This morning the new sun appeared on the horizon. It is the sun that will carry us through to midsummer.
The Celts stayed awake all night to honour the dark time when the old sun dies (often through very bitter weather) and to watch the new sun arise on the horizon.
The new sun is a faint glimmering sun, not the full sun that arises on the horizon. Often this sun will be shrouded in cloud and not seen, only felt as the light comes and a new day dawns. As it did this morning and most of us were still deep in our dreams.
For the Celts, this new sun brings with it the hopes and dreams of what is to come. The seeds that were planted in the ground in the autumn are already beginning to grow and take root – as our own hopes and dreams.
THE MABON CHILD
They symbolised this new sun as the Mabon Child – it is tender and new as a newborn child and needs to be nurtured and cared for.
Isn’t this how it often feels. It feel like our hopes and dreams for the coming year, however strong they feel inside us and how much we want them to be fulfilled, they are still tender and new.
Like a newborn baby we must nurture and care for them, and just like with a newborn babe we watch with wonder for every little sign as this child begins to grow.
We don’t say why has this child got so little hair, surely that’s a bad sign, this child is never going to have any hair? Those fingers are so tiny how are they ever going to carry anything, or those feet are so small how are they ever going to run?
Killing your dreams
And yet this is often what many people do with their own hopes and efforts to bring change into their lives. When in fact they are just like a very child who can’t yet reach an object and cries with frustration because he can’t yet do what he wants to do. Unlike the child, who will continue to strive to reach that object until there comes a time when he can, many people give up on their hopes and desires. Worse they deem themselves as failures and decide that they can’t or they are not the sort of people that should even try.
When we do this we kill our hopes and dreams before they’ve even started to take root. We would never do this to a seedling we are trying to grow – and we certainly would never do it to a newborn baby!
Are you killing your hopes and dreams before they have a chance to grow? If it is the confidence you are trying to build, a quality that even for the most confident people has a tendency to go up and down, then you will need to be even more patient with yourself. Lasting confidence will grow if you make it your priority and if you do the work that is required.
What are you going to give birth to?
OFTEN YOU CAN’T SEE THE CHANGES THAT ARE BEGINNING TO TAKE ROOT
Often it’s not possible to see or feel the changes that are beginning to take root in you.
This new winter sun is shy, and it is just wanting to make sure that there is a safe place for it to fully shine its light. Every day that light will get a little stronger and it will shine a little longer.
For all those of you who have just gone through my courses, the changes you have made over the last few months are just like the new winter sun. It is shy and still finding its feet, and you will feel shy at times, aware that you have made changes, but can you truly step into them? However just like the new winter sun and the Mabon Child, day by day your confidence will get a little stronger and you will allow your light to shine a little brighter.
THE BIRTH OF THE MAGICAL CHILD
The Mabon Child is also the Magical Child, and this child has already been born in you this morning. The Celts welcomed the new sun and the Mabon Child with celebrations, songs, poems and feasting. How are you going to celebrate the arrival of your Magical Child? What are you going to give birth to through this child in the coming year?
The Magical Child is alive in everyone, whatever age you are. Is it alive in you? Or are you so wrapped up in seriousness and the cares of the world and the challenges you are facing?
The Magical Child will actually help you to get through those challenges. It will lighten up your world. It will enable you to play and out of the play, you will be able to reach to the stars, to the dreams you never thought you could achieve.
And in the process, you may need to let go of all the disappointments, the failures, the fears and anything that is standing in the way of you achieving your deepest longings for yourself. Indeed they had their part to play, yes even the most embarrassing and devastating moments, because in truth they are all part of that fulfilment that is still to come
Celebrate the Magical Child in you today.
© Claire Schrader 2015
What are the prices of your courses, having to book an appointment on the telephone just to get a price is ridiculous.