Rauhnächte
Letting go to Call In the New
Traditional Austrian Copper Smudging Vessel - Card from “55 Flavors Oracle & Practice Deck” - Photo by Mariana Schulze
Happy New Year!
We are already a week into 2024 and after some time off I’m happily back to Substack writing, podcast posting and workshop teaching.
While January is not naturally a month within the cycles and rhythms of our bodies to start something new, the turning of the sun on Winter Solstice and the collective energy of the New Year can provide a useful spark towards new practices and intentions.
For me personally, the days between Winter Solstice and the 6th of January have always been a time for ritual and reflection and a chance to focus on letting go. This begins as an invitation - a creation of available space - for whatever new wants to arise.
I grew up in a part of Austria which to this day maintains a great many of its folkloric rituals. During this time of year, the most important of these is the Rauhnächte - the nights between Solstice and Epiphany, during which the veils are said to be particularly thin.
There are many great rituals to draw from. There is the practice of Losen (after a word for listening), where people go to remote places and stand at the crossroads or ley lines and listen for the sounds of what’s to come. It’s a beautiful practice of tuning into the messages of nature.
Smudging plays a significant role within those days, traditionally a burning ember is dropped into a special copper container and resins are sprinkled on top. Frankincense, copal, and local herbs and spices produce a strong smoke and the container is carried through each room of the house and, on farms, into the barns and animal housing.
This practice which cleanses away the old and wards off evil spirits and negative intentions is often combined with a blessing of the threshold on Epiphany on January 6th. First the old is “smoked out”, then the threshold is sealed with a sigil of sorts, a chalk inscription on the lintel or frame of the entrance doors to be renewed each year.
To this day you can find those inscriptions on many doors throughout the Alpine region, often drawn by men walking from door to door singing and dressed as the 3 Magi.
My personal favorite of all the myths and stories has always been that the animals can speak at midnight during the Rauhnächte. As a child I desperately wanted to communicate with my various pets and tried my best to stay awake for that magical moment.
Nowadays, living on a small ranch with many animals I think of that little girl fondly, appreciating my deep love for all creatures from a young age and smiling at the magic and wonder available through the communion with animals - then and now.
Regardless of what your desires, intentions and resolutions for 2024 are, this is my invitation to take a moment and listen to what is ready to let go first.
There is a gentler, less forceful way of calling in the “new”. Making space, creating an invitation, using the principles found in nature to bring forth sustainable habits and practices. Listen to your body, your heart, your mind and heed the call from within.
Letting go of old beliefs, outdated ways of being, long held artifacts of different times will naturally allow for new aspects to arise. From there, small changes and practices can point you towards what you truly want, for yourself, your body, your life.
I’ve listed a few free resources for you below.
May you enter into this new season with joy and an appreciation of the beauty that can always be found in nature!
Michaela
If you would like to hear more on this topic and receive journaling prompts and embodiment practices you can find the replay of my free “Calling in the New Year” class here.
As part of this call I offered a coupon code for a free hour long “The Non-Linear Movement Method®” class of your choice, where I will guide release practices for all of January. You can find the classes here and enter free_NLMM_2024 at checkout.
On the call I am explaining a writing protocol for health I personally found very useful in supporting the “letting go” process this year. Here is a link to this incredible free resource.
The 55 Flavors of the Feminine Practice & Oracle cards are back in stock! We started shipping them this week and I could not be more excited to see this fun project going out into the world!
And finally, in this weeks podcast Steve and I cover some themes related to this article and discuss my explorations of the writing protocol.
