The period around the New Moon is a time to deeply rest in the tender arms of darkness.

This December’s New Moon is a particularly special call for deep slumber as it falls shortly after the Winter Solstice.

During the Solstice we are experiencing the darkest time of the year and it is in veiled light that our spirits often make preparations for the next cycle of our lives.

During a regular New Moon, there is much less lunar glow, so we are able to sleep better and sink into the unknown. This month, with the addition of extended nights around the Solstice, our ability to head into our own depth of unconscious will be magnified.

When we sleep more soundly we have the chance to uncover a level of our psyche not usually available to us.

The brightness of the Full Moon can disrupt our sleep patterns, causing us to regularly wake up throughout the night. However, darkness makes the body more able to rest as it encourages the production of melatonin, a natural hormone that regulates our circadian rhythms.

Also aiding our sleep during the New Moon is an increased gravitational pull, in which we feel more stable and grounded.

As humans we are 55 to 75 percent water, so it is certain that the orbit of the moon affects us similarly as it does the other bodies of water on earth.

The energetic phenomena that the New Moon creates is likened to a wind-swept lake that then settles and becomes still. In the glassy quality of its reflection, we see our own image clearly.

If the New Moon can be seen as a clear pool to view our psyche through, our dreams are very much the same thing.

Dreaming is the attempt for what is in our unconscious mind to communicate with our conscious mind—an opportunity and medium for messages to transfer from an unrecognized state to one of awareness.

The darkness of Solstice, the New Moon and our dreams work well with each other if we understand how to use them. When there is a state of less light we are instinctually drawn inwards—to a cozy refuge of blankets and to that other refuge deep within our own soul.

Because we are sleeping more and soundly, our dreams between the Solstice and New Moon become powerful allies.

One of the best ways to begin to work with our dreams at this time is to start writing them down, so keep a notebook beside the bed.

Our subconscious mind is continually interacting with our conscious mind, so another trick to make our dreams increasingly vivid is to say to ourselves before bed, “I want to remember my dreams tonight.” The power of our suggestion will act as an influential force.

Write down what we recall of our dreams as soon as we awaken. At first we may only get an image or a feeling. Write it down no matter how fragmented it seems. As we become more consistent with our recording, our ability to remember whole plot lines of our dreams will increase.

During the New Moon and Solstice it is said that the veil between the spiritual world and our human one becomes thinner. Dreams that arrive at this time often carry important symbolism and can serve as meaningful clues for the direction we are being called to go in.

These dreams are a profound source of information to tap. We each hold a guru within, and our dreams can act like a teacher, speaking to us great insights and wisdom.

The New Moon and the coming of light after Solstice traditionally represents new beginnings. We can use our dreams now to navigate us to a fresh start.

Dreaming can also be used to release old unconscious patterns, because we only let go of something once we are truly aware of it.

As we learn to fall in love with our dream time, it transforms into a landscape in which we work out our deepest desires and troubles. We can allow this to happen by trusting that while we are dreaming, our personal work is being effortlessly done.

Let’s relax into the depth that this special time of year opens up. Allow the call of her darkness to invite us to stay in bed a little longer, go to sleep a little earlier and use our dreamtime as an opportunity for immersion into renewal and growth.

Open to receiving guidance and support now because it is here. Ask to understand what our subconscious wishes us to know, record it and thus send it out into the world.

Become a dreamer again, dear ones, and let the Solstice and the New Moon take us there.

~

Author: Sarah Norrad

Image: Flickr/Kurt Bauschardt

Editor: Erin Lawson