The Reflection of an Open Altar

Join us as we journey into the depths of winter’s sacred darkness with renowned wisdom keepers Pat McCabe (Woman Stands Shining) and Francis Weller. Recorded on December 21, 2024, at SAND’s Winter Solstice gathering, this episode invites you into a virtual ceremonial space that honors the winter solstice as a powerful moment of transition and transformation.

 Through poetry, storytelling, and profound dialogue, McCabe and Weller guide us in exploring the sacred landscapes of loss and regeneration. Drawing from Indigenous wisdom and archetypal psychology, they illuminate how embracing grief and releasing what no longer serves can awaken the tender seeds of renewal within us. This is an invitation to witness and metabolize both personal and collective transitions, understanding death not as an end but as a sacred dreaming—a portal to transformation.

This episode offers a contemplative space to embrace life’s cyclical nature, reflecting on the solstice as a time for inner alchemy. Together, we honor the rhythms of descent and renewal, finding meaning and hope in the fertile darkness of winter. Whether you are seeking solace, inspiration, or deeper connection, this conversation is a profound offering for anyone navigating the thresholds of life.

Pat McCabe (Weyakpa Najin Win, Woman Stands Shining) is a Diné (Navajo) mother, grandmother, activist, artist, writer, ceremonial leader, and international speaker. She is a voice for global peace, and her paintings are created as tools for individual, earth and global healing. She draws upon the Indigenous sciences of Thriving Life to reframe questions about sustainability and balance, and she is devoted to supporting the next generations, Women’s Nation and Men’s Nation, in being functional members of the “Hoop of Life” and upholding the honor of being human.

Francis Weller, MFT, is a psychotherapist, writer and soul activist. He is a master of synthesizing diverse streams of thought from psychology, anthropology, mythology, alchemy, indigenous cultures and poetic traditions. Author of The Wild Edge of Sorrow: Rituals of Renewal and the Sacred Work of Grief; The Threshold Between Loss and Revelation, (with Rashani Réa) and In the Absence of the Ordinary: Essays in a Time of Uncertainty, he has introduced the healing work of ritual to thousands of people. He founded and directs WisdomBridge, an organization that offers educational programs that seek to integrate the wisdom from indigenous cultures with the insights and knowledge gathered from western poetic, psychological and spiritual traditions.

Topics

• 00:00 Introduction and Setting the Scene
• 02:07 Introducing the Guests: Pat McCabe and Francis Weller
• 03:30 Pat McCabe's Opening Reflections
• 08:24 The Sacredness of Water and Ceremony
• 19:07 Francis Weller on Grief and Gratitude
• 22:54 The Long Dark: Embracing Darkness and Descent
• 27:49 The Medicine for the Long Dark
• 40:48 The Gift of Shame and Healing
• 41:27 Facing Grief Together
• 42:44 Embracing the Darkness
• 43:39 Interconnectedness and Affection
• 45:11 The Medicine of Rest and Patience
• 49:14 A Journey to Hiroshima
• 52:43 The Power of Storytelling
• 58:10 “Heabeat” by Danit (song)
• 01:04:37 Fearless Generosity and the Hollow Reed
• 01:09:00 The Necessity of Beauty
• 01:13:11 Closing Reflections and Prayers

Resources from Episode

• Danit - Heartbeat
• Refugia (Kathleen Dean Moore) Embodiment Matters - On Creating Refugia: Some New Offerings
• Duane Elgin - Choosing Earth: Humanity’s Transition to a New Civilization
• Deborah Eden Tull - Luminous Darkness
• David Whyte - Sweet Darkness
• Joan Halifax - The Fruitful Darkness

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