Light in a Dark Night: The Mystics Dream

Darkness lays her crimson cloak.

Your lamps will call, call me home.

— Loreena McKennitt, The Mask & The Mirror

Good news for lovers of dreams: Long, dark nights give us lots of encouragement to get to sleep and dream!

So many people associate darkness with depression. While it certainly is the experience of many, I wonder how it would look from a dream and soul perspective?

McKennitt's lyrics above give us one way to shift our point of view. We have to light a lamp. This means to take action to bring light into your life—to en-lighten yourself. We can do this literally by taking the time to light candles, and we certainly see this in the rituals of so many religions celebrating holidays involving candles and light at this time of year.

Lighting your lamp can also take the form of learning new things—whether academic information, a new hobby, or learning about the Self—to bring the light of consciousness into your daily routines. Lighting your lamp is also about the life-force and passions in your life. What passions do you long to ignite that you've neglected or forgotten in your get-up-and-go-to-work day?

The other word in McKennitt's lyrics that jumps out at me is "home." Home is somehow where we all want to be at this time of year, but I wonder if you take the time to come "home" to yourself? I know I'm definitely a work in progress on that issue. When I start leaving myself out of the equation too often, my dreams will spring to life and remind me where my real home is and who I am in my deepest core!

May you be blessed by the darkness, light your candle, and allow your dreams to guide you home to your soul.