Let me start a year back when I met a woman who introduced herself and her business, EnergyRICH and I immediately went over to check out the woman who was CEO of “MY” business.  You see I had thought of myself as THE ENERGYXPERT.  I owned the domain and the twitter address and I was set to energize the world.  Who was this woman with ‘my’ idea?

So I went up to her, felt the richness of her energy and introduced myself.  The conversation was brief and the memory was lasting.  She was filled with Light and Energy, and I had no doubt she was Rich with Energy.  She was the real deal.

So when it came to the announcement of her event, BE EnergyRICH: Your Spiritual Soul-ution for Marketing Success Retreat, I knew I wanted to be there.  I also knew I could contribute my energy to the event.

So here is where we cut right to the event.  Yesterday we shared onstage together the story of how I approached her through my fear to come to be on the stage with her, ready to present a Performance Healing Segment for her entire audience.

She allowed me to share that it all started with an:

•               Intuition

•               A ‘Nagging Suscipion’

•               A warm introduction

•               A Heart felt letter of Proposal

•               Follow up

•               Commitment to Receive her Call

•               Intentions of what we both wanted out of our conversation together

•               A request of what ‘I wanted’

•               Letting go and detaching from the results

•               Showing up for the event with bells on and sharing the stories with others.

And that is how it went.  I had a powerful feeling that I was going to be at this event and I visualized a way for me to be there.  I didn’t just want to be there to receive information from her. I wanted to give to the quality of her event from my heart. Actually, it really wasn’t me, it was God’s guidance to reach out to her and share my gifts were her audience.

Something that I wasn’t able to really recognize, until she pointed it out, was that I persevered and took action. I let go of attachment and was able to serve her community from a place of gratitude and service.

So what did I do?

I shared with her attendees the very powerful mudra for to heal and open the heart.  And then invited them to softly close their eyes, and give witness to the sensations that came over them and flowed through them as they listened to a beautiful song called, The Human Heart from Once on this Island.

Its a beautiful song that weaves together the many experiences we have in life, only to know them all together in the place of Love.  It is about courage, connectedness, compassion, consideration and community.

It really brought everyone together in a Spirit of heart and healing.

Then, after this experience we invited everyone to join together with a partner.  Then to connect to their hearts with one  hand, and to bring their hands to touch that of the other person and see all these things in the other person and to allow them to be seen by the other person.

There was such a warmth and an energy that came over the entire space. It was palpable and wonderful.

Afterwards, were the best moments of the entire experience. And its the part that I hadn’t planned or hoped to be as powerful as it was.  These were the moments that people shared they were able to have shifts in long standing resentments, release of fear that was being held onto for years, and moments of heart opening that they had never expected to have. It was astoundingly beautiful to support these moments of awareness through out the next two days.

So why am I sharing this with you?

Because it is bringing Light to Life, by receiving Guidance from the Light and then passing that Light on to others.

This is the message of Light is Life, whether it be through the Light of Naam Yoga, Harmonyum or Performance.

Open yourself up to the Guidance that comes through the Light of your own true and trust it to illuminate your path!

This is How you BE who you want to BE.  BY BEing it!!!!

There is a great little book called You2, it’s really You (squared) but I don’t know how to configure exponents on my keyboard.  Think about that though. Isn’t it sometimes just that?

‘Not knowing’ that keeps us from doing things that we simply ‘know’ we are being called to do.

We don’t know if we’ll be taken care of or fall flat on our face.

We don’t know if people will love it or hate it.

We don’t know if we can finish it once we’ve started it.

We don’t know exactly how it is going to look.

We don’t know how to ask for help.

We don’t know how to remove the mental blocks in our way that keep us small and stuck.

We don’t know if…..

We don’t know….

We don’t…

Simply that. We don’t do it. Whatever ‘it’ is. And we watch others DO, because they don’t have the dont’s and the if’s.

How is it so subtle a way of thinking that makes such a massive difference in the world and in our lives?

Last time I checked, dont’s and ‘if’s' are not the empowerment words used to manifest anything except failure and disappointment.

So why do we use them?

And why do we hear them so often when we want to step into something new in our lives?

One little word, FEAR, that I’m actually not going to give much attention to.

We all know all about it. Where and how it has served us in our lives, and where and how it has hindered.

I’ve been conditioned to give into it, especially when it comes to money. And what do dreams usually need to be made manifest? Well, they need a little bit of money. And so with the fear of money at the helm, guess who thought that those dreams just weren’t going to come true?

HOW could I pay a band to play for me, even though the only way to get out there and live my big dream, (you know the one that God kept repeatedly hitting me over the head to do), is to have musicians?  If you know the What, the How show’s UP.  So here’s what happened. I asked. I asked the Universe for musicians, and they showed up. Good one’s too.

And right after that, can you imagine what showed up?    Fear that they wouldn’t want to play, it was too little money to start, blah, blah, blah, fear, fear, fear.

So guess what? Blinders back on. To touch back to ‘You (x 2)’ again, it says, “When you focus constantly on a clear picture of what you want to accomplish, and move toward it confidently, the unseen forces will rally to your support.  These unknowns, these invisible resources, are the most powerful factors available to assist you in making the quantum leap to you2.”   (U2, would be cool too)

It doesn’t say, slide in some “don’ts and ‘if’s” here and there for maximum success…

So Don’t Do That.

Keep focusing on the Quantum Leap.  So here is how the Quantum leap happened and Christian Kirtan was created.

1. 5 years ago; riding bike in Italy looking at the clouds, first song comes into my head

2. 4 years ago: in friends living room studio, record CD

3. Keep CD in closet, too afraid to share with anyone except family, and even that was a stretch

4. Keep big dream and inspiration secret, jump from job to job miserably

5. 1 year ago, buy domain name www.ChristianKirtan.com, (leave in GoDaddy account and do nothing)

6. 1 month ago: Change Mindset about this whole thing

7. Next Day: Put Ad on Craigslist for musicians, and musicians appear

8. Day after that: Make a call to Integral Yoga and say we’ve got a show, when it was still just an idea

9. Book show and Create show

10.Quantum Leap

I mapped this out for you guys, because I’d like to encourage you to do the same for yourself.  To go back to YOU2, which was a huge inspiration over the last month and a half, I leave you with this:

“Going for the quantum leap feels chancey.  The risks hit you as rather apparent, and may be quite threatening, but you must stack them up against the hidden risks you accept when you decide to live with the status quo. Ask yourself what you’re risking if you do not go for the quantum leap.  (did you see it? the ‘if’ and the don’t?)    The risk is that you won’t get what you really want out of life.”

Are you willing to risk that?  IF you DO, then we don’t miss out on the wonderful gifts you have to share with us!

Kirtan is one of the oldest sacred music traditions in the world.

Coming to us from India, this call-and-response chanting genre is usually sung in Sanskrit, and calls upon sacred energies which serve to quiet the mind, remove obstacles, and bring us back to the center of our being.

Althouh the Kirtan involves music, the underlying art of Kirtan chanting is not actually about musical ability or training – it is about the heart and experiencing the presence of God in our midst.

By repeating simple mantras over and over, at varying speeds, the Kirtan is an easy way for people to experience some freedom from the daily chatter of the mind and connect more closely with the Divine.

Christian Kirtan is the deepening of our relationship to the Christ Force, Jesus himself and the Holy Spirit. Our format is simple. We use easy to learn call and response chants, filled with Light, joy and celebration! The melodies are accessible which allow you to deeply feel and connect with the music, while harmonizing and improvising if you like.

There are some really amazing Kirtan artist that you can check out, if you’d like to get started bringing this style of prayer, reflection and celebration into your life.

Here’s the short list of my favorites:

Snatam Kaur

Kirtan Rabbi

Krishna Das

SatKirin Kaur Khalsa

I hope you get a chance to listen and enjoy.  And I hope to soon add my name to that list!

This is a wonderful way to raise the vibration of your home and your heart!  In this way you elevate the people and places you come in contact with and contribute to making the world a brighter more beautiful place.

This is a place for your Heart to Sing and your Light to Shine!

There is so much out there about New Year’s Resolutions. There are the “Top 10 Resolutions”, “Goal Setting”, “The 1 Year, 3 Year and 5 Year Plans”, “The Activia Challenge”, the “Special K” challenge, and the list goes on and on.

You can spend all day searching and looking for the answers in this or that program. But the answer dwells within and how you view the mark of a New Year.

I found some interesting quotes, while I was doing some outward searches of my own, and it got me thinking about the Yearly Cycle.

I liked this one by Bill Vaughan:

“An optimist stays up until midnight to see the New Year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves.”

• What type of person are you?
• Are you ending your year in gratitude and joy?
• Do you recognize the lessons that it brought as being part of your personal growth and development?
• Are able to recognize your accomplishments?
• Are you able to see all the love and abundance in your life?

Or, do you think, “Well, thank God that’s over?”.

Our attitude is everything, and we really do shape the circumstances in our life by the thoughts we think. I know it sounds simple and almost common sense, but if you really look back at the year, can you trace this pattern and development? I know I can.

I know I wanted to make big changes, and I had the idea that I was going to have pay dearly for these lessons. And I did. A pretty penny one might even say. It was worth it in the end to have a clear cut experience that “As Above So Below.” As we think we become. If you don’t like the results you are getting in the physical plane, you must go to the Divine and take a good look at your conscious and unconscious beliefs.
Standing at the presipice of a New Year, we have a significant benchmark to challenge the old ideas and make new choices.

So, how exactly do we do that? Although we all operate under the same Universal Laws and Principles we each have our own way. For instance, we will start this New Year together and end up at this place once again to ring in 2012, but each and everyone of us will take a different course.

Mine may be abundance and prosperity, while yours may be patience and service. Someone else’s may be assertiveness and confidence.

We each have a different lesson and different way of getting there, but “there” is Love.

*Love* is the greatest of all the Universal Principles.

So, what am I getting at?
I guess its to keep it simple and enter this year with LOVE.

• Love in everything you do.
• Love during the 10 second countdown.
• Love while feeding your cat.
• Love while making your bed.
• Love in letting the other car go ahead of you.
• Love while picking up the phone.
• Love while watching the news.
• Love while thinking of your body.
• Love in helping your neighbor.
• Love while paying a bill.
• Love in going to a church service.
• Love in reading a book.
• Love in visiting family.
• Love. Love. Love.

Love in everything you do. What better resolution could there be, but to Love?

Love exactly where you are, and trust its exactly where you need to be. And then move into the next full expression of who you are to become in Love.

• If you have a relationship problem, bring love to it.
• If you have a financial hardship, bring love to it.
• If you have a health problem, bring love to it.
• If you have a career quandry, bring love to it.

Ask LOVE to be your guide. Make a Re*soul*ution to Love!
There are but 2 things in this life, LOVE and FEAR.
So to go back to our buddy Bill Vaughn, OPTIMISM or PESSIMISM.
So, how are you going to start your year?

I hope its LOVE and not fear!!!!!!

One of the best things to do before the New Year is over, is give yourself or someone you love the gift of Harmonyum.

What is Harmonyum, you ask?

I know, I know… Most people haven’t heard of it. But you’ve heard of stress, right? You’ve heard of fatigue? Burn-out?  You’ve heard of energy healing? Alternative healing? Feeling good? Looking great?

Your computer has gone on over load and you’ve had to re-boot it right? You’ve surely heard of that.

Well think of Harmonyum, like giving your entire body a re-boot.

Harmonyum is like changing your entire operating system. And don’t we sometimes operate a little differently at the holidays?

Spending just a little bit more time with family? A little more time partying? A little more time looking at the past and looking at the future? A little more time out of our routines, away from the gym and in the cookie jar?

Face it, often times after the Bermuda Triangle of the Holidays, we are yearning for a re-boot. To re-commit to harmony, health and happiness in our lives.

We all know, 2012 is right around the corner, and although we don’t know exactly know what that means, change is in the air. We know it. We feel it. And on some level we are yearning to prepare for it. We are. We are yearning to more deeply express ourselves as the spiritual beings we are.

We don’t go around saying that, but its happening whether we like it or not. I happen to really like it. I love connecting with Spirit.  It seems more natural than anything else in the world, and these are the times we are being drawn into.

Harmonyum is the real deal. After I have a Harmonyum Session, I feel re-booted. Reconnected with myself, my truth, my purpose and potential. My clients have told me, they feel a sense of peace, calm and serenity beyond anything they have ever experienced. And I say, “Yes, I know. Thats why it so dang hard to describe. How could you possibly put enlightenment into words?  You are being literally being brought to Light with each session.”

I’m going to share this with you, courtesy of www.rootlight.com   Rootlight is such a great resource. Please check it out.  Here is a snipet of

“Harmonyum and the Light of All Lights”

“Harmonyum is the master key to the sacred and holy science that brings peace to the soul, light to the mind and strength to the spirit.  Harmonyum is the helping hand that lifts souls from the depths of darkness into the light of illumination.

When you receive a Harmonyum treatment, you awaken a dormant consciousness and merge with the Truth. When you merge with the Truth, you find yourself. When you find yourself, you find God. In this way, Harmonyum is an initiation into the Divine life that brings healing and bliss. With Harmonyum, the positive forces of nature flow through you to connect you with the unbounded Cosmic Circle of Great Beings. The healing elements are then at your disposal and permanent cure is possible.

Above all, Harmonyum directs you to the Heart of God so that you may receive the Divine rays of the Light of Immortality. This Light shines forth from the Sun behind our visible Sun where the supreme Intelligence reigns at the summit of the firmament, above the realms of physical creation. Understand, beyond the physical sun we see with our human eyes is a subtler Sun hidden to all but those with the most highly developed consciousness.

Through the blessings of Heaven, Harmonyum makes it possible for our souls to communicate with all the Luminous Beings who dwell there.”

Oh, and did I mention it helps you communicate better with Human Beings?  That is always helpful, especially around the holidays….Happy New Year!!!

May Harmony, Health and Happiness be Yours Always!!!!

Visit www.lightislife.org   We’d love to connect and re-boot with you!

The best gift you could have possibly ever received is the Breath of Life.  It is the gift that keeps on giving and it is that first breath of Jesus Christ that we celebrate at Christmas.

Every breath we get to take is a gift from God. It is life, it is Light, it is Creation in Action. What’s more, is that the way in which we choose to breath has a profound effect on our lives.

In Yoga, Pranayama is the name given to the aspect of one of the 8 limbs of Yoga that is called Breath Control.  There are hundreds of techniques and fancy advanced breaths out there but the first step is awareness.  Be aware of how you are breathing.  Then, when you go more deeply into the Science of it, you can see what your breath is revealing to you.   For instance, do you remember your parents or grandparents telling you to take 10 deep breaths when you got angry and before you acted on that anger.  This folk wisdom endures because it has a solid base in science- and begins to demonstrate some of the most powerful benefits of pranayama: that the breath pattern will automatically change when the emotional pattern changes.

We breath in one pattern when we’re joyous, another when we’re angry, another when we’re depressed and another when we are distracted and on and on it goes.

When we spend several minutes a day consciously regulating our breath, we break our unconscious patterns of breathing-and thus the unconscious emotional patterns that underpin them.

A daily pranayama practice stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system as well or better than any other activity.

So here is the question….

How are you breathing?

Most people don’t know… They are totally unaware of their breath and what it can do for them, and coincidentally others.

Just by taking a few calming breaths, you can have a profound effect on your health, the conversations you have, the actions you take, the reactions you have and all your relationships.

When we practice full yogic breathing, we also increase the velocity of the fluids moving through all the tissues in our body, thus promoting an increase in nutrition to cells, more efficient waste removal and better immune defenses.

So blah, blah, blah…

Here’s the gift…. Some really yummy Breathing Techniques that you may not have considered.

We’ll go with some you know first….

1. Long Slow Deep Breathing… (just like it sounds, breath long slow deep breaths)

2. Alternate Nostril Breathing… (again, like is sounds. Breath in left, exhale right, inhale right, exhale left)

3. Three Part Breath….   ( you guessed it.. Like it sounds… 1. Inhale 2. Hold 3. Exhale…. three parts)

Now the Yummy Breaths: (and my Christmas gift to you)

1. Take 3 sips of breath in quickly through the nose and powerfully exhale through your mouth.

When you exhale through your mouth you are cleansing your blood. This is a great detoxifying breath.

2. 4 Sips of breath in through your nose

HOLD, (4 counts) the breath in

4 Sips of breath out through your nose

HOLD, (4 counts) the breath out

3. Inhale deeply and hold your breath to capacity. Exhale and repeat. Up to 3 minutes.

( This breath is excellent to help quit smoking.  All that is required to get rid of the urge

to smoke is to repeat this breath 7 to 15 times a day for 7 to 15 days)

Within that period of time, you will make the body’s metabolism go through the change to substitute

oxygen in place of the nicotine.

This breath will work for anything you want to get away from that you desire, i.e. addictive substances,

behaviors, thoughts.

Over time, pranayama practice also generates awareness of the more subtle layers of interconnection between our choices

and their effects.

The biggest and best gift you could ever have, has always been yours and has always been with you. So in the spirit of the Season give yourself and others the Gift of Inspiration and work with your Breath!!!

Knowing what Creative Forces guide you, will open doors to your success, your happiness and your true purpose. Understanding the gift and challenges presented by the individual creative force, will bring to you greater awareness about your life, who you are and how you behave in relationship to others.

Knowing what Creative Force guides your family and friends will help you communicate, understand, love and grow with them in a way that has more depth, meaning, and fulfillment.

“Your Creative Force Blueprint” is a priceless tool in discovering your unique gifts and true potential. This personal map reveals hidden truths that bring more clarity and success to your life and your personal relationships.

Because it is so Practical and accurate, you will be able to implement what you learn immediately into your life and see both major shifts and subtle changes.

The truth is, 90% of the ‘stuff’ that effects us in the physical world, is unseen.

The 7 Creative planets are the Creative Forces and our link to the things that are going on in the invisible world.  These are the unseen forces that are having a dramatic effect on our lives and personalities.

We each have our own personal planetary combination, which acts like a code for who we are.

The planets, with the other 7 Karmic influences shape who we are, and what we are meant to do.

Its like our cosmic DNA. This blueprint, highlights the trials or triumphs we will go through in life.

Our personal planets impact our thoughts, actions, and behaviors on a day to day basis more than you know.

They are as personal to each one of us as our finger prints.  We may not see them working in our lives, but they are influencing us everyday. Helping to shape who we are, what we do, and how others see us.

They are the cosmic doorway to our happiness and success, or our hurdles and struggles.  Your planets will help shape your destiny, and create Harmony in your life.

I personally have experienced darkness in every area of my own life,  and have tried many different ways to break through it. A lot of them worked and a lot continue to work, but things really began to get clear and open up when I learned the Science behind the Unseen ‘Creative Forces’ that were shaping my life.

When I learned this, things started to click in a big way, because I got to learn more about who I was on the inside, and how that was shaping my outsides. These are Unseen Creative Forces that affect us all, and knowing our unique personal compostion will forever change how we navigate through our lives.

The planets are like a compass to our truth and purpose; our “Creative Force.”

Just so you can quickly and easily see the 7 Creative Forces in action below is the way in which they govern each one of the days of the week.

Sun-Sunday

Moon- Monday

Mars- Tuesday

Mercury- Wednesday

Jupiter- Thursday

Venus- Friday

Saturn- Saturn

Knowing which day you were born alone, can help you get super clear on what

“YOUR CREATIVE FORCE BLUEPRINT” is.

Every human being has a Vibration and his or her life has a particular rhythm. The more you know about your personal vibration and that of others in your life, you will better know how to maximize the joy and potential of that relationship, avoid hardships and avert challenges.

Know the aspects of your Vibration. They are assets to living a balanced life in Harmony with yourself and with others.

Get to know and embrace “YOUR CREATIVE FORCES”.

If you would like to know “Your Personal Creative Force Blueprint” visit http://lightislife.org/wp/your-creative-force-blueprint

Knowing is Doing it Now

from Stage Press Weekly February 7, 2002

I know this article dates back, but it is still really prevalent today and so I wanted to share it with you.  It seems like some of the things I thought I knew I needed to 2002 are still going on Now… Now is always the best time to take action towards a life of Harmony, Health and Happiness, so I’m bring this article back to the Light…

(this was written in a trade magazine, and I’ve left it completely in tact for authenticity)

A key to getting what you want is to first find what blocks you from that which you desire.

Most times, it’s tougher than turning a thought on- like a light switch- but I assure you, if you surrender to working until every last insight is found and understood, the light on each situation will grow brighter, light which renews your energy, your performance, your life.

I used to think, “Wow, the Buddha sure was lucky to obtain enlightenment”, (as if he’s the only one who could)

Or, “If I retreat to Tibet for ten years, I’ll finally be free,” releasing {whatever it is that causes} unbalance in my emotions, body, and mind, or burdens my energy or limits my goals.

In the case of each of my obstacles I [or anyone] can either seek development or dissolution.  Clearing the way via either method helps, since as performers, having all our energy available is vital to us.

So first decide what blocks YOU from having balanced energy, (if anything). For me, like lots of my friends and people I meet, weight and physical appearance is of constant, sometimes pressing concern.  Dieting is indeed, a national hobby, a common addiction, and a billion-dollar business.

(Believe me, I’ve spent plenty of time and money playing the weight loss and weight gain game.  I identified, within myself, a long time ago, that a mere 10 pounds was holding me back from professional performing success.  Whether that ten pounds really amounted to anything or not… it’s the thoughts that filtered through my consciousness that were the real culprits.

The THOUGHTS actually held me back.  I literally limited myself with thoughts, that weighed sometime more like a ton than 10.

And here my friends is the key point:

Thoughts are the UMPIRE and dictate how one plays the game, how long the game takes to play and whether one wins or loses.

Rather than talk to you about the depths of my struggle, I invite you to search within yourself.

Is there something in your life that constantly weighs you done?

Are you struggling through finances, relationships, dealing with some issue around your talent?

Are you talking about it? Whining about it? Crying about it?

Are you locking it up inside and not talking about it at all?

Or, are you just plain avoiding it?

I encourage you, my friends, to simply tackle “it”.

There are many ways to break through to yourself, to reach your authentic self, your pure self…which is afterall, your performance instrument.

Truly if you “kNnow” what to do, the word itself tells you to do it “Now”.

If you act on that which you “kNew”, the result is a “New” you.

(For most of us, consciously recognizing what we really know or have known all along is our most arduous task)

- What we need to do first is identify that from which we wish freedom.

- Next, we must have faith and trust to move through it.

- Give yourself permission to explore it fully and deeply, feel the roller coaster of bliss, despair, success and defeat, until you come to that breakthrough point. That point of no return, where addictions, drugs, alcohol, sex, jealousy, anger, (whatever it is for you) is in the past. *

Truly give yourself over to the exploration until every last lesson has been learned from that obstacle.

It takes what it takes.

If you KNOW do it NOW.

* This was written in 2002. Lots has changed since then.. (thank God)

So how does Harmonyum come into play in the preparation of the Holiday season ?

Well, just like it is difficult to understand a Virgin birth to bring about the renewal of life on earth, it is tricky to describe how Harmonyum renews the mind and body. Harmonyum brings about the renewal of the soul through the Body of Light, and awakens the spirit of Christ within us.

They both are born from the hand of our Creator and it is only through faith, that any true understanding or comprehension can be found.

Harmonyum lights the candles within our own Soul, so that we can Live in our Truest Light and in our Divine Potential… I want to share a snipet with you from an article on www.Rootlight.com, (which I suggest you guys check out when you get a chance…)

I have always loved the Season of Advent. It is time in my family where the traditions of our faith dominated our lives as we came closer together in loving spirit and in unity of belief.  It was a hectic time like in any other family, but we made the lighting of the advent wreath a special time to gather together and reflect on the Light we are preparing to welcome not only into the world, but into our hearts.

This week, I’m going to be talking about ways you can prepare for the upcoming Adventure of the Season… Merely decorating a tree or preparing your home for the holidays is an adventure in and of itself.

There is so much to discover about the Light Within in even just one of these rituals of the holidays. Last night I was at a Christmas Tree Lighting and the rush of excitement within the crowd as we counted down was released by the Big Sigh of Satisfaction as the whole street illuminated with one single switch….

Is there a little “switch” you can make in your life to create a BIG AHA!!!???

Just give yourself a moment to think about that, as I give you a little history of the lighting of the advent wreath. It’s a little more subtle and reflective than a public tree lighting…

The origins of the Advent wreath are unknown, but there is evidence of pre-Christian Germanic peoples using wreathes with lit candles during the cold and dark December days as a sign of hope and warmth in the future.  In Scandinavia during Winter, lighted candles were placed around a wheel, and prayers were offered to the god of light to turn “the wheel of the earth” back toward the sun to lengthen the days and restore warmth.

The symbolism of the Advent wreath is beautiful. The wreath is made of various evergreens, signifying continuous life. Even these evergreens have a traditional meaning which can be adapted to our faith: The laurel signifies victory over persecution and suffering; pine, holly, and yew, immortality; and cedar, strength and healing.

Holly also has a special Christian symbolism: The prickly leaves remind us of the crown of thorns, and one English legend tells of how the cross was made of holly.

The circle of the wreath, which has no beginning or end, symbolizes the eternity of God, the immortality of the soul, and the everlasting life found in Christ. Any pine cones, nuts, or seedpods used to decorate the wreath also symbolize life and resurrection. All together, the wreath of evergreens depicts the immortality of our soul and the new, everlasting life promised to us through Christ.

Last year during the holiday season, I was visiting my Mom and woke up to the sound of her voice singing quietly and reverently.  Unbeknownst to anyone, she had created her own holiday ritual which included the lighting of the Advent wreath, reciting  prayers, and moments spent in quiet meditation.  She concluded her morning devotion by singing a tender holiday hymn.  By following the Light of her own Truth and merging her Heart with the Light of the Season in a very special way, she had created a sacred space to Prepare for the Light.

It is one of the most touching moments I have ever ever seen.

As you prepare for the coming season, let yourself have these moments with the Divine, so that the Light within you may grow brighter and more illuminated…