Blessed Solstice Reader,

I'm currently partaking in Stephanie Keiko Kong’s 5-week offering called Matriarch. I have found myself weary hearing people talk the talk of Matriarchy without really walking the walk. Too many people are putting an AFAB bodies at the top of a hierarchy and continuing to replicate patriarchal practices, this is not Matriarchal. I knew Stephanie wouldn’t be doing that.

For week 3, we were asked to give a 3-minute presentation to introduce a Matriarch to the group, I chose Darkness. The words came quickly and almost all at once, two pages of love and admiration for Darkness. After some formatting, here is what I presented:

When we were asked the question,

“Who and what raised you?”

One of my answers was:

the dark of my basement bedroom.

Throughout my life

to this day

I have held a deep love

and reverence

for being embraced by darkness.

In every home I’ve lived in,

I have found solace lying on the floor,

in the dark.

I’m grateful to a wise ancient part of me

that remembers the fecund nature of darkness

the generative void,

the womb before form.

Darkness is the landscape of possibilities.

In her ability to encompass all:

certainty and uncertainty,

known and unknown,

all things

and no things.

She is a beautiful and fierce teacher.​
​

In my relationship with Darkness

I’ve been introduced to Death,

Taken deep into the body of the Earth,

and taught about the healing properties of mud.

About breakdown as intelligence.

About decay as renewal.

Darkness is antithetical to patriarchy.

She does not rush.

She does not extract.

She specializes in slowness,

depth,

and the inner downward journey.

Darkness is a reorientation

a reclamation

an invitation

to remember kin, in the vast oceans, dark sky, and dense forests.

She invites us to become intimate

with that which cannot be explained,

yet in her presence

is very likely felt.

I am not speaking of darkness

merely as the absence of light.​
​

I am speaking of her

as a pure presence

a magnificent entity

in her own right.

Darkness as descent

without the need to ascend.

A surrendering

into the dark, watery depths

of the unknown.

When I think of darkness,

I feel a warm embrace

a soft, breathing being

surrounding me.

She is liminal space.

She is portal.

She is beginning and end.

And when we remember darkness in this way

we honour those

who dwell with grief,

with death,

with mystery,

with the unseen—

we remember this:

Darkness is not something to fear.

She is someone to honour

As she's raised all of us.

Here’s December's DJ set titled: Ambient Decomposition​

Your invitation: Slow down. Maybe let your space be dark. Take 20 mins to just do nothing. Embody the Spirit of Solstice.

What is falling away, decomposing? How can you practice noticing without changing the process.

Notice where the music or lyrics land in your body and follow your instincts to move, full sensing—no performing.

Remember, there's no right or wrong way to move.

EVENTS

Check out my new events page to stay up-to-date.

IN PERSON

Sunshine Coast

Grantham's Hall in Gibsons

Wednesdays, Jan 14 / 28 | 7-8:30

$20 at the door or pay via e-transfer in advance HERE.(hello@innerflowcounselling.com)

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