Ann Ree taught about a 14 day period (from Dec 1-14) called the “Dark Fortnight”. During this time we can find ourselves humbled and feeling a bit low. This is the time to prepare for the light that is to come with the appearance of the Christ-child. What makes the real life of Jesus so profound is that his advanced soul chose to incarnate as a human just as humans do. His conception is still a mystery, although some religions have their own mystical explanations of it, but he was physically born via a woman’s birth canal. He experienced that difficult, painful and shocking experience of taking a first breath with his own lungs. He grew to be a man, evolving, discovering, learning and eventually teaching by word and deed of the reason for our being here: LOVE. He was a real human being at one time. He came to show us how to be our authentic selves.

So, back to the dark fortnight….I wish I could remember exactly how Ann Ree described it. It was almost 40 years ago that I heard her talking about it on a video or an audio tape (I never met her in person). What I remember, and experience every year at this time, is that these two weeks can shake us to our core. It’s like a hollowing out of our being, a deep cleaning and gleaning…all to make space for light and love. I don’t mean this poetically, but substantially, as this light and love come as a force and presence, needing room to thrive and exist.

The twelve mandlas, made in January, often have a prophetic nature and this one’s title tells me that we are not alone and are called for something we know not yet.

[“Beckoning” digital collage mandala © Elsah Cort]

One of twelve mandalas made on January 12, 2018.