Lo-Fi & Hushed / Winter Solstice Session / Blessing for the Longest Night (Connect via Zoom or Riverside)
2024 Winter Solstice Practice Session
“So believe me
when I tell you
this blessing will
reach you
even if you
have not light enough
to read it;”
— Jan Richardson
Lo-Fi & Hushed Contemplative Practice Session for Wed, December 18, 2024 at 6:30am MT (GMT - 7)
Winter solstice descends in Advent. The deepening of darkness unbuttons the light. What needs to go fallow? What needs rest? Winter holds me tight through the layers of clothes, cold, and sunless evenings. I always look for the moon in the sky, but in winter, I swear she seeks me out. Each solstice and equinox Contemplify offers a public Lo-Fi & Hushed contemplative practice session for both free1 and supporting subscribers of the Non-Required Reading List. Now you can connect via Zoom or Riverside. All are welcome. For those interested, go tell it on the mountain…
Darkness has a texture, a feel to it. Collapsing into eternity is where my mind goes. The unterrifying darkness of the cosmos from my seat on earth. How vast and vivid a canvas for stars, without appreciation we paint light pollution over it. How does darkness warm you? As we move towards Winter solstice, Jan Richardson’s “Blessing for the Longest Night” will be our vessel for this Wednesday’s Lo-Fi & Hushed Equinox Session. You can follow the link to the entire poem or wait to be surprised in the practice.
May sweet darkness land gently upon you.
How to Participate
You can participate live in Lo-Fi & Hushed at 6:30am MT (GMT -7) on December 18, 2024 by going to:
RIVERSIDE: to view Lo-Fi & Hushed live on Riverside go to https://riverside.fm/studio/lo-fi--hushed
No one can see you, check the tech details on how to use Riverside
If this is your first time, check out the helpful links below
ZOOM: to view Lo-Fi & Hushed live on Zoom go to https://us05web.zoom.us/j/86940947986?pwd=RJPSjpMqirnfHXRppvABwI6rltGgDv.1
Possible for other practitioners to see you on Zoom
If this is your first time, check out the helpful links below
If you are a regular attender, remember the equinox Lo-Fi & Hushed practices are public and use an unique link. Use one listed above. A deep bow to all of you supporting subscribers who have joined this circle of practice. Your presence and practice nourishes this poetic lectio divina. As Winter greets us, may we rush with chattering teeth to embrace its gifts.
In hushed prayers,
Paul
Recording of December 18, 2024 Lo-Fi & Hushed will posted on the Substack post when available.
Helpful links for Lo-Fi & Hushed…
Lo-Fi: Tech details
Hushed: Contemplative details
Question: FAQs
Instructional Flow for Lo-Fi & Hushed (December 18, 2024)
Go to one of the Lo-Fi & Hushed links at 6:30am MT (GMT - 7):
To View Lo-Fi & Hushed Live (No one can see): https://riverside.fm/studio/lo-fi--hushed (if this is your first time, check out the helpful links above)
To View Lo-Fi & Hushed Live Zoom (Possible for other practitioners to see you): https://us05web.zoom.us/j/86940947986?pwd=RJPSjpMqirnfHXRppvABwI6rltGgDv.1 (if this is your first time, check out the helpful links above)
Light a candle (as possible): To physically acknowledge and welcome the fire of the Spirit’s presence
Hum: The research shows that humming (like singing and laughing) calms our nerves and enhances our sympathy. I begin with 3 long hums (feel free to join in). Humming settles my body and spirit while slowing the chug of my train of thoughts.
Bow: I bow to symbolize my head dropping into my heart as well as to literally bow before Mystery.
A thought before Lectio: A short musing and grounding to prepare us
I will mark the transition of each movement in the practice with a brief introduction to guide you through the practice.
Lectio / Reading: (~ 5 - 10 minutes)
Poem will be read 2-3 times.
Notice any words, phrases, thrusts, or themes that draw your attention.
Meditatio / Discursive Meditation (~5 minutes):
What is this poem saying to me? What word/phrase/thrust/or theme hovered? What surprised me? What am I being asked to notice? How did my body respond? My mind and heart? My spirit and soul? Who does this remind me of and why? How might God/Mystery/Higher Power be speaking to me through it? These are some example questions of inquiry to startle bring attention into active engagement with the poem.There is a level of effortful engagement in this movement of the practice. This can be done interiorly (that is what I do), in a journal (sometimes I do this), or talking aloud (rarely for me).
Oratio / Prayer (~5 minutes):
What is this poem calling out of me? How does this change my rutted ways of viewing reality? How is this poem asking me to show up in the world? What conversation does this start with the Beloved? You can see how this movement is prayerfully active out of the text and into conversation with God/Mystery/Higher Power. These are some example questions of prayerful longing in active relationship with God through the poem. I often find meditatio and oratio swing back and forth towards one another like a porch swing in a prairie wind. Once that wind settles to stillness, the invitation to the fourth movement opens.Contemplatio / Contemplation (~ 10 - 15 minutes):
This movement is being open to the passive reception of undisciplined grace.
Reflection:
After the Lo-Fi & Hushed session (and throughout the week), practitioners can return to this post and share any reflections or insights on the practice in the comment section below. The purpose is to 1) meaningfully integrate the practice through reflection 2) bear witness to the practice of others through reading their experiences 3) connect across the common bonds of a shared practice.
Sharing Reflections after Lo-Fi & Hushed
Communal reflection can be powerful, restorative, and encouraging. That is what the comment space after a Lo-fi & Hushed session is for. To help orchestrate that, here are the snappy guidelines.
Share from the heart what you experienced in the practice. Let that guide what you post. Some insights are given in contemplative practice to be shared. Paradoxically, more is not always more. Contemplative teacher James Finley says that “brevity forces clarity.” Let that guide the length of your post.
Be good to yourself. Allow the Divine to hold what arises as you can. And be patient with yourself.
This is not a therapeutic space. Best to take therapy to the professionals.
Above all, be kind. If you post unkind things here your comments will be deleted and you will be booted from Contemplify. This is a place of written reflection to edify the journey. Do not self-promote or market (no urls to your website, books, sales, etc).
Enjoy the gift of sharing and learning from one another. Your contribution means a lot. Thank you!
Shared a reflection on the practice by clicking the “Leave a comment” button below.
my family visited a beautiful open space on the solstice, lined with luminaras and the astronomical society was out there with telescopes. the right combination of nerdy and symbolic. Peeping through the telescopes I saw Saturn and Jupiter flickering in the black. Walking in the dark with a path lit by candles in paper bags full of sand, the world felt at ease. And Jan Richardson's line came to mind,
"This is the night
when you can trust
that any direction
you go,
you will be walking
toward the dawn."
time experienced through seasonality is how i want to walk home. And yet i live in a place where I have to drive home and back into the light pollution of the cityscape. The road home lined with bright signs for restaurants that chainsmoke their way across the country. I begrudge them not, we are but a flickering light in the cosmos doing the best we can, walking toward the dawn. The evening was a pause, a resettling of my hand on the earth's heartbeat, the turning of seasons.
Couldnt make it at 8:30am EST today but sat with the recording later today - and I've been trying for what feels like a lifetime to release my breath, the clutching around my heart et al. I've said it to myself more times than I count; made it many a New Year's resolution and on and on...but for some reason this afternoon I Heard the invitation, the invocation and it finally found me where I live. Lo-Fi & Hushed is an immense and incomparable gift, Paul. Thank you.