that one event or that gathering or that individual where in the past you have experienced a reminder of a belief in the lack or loss of love, but instead you approach that individual and instead of looking to receive something that you believe is not there, you move toward them radiant with the truth of what you know exists within you. When there is no hunger within, we cannot be let down by the limitations of others.

And in that moment where we make that choice, we must remember that we give them full permission to be who they are. Their most difficult self. There can be no exclusion to this generosity, which is the true representation of this time of year. We cannot say, well, I feel extremely loving towards my children, because they’re so cute, but when I go and see my great uncle Philip, whom I think is such a horrible person, I’m going to inevitably feel triggered and hurt and offended by him. We promise you that your great uncle Philip was once a pure little boy, and he will be again.

Whatever aspect of him is so irritating, we promise you that aspect lives somewhere within you, because you and your great uncle Philip are One. The division between the two of you is illusory. It’s a part of the game we’re playing in this matrix, in this realm.  And we play it with very real purpose. We play it so that we will be offered a gift of self-awareness, and that self-awareness will lead us into a state of deep humility which will then take us to the truth that we, each and every one of us, is a pure, beautiful baby, a child, a son or daughter or God, Goddess, Source. No exceptions. Not one.

And so here lies the opportunity. We can enter all of the experiences of our holidays as a game, as an exercise in watching our own capacity to open our own hearts, to be in non-judgment, in presence, in a state of freedom. To be playful, to be our own little child, and to notice how staying in connection with that part of ourselves is profoundly contagious, and that the grouchiest of Scrooges will be responsive when they are shown a mirror of the possibilities of choosing differently, the possibility of choosing love instead of holding tightly to a fear of lack.  

We must add this reminder that of course there are going to be moments when you feel you’ve been unsuccessful at your game. Look at that, great uncle Philip is as obnoxious as ever. But what you are going to notice is a profoundly new capacity within yourself to smile upon that gentleman, to let him be. Just to let him be.

And if there was one gift that you could give to everyone at this time, it would be that. To love them exactly as they are. To not have to correct them if you feel that they’re wrong. To not have to change them if you feel they’re flawed. To not have to distance them if you feel ashamed of your association with them. And at the same time, to absolutely not deny yourself and your own desires.  

So, if you are the one vegetarian at the table and everyone else is eating turkey, enjoy your lentils. Love them. And enjoy watching everyone around you eating meat. Let them be who they are, because it is the most effective, truthful and powerful way to invite them to meet you in a state of love. Lead the way. Be who you know you are, and you cannot go wrong.

This is the stuff of miracles, and this is the time for miracles. It’s the time for recognizing that miracles take place everyday around us if we choose. But when the whole of the world stops for a few days and says, imagine a miracle, imagine a miracle of a pure child being born into consciousness and bringing with her or him the awareness of their own divine nature that they are God. Then, in that belief, join millions of others nestling gently into that belief, and we can raise the vibration of the planet as a whole. And now that is a cause for celebration.

We need every opportunity to celebrate that we can find. Every moment, every breath is worthy of celebration. Let’s not take away, let’s add to this spirit and in this, discover a very visceral experience of oneness. This holiday is your chance to see what it means to witness yourself reflected, and to love that aspect of who you are, of who you all are.  Because of course, ultimately we are One. Ultimately and forever.

We close with the reminder that whatever your experience is of meeting with family and friends throughout these holidays, let yourself be true to yourself. Know that whatever did come to you was exactly what you needed in your experience. And where you witness transformation, where you witness a new depth, a new light, a new love, celebrate that. Because that is the spirit of every holiday in every faith.

It is the remembering, the returning to our purity, our beauty, that is our purpose on this Earth.  When we come together and remember this, there can be nothing but beauty and light that will emerge, because this is, of course, the truth of who we are at all times. Perhaps especially when we tend to forget.

Wishing you days of loving connection, healing and rest from the turbulence of our times.

Much love, Adi