christmas

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The Life of a Water Dragon, Part 1

  • picture from Pintrest

First of Advent – Second of Advent

This, the 13th year, of The SkrivKringlans Advent Calendar, 2024, I am following a different process. Still writing every day of the 21 days, but publishing on every advent.

Auspiciously enough Dec 1st is on the First of Advent as well as on the date of the New Moon this December. Something I took as a confirmation of this guidance to write differently instead of not writing at all due to the very turbulent circumstances in life at the moment.

The Life of A WaterDragon

Razor-sharp crystals of snow and ice danced around her face. The blizzard was so strong there was literally nothing to be seen, yet her feet felt every step through the cracking snow. Her nose picked up the scent of frozen pine and distant log fires from the valley below, her ears could easily distinguish by the song of the wind through which part of the cliff openings she was walking.

This is where she grew up. Where she had been trained for this part pf her life. Rolling down the mountain slopes in summer, through daisies and clover with all the other kids, sledding down the same faces in winter, even skiing down in teenage years.

She was not like the other kids though. During her first years of walking and talking she would head out the front door during the night, pushing it open with all her tiny weight, almost fall on the porch as the heavy wooden door swayed open, sit down on the rain deer skin at the edge, feet dangling over the small stair steps, looking up at the large star-filled sky. 

Watching her breath turn to mist she would sing. The sound created itself, she felt it stirring in the belly, tingling in the fingers as it worked its way up and out through her throat. She sang to Orion, the Big Dipper, Cassiopeia, The Seven Sisters, and they all sang back to her.

She felt so infinite and still, so full of the same life she felt in the trees, the moss, the creeks and the rivers.

The dragging of feet on in the hallway could be heard, the creaking of the door handle as it was pushed down, the sigh of dad as he’d just been woken up – again . She turned her head to greet his large green eyes adorned by eyebrows as bushy as the pine trees in spring.

“What are you doing up singing with the dragons again my litte pea?” he asked.

“Dad, they aren’t dragons. They’re fairy spirits dancing in silver and diamond dust”, she giggled as she corrected him. “You know the dragons don’t come out till June”.

Whoooosh! – The sound of the blizzard hitting The Northern Face brought her back to the here and now.

When was the last time she’d ever been this close to the descend down this face of the mountain? It must have been decades, or was it centuries, ago?

Never ever had she looked that deep down in to an abyss, that she knew. Life as she knew it then was over. She had peaked down in to the darkness, almost as velvet as the moonless sky above .The rock in her throat, the clenching in her stomach and the shattered space of her heart making it feel like she was being strangled from within while dangling alone in a universe devoid of colour.

The Northern Face had called her there, all the way to the edge of darkness. The tune that arose from her inside had been anything but a song. It was a shriek of eons of pain roaming the whole mountain side strong enough to create avalanches.

“Feel the ground you walk upon. Be the ground, the sky, the sense of every-thing. Be alive”, a voice from somewhere in the air between her and the edge  had sung.

“Be fully present in each and every moment”, it continued. “The love of Mary, the sacred heart of Jesus”.

There was a swooshing of moving air creating mist around her and a huge winged being landed next to her.

“I am WaterDragon and you just woke me up”.

The light through the blizzard was brighter than the white of the snow. How on earth was that possible? 

A pillar of light, like a great crystal wand, wide at the bottom, gently sloping inwards towards the heights until three smaller faces met like the top of a pyramid what seemed like at least a hundred meters up from where she stood manifested through the glimmering snow crystals.

The song swirling from the peak of the crystal pillar in a spiral downwards where of the chords she had heard back then.  

“The love of Mary. The sacred heart of Jesus”, she heard herself sing out.

“The Light of Christ, pink magenta dancing in crystal clearing”. She recognized the voice. Her. She WaterDragon.

“Where have you been all this time? Where have you been?”

“Inside Your Heart and in the air,
In Space and Time
Yes, everywhere.

In every breath you dear heart of mine.
In the here, there and everywhere.
There is nowhere I have not been,

Always.

In the music, in the song
In the cry of your heart,
In the joy of your dreams.

In, beside, behind, beyond, within, next to, above, below, around
Everywhere.
Always.
Everywhere.

There is nothing you see that I don’t see.
There is nothing you hear that I don’t hear.
There is nothing you feel that I don’t feel.
There is nothing you breathe that I don’t breathe.
There is nothing you are that I am not.

I am right Here.
EverywHere.

Always.”

Cassandra knew She WaterDragon was right. She had felt her all the time, yet she had missed her with her entire heart and soul for so long, so deeply. Under the surface of the misty mind entangled in the worldly She WaterDragon had always been there. Yet Cassandra had tuned her out, somehow she had tuned her out.

“Not important my child, not important”, the dragon gently moved a strand of hair out of the way over Cassandra’s eyes. The wind was still strong though the blizzard had slowed down.

“What are we to do, my Queen ? What are we to do my love?” Cassandra turned her face towards the dragon.

“We are to live my dear, we are to live. Nothing more, nothing less. And we are to share that in every moment we are here, with each and every one, every tree branch, every squirrel , every sunrise, sunset, blizzard, wave, starlight, person, animal, mineral, planet, stardust particle, every seaside, mountainside, avalanche, every headlight staring deer, singing infant, owl, man, woman, child, foul, puppy, seed, plant, every atom and molecule , with everything and everyone that lives and breathes out there. Fully, unapologetically, alive.”

The dragon flew up and landed on the first pine tree she saw. Small pine trees this high up in the mountains.

“Look here. Look around you. What is there to not celebrate? To not let the Light of Christ, the Love of Mary in to? Or to not see them in? And how about Orion? Cassiopeia? Our dear Canis Major and Minor? Atlas? All the others? The Light and The Love are there too, are them too. Heck, we are all Li-Lo born and Li-Lo infused”.

“Li-Lo?” , Cassandra laughed. “Have we created artist names for The Light of Christ and The Love of Mary?”

“Have we?”, She WaterDragon sent the question back. 

Three nights and six days had passed. How that is possible I cannot tell you without getting entangled in splendid detail. So let’s leave that shall we?

Cassandra found herself at the bottom of the mountain. Her home mountain. At the space where the deep waters of the lakes and fjords led in to the vast, vast ocean, in to the depths of where the soul deep diving whales and orca’s danced every new season.

She WaterDragon had motioned her to come join at the edge of the lake, where the huge, blue calcite meteorite served like a crown jewel styled bridge between the mountain side and the fields of green of the lush village of Angelside. 

They sat there, Cassandra watching her breath turn to mist as she tilted her head up towards the stars, She WaterDragon making circles in the water with her long tail to the rhythm of her own song.

“Be fully present in each and every moment”, Cassandra sang. “It has never been any easier than this. Never more difficult than right now. When you stand at the bank of the river, becoming the lake, only to know you are moving in to the sea, of which you have always been, always will be. Being fully present when you know all you can do is disintegrate here under the stars to move forward. To be born. To re-birth.

“Shed my child, shed”, SheDragon’s calm voice. “ Shed and receive. The love of Mary, the sacred heart of Jesus. This December.”

SheDragon continued “these words are just symbols. These pictures are just symbols. Even the connotations are just symbols. The love of Mary, the eternal love of the eternal mother. She, Earth, Space, Womb of the Divine, everywhere and nowhere, everything and nothing, Creation, readiness, discipline, sacredness.

The sacred heart of Jesus. It, he, Love so humongous it leaves no one outside of it, yet everyone are inside it, all encompassing, omnipresent guidance from within, powerful alignment from within with without, as above so below, togetherness.”

“Soul birthing life, life birthing soul. The old releasing the new, the new calling in the old, the union of all the refined arts of living, being, loving and worshipping being embraced fully in each and every moment. Present in every moment. That is what the Life of a WaterDragon is about. That is what I am here to bring you back into my precious pearl of loving wisdom. That. And the importance of play.”

  • Cecilia Götherström 2024
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Earth & Space, 19th of December, Door 19

Photo: Pintrest, thefunpost.com

First Quarter Moon. Action. Light a candle. Settle in to the right position. So many steps to take before beginning. Before start.

Procrastination. Not during this moon phase. Totally impossible.

If there is one thing to leave behind on the other side of this moon it is procrastination.

“Stay close. Lean in, and you will always know what the next step is. And that is all you need to know. The next step”.

“Wish for snowflakes and listen to the cue. Just go with it. No matter how “out there” it might sound to you. And do you know what? “Out there” is actually really good. Out of that comfort zone, which by the way is not really comfortable at all, it is basically numb, feeling-less, unfulfilled, given in-ness space. Not the space where you want to live, be, act, love, learn and unlearn my dear”.

Alba found herself chuckling before Rosie could this time. How much wisdom and wit – is that witdom? – could she possibly handle in this short amount of time? The wolf kept delivering bout after bout of these every time they had settled in to something close to mind rest. How fast could you actually shift before totally losing track of yourself?, Alba wondered.

“Nothing to keep track of my dear, and no your-self either”, Rosie won this chuckle set. “Remember? Stay in the movement !”.

“Action is basically accelerated movement. Which is why it is pretty effortless to take action once you are in tune with the eternal movement of everything, as well as the eternal non movement underneath that. In essence “you” are being moved while the deeper “You” stays where “it” is. In the all and everything. In the Great AllEncompassing Space.”

“That Space is here on Earth, experiencing itself through all the facets of the diamond. So it is actually not Earth & Space, it is EarthSpace. Or SpaceEarth.”

“How about this as a game for the coming week – look at everything you experience, every thing, be it through your senses, your thoughts, in your dreams, wherever and whatever and try to define whether it exist in and of itself or always in relation to something or someone else. What a fun game during these dark winter nights eh?”. Another loud chuckle.

“And don’t let me get started on what “existence” is! Now Rosie almost fell over from chuckling. “You shall discover something entirely different about that too before the end of this. And by the way, there is no such thing as an end but now I am leaving you to it. Or me out of it.” The chuckling was now so loud it transformed in to a howl.

There she was. EveningStar. Polaris. Travelling towards MorningStar. Movement in Stillness. Star. Maakash.

Author: Cecilia Götherström/Pejuta Wakinyazi

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Transmissions of Starlight / 10 

Amethyst and wizards tones. A little bit more of the link to the moon and the scent of tender winter eve. A piece of mesmerized rock crystal. Along with a sprinkle of Starlight.

OK, that’s it, that should be all she needed.

Trinity was packing. 

A bundle for the journey ahead. 

The bell rang. Who is it this time of the morning? What could they possibly want? The last thing she needed was some nosy neighbour or uninvited family member interfering with her peace. A peace she had not felt for a long, long time. A peace she thought had left for good.

There the bell rang again. Or did it really ring? It was more like the sound of a distant gong. She went to the front door, opened it up gently, peaked outside. No sun yet, just a starry sky, a waning moon at the horizon and a still quiet.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh….. the sound of something dragging in the snow.

Her infinity bracelet dropped off her wrist, fell deep into the snow. She bent down to pick it up and as she looked up a white rabbit was sitting in the opening  where the gate had once been. It looked her right in the eyes, swooshed towards her, touched its nose to hers, turned around and swooshed off in to the distance.

Trinity stood up. What had just happened? 

Her hands were freezing cold after digging for the bracelet in the snow, she needed to get in and warm them up. As she passed the mirror in the hallway she noticed that the tip of her nose seemed covered in silver sparkles. She stopped. Went back to take a closer look and realized her eyelashes and the top of her ears were covered in the same silver dust. As she touched the tip of her nose, the top of her ears and blinked she couldn’t feel anything different, no material or substance other than nose, eyelashes and ears. Yet the silver sparkle dust was there.

She had to get going. Her schedule was very clear. The Night Owl had told her to leave at exactly 06:06 , heading 22,2 degrees south. She had 2 more minutes to go.

Compass in hand, she locked the door behind her. Was this the last time?

The direction given seemed to followed the swooshsteps of the hare.

“Out there, out there! Get out there!”, a white feathered owl hohooed above her head as she headed through the opening of the gate that once was.

Cecilia Götherström, Kringlans AdventsKalender 2022

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Transmissions of Starlight / 8

 She is teaching me 
how
to love again,
how to 
thaw
that coldness,
how to
trust,
through gentleness,
not forcing

She is teaching me
that
hail
is just frozen water,
that
Christmas
is in your heart,
not in a tree,
or in snow
on the ground

She is teaching me
that you can,
you should
love,
even when 
your heart
seems
to be breaking

She is teaching me
to listen,
to listen,
to listen
especially when
you don’t want to

She is teaching me
about lineage,
connection,
unbroken threads
of life
weaving unbound
in to 
each other

She is teaching me
about
Starlight,
remembering
gingerbread songs
in honour of the two of us
being 
always
left
unbroken

She is teaching me
to be
here,
now,
in the storm,
in the power,
in the stillness

She is teaching me
her 
ways

And I
I
get
to learn

Starlight


-	Trinity



Cecilia Götherström, Kringlans AdventsKalender 2022
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Transmissions of Starlight / 6

“The journey of happiness, sadness and gratitude is the gift underneath the mistletoe. When you mistake that one for the truth of who you really are, that’s when sadness wins.”

Peaking in to the depths of the cold water, she saw and heard the reindeer speak behind her, his breath creating crystals of frozen dampness in the space surrounding them.

“See, I speak on an exhalation and draw inspiration on the inhalation.”

She turned around. Placed her  hands around his beautiful, large, wise cheeks. Touched her nose to his. As she said “thank you” she noticed herself becoming that “thank you”.

“Where you end and your words begin is unclear. As there is no division. How you speak so it is and so you are and so it is. Just never ever stop. Never stop as a habit. Always stay in tune with where you are, to the movement. Follow the breath, follow the heart.”

The standstill of the past times was no more. She could feel it release.

“Feel it, let go, let loose, literally loosening its grip. There is nothing to grasp any more. Nothing to hold on to. 

Holding on to hurts. Moving brings flow, brings fluidity, brings choice. If you freeze in the middle of a storm you are left to endure whatever is thrown at you and you will most likely be thrown around yourself. If you can move with the storm, with the debris, you feel the storm build and subside, you can move, take a step further out when you want and need to and you can utilize the power of the storm when you need it.

You humans have forgotten how to utilize the tremendous natural powers within you, the tremendous powers of nature. It happened when you all decided to put poles in the ground and stay in one place. All of a sudden you needed protection, shelter, locks and bolts. So you bolted up your heart and your joy in the process. Go release, go girl, go!”

The reindeer turned around and danced his gentle way towards the trees on the bank of the frozen river. She watched him disappear in the distance, feeling a sense of glimmer and hope of something similar to fulfilment for the first time a very, very long while.

Moon and Star. Star and Moon.

Cecilia Götherström, Kringlans AdventsKalender 2022

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Transmissons of Starlight / 5

Two’s a company. Three’s a crowd.

Trinity.

Trinity’s a union.

This focus on negativity exhausted her. Like you were living in a minefield with fighter jets above your head.

How to vibe higher than this?

How to? How to? How to?

Practice, practice, practice.

“I’ll be home for Christmas”, the speakers toned out.

What is home? And why be there just for Christmas?

Home is your own truth. Home is where you are loved and where you love. Home is where your being is sheltered.

Christmas is a state of mind. A consciousness, where giving and receiving is the same action. Where Christ consciousness is massed. 

Where all is gentle, all is seen, all is held. In the one and the same cauldron. In the one and the same shift. Where you don’t look for meaning, where meaning is.

This, that , all, everywhere.

In this time of coldness of souls the hearth is the star in the heart. The play. The ferocity. The calling in of dragons. Of Sacred Fierceness.

White looked at Grey. Grey looked at White. Together they were balance. Harmony.

What steps do we need to take for Harmony? How can we kindle her? How can we leap in to her embrace every morning, be her, live her?

Harmony and Kindness. Kindness and Harmony.

“It’s all a little too much right now. Sprinkle it all with some harmony, kindness and coffee and you will be way on your way child, way on your way.”

Cecilia Götherström, Kringlans AdventsKalender 2022

Photo art : Julia Talanova https://www.instagram.com/knesart/

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Transmissions of Starlight / 2

Moon and Star. Star and Moon.
The first language was song.
The first language was light.
Eclectic.

She shone in my shadow and I shone in hers.
Always.

Shadow and Light. Light and Shadow.

Moon and Star. Star and Moon.

Clouds swirling consciously around the unconscious brain. Tides resisting the glow.
The old, the dark, the grey. To be lifted forever.
It will be painful they said.
But what is pain?
It is what you feel when you don’t shine your light.

Star and Moon. Moon and Star.

The crescent uncovered. The sparkle looking down, connecting.

Clouds dancing.

Cold, yet not cold enough.
Wet, murky, rotten.
Waiting for the true embrace bywinter.

Will it come? Will it ever come again?
The magic of sparkle.
Of the here and now.
Of taking new direction while simultaneously being direction.

Moon and Star. Star and Moon.

Sharing the same sky, the same heavens. Being light. Being song. Being magic. Being direction. Being.

Being Star. Being Moon.

The first language is still song. The first language is still light.

Moon and Star. Stars and Moon.

Like pearls being born through filigree silver and Milky Way woven grandeur, like horses and unicorns swooshing through the green clouds of the Northern Lights with its purple shades dancing above the snow covered peaks and steppes, Moon and Star dance through the dark velvet seeing All and Every-thing.

Sometimes the shadows come out to make sure you remember.

Star and Moon. Moon and Star.

Always remember.
Always.
Live now.

The sun sets and rises.
The moon travels.
The Star adorns.

The Trinity.

Sun. Moon. Star.

This is the tale of Moon and Star. This is the season of no stone left unturned. This is the time of your ripe uncovering.

Sun. Moon. Star.

Sun is Star.
Star is Sun.
Moon is reflection.

Star and Moon. Moon and Star.
What will be will be.
What is, is.



Cecilia Götherström, Kringlans AdventsKalender 2022
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Elsa’s Song, Dec 12th 2021

“Underneath the Christmas Lights, Underneath the Christmas Lights, Underneath the Christmas Lights”, Sia’s Christmas album streamed out of the speakers through Spotify. 

Nejla looked out through the guest bedroom window towards the large enclosed space especially built for the dogs at the back of Ricky and Luca’s home. 

Starlight was digging ferociously underneath the very Christmas Lights, or more specifically underneath the pine tree living in the corner of the enclosure which had been decorated with coloured Christmas lights. Her tail was fanning more than wagging, which was a sign of hunting. Nejla had better get out there and stop her before whoever was in deep winter sleep got woken up.

Grabbing her beanie with one hand, pulling her mushing boots on with the other, she simultaneously reached for the doorknob with her elbow which resulted in her tumbling out the door, rolling down the two steps of the porch, face planting in the snow. Well, at least she was wide awake now.

“Starlight, Starlight my dear. Come on! Stoooooooop!”

Starlight stopped, turned her head to look at her human. Two seconds later she turned back to the digging.

“Aaaaaaahhhh, huskies!” Nejla shouted as she ran through the knee deep snow.

As if they wanted to prove that this was not just a husky trait but also a samoyed and malamute talent, Kriya and Tuva ran from the other side of the yard joining Starlight in the digging.

All of a sudden they stopped, all three of them. Stepped back, looked down in the hole they’d dug, then across at Nejla who had stranded in a spot where the snow was all of a sudden waist deep to catch her breath, and then they looked back down in the hole again.

Nejla felt like she was swimming through the last part of the snow. It was just a dune of two metres width where the wind had piled up a solid wave of snow which was that deep before it was back to knee depth again. She arrived underneath the Christmas Lights Tree, threw herself on her knees, looking down in the hole together with the three canine ladies.

“Was that? No, she must be imagining? Could it be? Well it did. Did look like gold. But, no, it can’t be?”

Starlight pushed towards the hole with her nose, looking at Nejla, her eyes saying “look, look, look what I got you!”

Nejla reached down under the pine tree twigs, down towards the exposed part of the trunk, her lovika mitten clad hands spread out, gently grabbing and pulling the artifact out of the snow. As she held it up towards the dwindling light of the afternoon sky all three ladies of The Crew watched eagerly.  Nejla gently blew the last pieces of soft snow off the edges. A cauldron. A golden cauldron.

Cecilia Götherström, December 12th 2021. 

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Elsa’s Song, Dec 10th 2021

Alabaster sunk his paws deep in to the snow. He’d been up on the rocks, peeking down once more towards Pinehome City. 

They were all together now. Nejla, Starlight, Tuva, Kriya, Ricky and Luca. 

He could see them through his inner eyes. The two humans sitting on the floor by the Christmas tree. Sharing stories. Laughing. Remembering. 

All four dogs sprawled out across the large kitchen floor.

What had once been the “Grand” waiting room in this timber wood train station building from the 1800s was now Ricky’s kitchen.

Alabaster made his way down, returning to the pack. How he loved these moments of approaching, feeling the warmth in his heart, connecting through the golden threads to his brothers, sisters, all the pups. Watching every single personality doing their thing while being in total harmony with the entire canine family.

Sure, they could growl and show off, change, walk off, start anew, return, explore. But that was because that is how things just are.  If everyone is allowed to live out their purpose, harmony is what you get. And harmony includes storms, floods, falling trees, new growth.

 You use the mind, heart, and soul,  leading the body to the best possible solution for the highest good of all.

When you exist in a state of awareness where greed does not exist, you see everything through the eyes of Isa. The eyes of Isness.

He realized he’d let his mind wander in to the human domain again as he felt four youngsters rolling around him, asking for attention, nipping at his legs and paws.

“Come play, come play, Grandpapa Alabaster!”, they howled like a four octave choir.

“OK then!” Alabaster took off down the slope, zigzagging, jumping, rolling. Four young furballs falling over in his paw steps, doing their best to catch up.

A few of the packs hunters had just gotten back from their recon trip and joined in.

If you’ve ever seen a group of eight adult and four “just-out-of-puppyhood” wolves play on deep snow covered slope under the moon, star and sun lit winter morning sky, you know exactly what I am talking about.

Joy, aliveness, speed and wit dancing around in your heart.

Cecilia Götherström, December 10th 2021.

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Elsa’s Song, Dec 8th 2021

Nejla sat with her hands wrapped around a fresh cinnamon scented oat milk cappuccino, in what felt like another dimension.

The Crew – her band name for Tuva, Kriya and Starlight – lay sprawled out and curled up between the crackling open fire place and the front door.

The blizzard had quietened down. Now there were just grey, plump clouds dropping snowflakes in a dancing slow motion.

Ricky sat at the sturdy wooden table across from Nejla. How she and The Crew had ended up this close to Pinehome with the train was beyond her comprehension. 

One moment they had been engulfed by the blizzard. Which was not a bad thing. There were few things she loved more than the cold wind and snow touching her cheeks. 

“Embrace! Embrace! Embrace! Align!” had travelled through her mind. As she said the spell out loud she had felt very powerful from within.

Seconds later , the sound of someone whistleing, followed by The Crew howling in reply. A black labrador appeared as the sun broke through the storm making the snow flurry dissipate.

“Dio!”, Nejla could not believe her eyes. “Dio! Where is Ricky?”

“Here!”, Ricky’s voice reached her before she could even see him approaching on skis. “Welcome to Buffalo Land!” He almost fell forwards as he swung his arms up to greet her with a hug which made the skis move backwards. “Soulsister, soulsister. So good to see you.”

“So, what really brought you here this time, sister dear?” Ricky reached for the sugar. He liked his coffee sweet to the point of it being sugar with a bit of coffee.

“The Adventurer. Storulven. Spells.” Nejla shrugged her shoulders. “Not entirely sure, but it’s definitely something to do with those three. And maybe more. I felt, and feel, instructed to take one step at a time, not envisioning anything behind those steps, just listening. I know this was big one. I had some sort of inner knowing telling me I had to go north, in the direction of White Buffalo Land. So, here we are.”

“Here we are”, Ricky echoed. “Listening to the light.”

Cecilia Götherström, December 8th 2021