Fabeku Fatunmise, a wonderful teacher and healer I’m honored to call my friend, some time ago shared his understanding of the medicine teachings offered by each month. I’ve found this framework a very helpful approach and find myself reflecting on the teachings during the month as sort of a heart touchstone. Fabeku considers these cycles of opportunity and challenge to dance with throughout the month. For January the medicines are Stillness and Listening. Isn’t that the perfect way to start the cycle of a new calendar year?
For a few years now I’ve indulged in a practice taught to me by Waverly Fitzgerald – using the “12 Days of Christmas” (from 12/26-1/6) to review the ending year and, as she so eloquently puts it, close the energy on the old before opening the door to the new. For me this is very much an exercise in stillness and listening.
I’ve experimented with different ways of using each of the 12 days. One way is to use the twelve house divisions of the astrological chart and review my life in the context of one house per day. So for instance, on day one it’s time to review the first house – the house of who we think we are/how we meet the world and impressions we make on others at first meeting, basically the ego house. Day two covers house number 2, the area of “stuff” and “I have”.
For me this is an interesting process. Last year was a year of growth and change for me. But sometimes when we’re in the flow of things it’s easy to forget how far we’ve come. So periodic review can be quite valuable.
I am by nature a quiet and reflective person so perhaps this process is more attractive to me than it might be to everyone. But if you’re so inclined, I recommend it as a great way to get a sense of where you are before hitting the road for the next lap of the journey.
More about listening next time…