​It’s a wonderful feeling when we have hope for the future.  When we have a positive outlook on what arises in our lives. 
 
A sense of hope brings light into our lives. It brightens our day. Makes us feel lighter, happier, and peaceful. 
 
St. Hildegard, in Scivias, shares a vision that reminds me of how hope can brighten our lives, “…a flame of inestimable brightness suddenly descends from the opened heaven…completely with its brightness, … (making) things light with its rays. And while the flame radiates, … (it) bears the offering upwards invisible to the secrets of heaven... just as a person draws a breath inwards and then sends it outwards again.”
 

​This bright light of hope can help you to move through difficult times, bringing you strength in moments of darkness.  It’s such a powerful antidote to the feeling of despair.

​When you can cultivate a sense of hope, you begin to realize how you’re a part of a greater universe and divine plan. You come to find meaning in the pain and difficulties in your life, as you realize they may help you learn what you need to on your path in life. 
You experience that you can grow and learn from your painful experiences.  It’s not that they’re not painful while they’re happening.  They are!  But you gain wisdom and strength having lived through them. 
When you have a sense of this meaning and purpose in your life, deep within you know you cannot give up, but must find your strength to stay on your path in life.
But how do you cultivate a sense of hope, so that in moments of darkness, you can call upon this for support? 
 
When those moments arise where you feel like giving up, how can you dig deep and find the hope you need?
 
Here are 3 ways to cultivate a sense of hope that can support you in darker moments.

1. Be Grateful - By focusing on what’s good in your life and being grateful for it every day, you send your energy there.  You cultivate a sense of abundance and happiness and open a doorway to the Divine Source. 

​2. Practice Positivity – Negativity is everywhere and can negatively affect you more than you may realize.  Distance yourself from negativity.  Take responsibility for your own thoughts and strive to see the good in a situation. When you have a positive outlook on life, you see obstacles as opportunities for growth and are able to experience joy for others’ good fortune.   

3. Celebrate – Take time to celebrate a moment of accomplishment and meaning in your life.  I believe it is important to celebrate something daily! Maybe you finished that project that you have been working on for many weeks.  Maybe a loved one was accepted into a desired course of study. Or a friend started that new business venture. Take a moment to honor and celebrate this moment of excitement and joy, bringing light into your life.  

Take time to cultivate a sense of hope in your life today.  Then in those inevitable times of darkness, you’ll be able to tap into this wellspring of strength.
 
You’ll be better prepared for those moments that arise with a feeling of despair and be able to dig deep within to find the sense of hope you need for the future. 
 
“Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today.”
Thich Nhat Hanh

Check out the many resources available to support you on your spiritual journey in my Free Healing Library here. 

​As Mother Earth continues to breathe in with winter drawing near, we can gather in our own healing powers of Viriditas from the summer’s greening life energy. It’s a time for us to slow down and become more peaceful.
It’s a perfect time for us to find some space to care for ourselves. How do you do this at this time of year?  

​In Scivias, St. Hildegard shares a vision of what I imagine as the Divine Mother with great wisdom who comforts us with her loving arms during times when we need rest and support. 
 
“Imagine a woman of great size. Then imagine a bright light which is as white as snow and as transparent as crystal. The light makes the woman bright...she reflects that light upwards to the mysteries of heaven…there is a most beautiful maiden whose head is uncovered, showing her black hair. This maiden is clothed with a red tunic which flows down to her feet.
 
And you hear a heavenly voice speak, ‘This flower… is the mother and flower of roses and the lily of the valleys. O flower, …you will be comforted at the proper time.’ ”
I invite you to close your eyes and imagine that this great woman is embracing you in the comfort of her arms as Divine Mother. Feel her filling you with her compassion and peace.  Relax and rest within her arms allowing the bright warm light to flow through you.  

As you’re held by this imagination and return to your daily life, consider how you may continue to care for yourself.  Bring this same feeling of comfort and warmth into your life regularly, using all of your senses, as we move into the season of winter. 

Here are some of my favorite ways to do this:
 
 1. Savor the smells and tastes of the season – Some of the favorite scents of the season - cinnamon, vanilla, and orange - can be enjoyed through essential oils that are diffused in a room, steeped in warm water as herbal teas, or baked in a favorite holiday food.  Take time to savor the delicious scents and flavors.  

2. Gaze at the dancing light of a flame – Sitting in front of a crackling fireplace with a cozy blanket wrapped around you and a cup of tea can rejuvenate your soul.  Aren’t able to make a fire right now?  Then, light a beeswax candle and let the aroma of honey fill the room as you pull that blanket tighter.  

3. Experience the joy of song – It’s a wonderful time to lift your voice in song or play your favorite instrument and let the beauty of music comfort your soul. 

​4. Feel the refreshing, cool breeze -  Bundle up and take a walk outside, letting the cool autumn air caress your face and fill your lungs.  Return to the warmth of your own home, feeling invigorated and alive.   
 
Take the time to care for yourself in your favorite ways throughout the upcoming holiday season, allowing yourself to be comforted and at peace whenever you need it. You’ll then be rejuvenated and able to more easily share your gifts with the world. 
 
Check out the many additional resources available to support you on your spiritual journey in my Free Healing Library here. 

​As the splendor of autumn begins to pass and winter draws near, Mother Earth breathes in. She draws back everything that has streamed out during the summer. Her energy moves inward, and she grows quieter. 

​The air no longer feels ripe with the greening life energy of the natural world and the sweet-smelling fruits of late summer. It’s a time that we need to increase our inner strength and light to carry us through this journey into the darker time of the year.

​How do you gather your inner strength for whatever comes into your life? 
 
How do you strengthen your life forces and immune system to sustain a healthy balance throughout the winter? 
 
St. Hildegard honored a sacred connection to the greening power, or viriditas, of nature that created balance, harmony, and vitality in life. She shared that if this connection was out of balance, then one could experience a drying up of vitality and illness could arise. 
St. Hildegard offered a variety of healing remedies and practices to strengthen one’s own healing power. One was the use of the healing gemstone of the emerald. She felt it possessed the healing power of viriditas, the greening power of the earth, and supported a return to health and balance from illness. 
The emerald, with its luscious green color, is a gemstone of the heart connected with compassion, love, and life force.  It’s a stone that will promote balance in all areas in your life – physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. It can increase the energy levels in your body and enhance a balanced flow of energy between your upper and lower chakras, bringing a more peaceful and loving way of being in your life. It promotes removing any blockages that may exist and opening a pathway to living a life that is more harmonious, generous, and compassionate.  

In Scivias, St. Hildegard shares a vision of a tower that gives us an image of bringing strength into our lives with the greening power of viriditas in the gemstone of the emerald. 
 
“Imagine a large round tower which …has three windows near its top, and from these …such a bright light pours out…The three windows are decorated around their outside with beautiful emeralds. The tower is located straight behind you…You cannot be destroyed in any way because of its strength.”
 
You can imagine holding a large emerald from one of these windows in your hand. The light pours into this gemstone where all of the greening power of nature, viriditas, is concentrated. It’s the potent, divine life force that lives and breathes within all living beings, full of vitality, moisture, and fecundity.  It’s able to bring creativity and healthy abundance into the world, making all things grow, expand, and thrive.  
​

Take a moment to breathe in this strength, letting it flow into your body and soul. You can know that whenever you need it, you can pause and reconnect to the strength of the tower with emeralds. You’re filled with light and vital life force energy. Ready to bring your gifts to the world! 
 
Check out the many resources available to support you on your spiritual journey in my Free Healing Library here. 

​We had our first days of snow come quite early here in Colorado this year – many days before Halloween.  As I watched the snowflakes fall peacefully outside in the bitter cold air, I warmed myself in front of the fireplace with a cup of tea and contemplated how through the seasons the Divine Mother calls us to awaken.  I hear her calling us to awaken to the imbalance in the world that has caused suffering. It’s time, time to bring it into balance.  The Divine Mother, with her healing and nurturing ways, shows us that we can find peace and an end to suffering. 

The Divine Feminine as Mother is accessible to all.  She’s nurturing, forgiving, sensitive, powerful, and intuitive.  She creates, giving birth to the new in the world.  She’s all-encompassing and all-embracing, reaching her loving arms out with compassion and strength, without judgment. 
 
I remembered the wise words of St. Hildegard from Scivias on The Queen of Peace, an image of the Divine Mother that came to her long ago. As I listened to these words once again, they warmed my heart and embraced the suffering I feel in the world. 
 
So, I invite you to do the same to access the nurturing and embracing compassion of the Divine Mother in St. Hildegard’s Queen of Peace.  You can access the audio recording here.  

Sit comfortably in a quiet location and take a few deep, slow breaths. Light a candle and breathe in the peace of the candlelight. Begin the audio and close your eyes, letting the following words from St. Hildegard of Bingen speak to your heart and mind:
 
“Imagine you are a woman of great size – just like a great city. You have your head crowned wondrously, and your arms are covered with the long sleeves of a tunic which glistens from heaven right down to the earth.
 
Your womb is full of holes, much like a net, and a great crowd of people are moving about in it. You do not have any legs or feet which can be seen because you are standing in front of an altar which is before the eyes of God. You have your hands stretched out around the altar, and you are looking most keenly throughout the heavens with your eyes.
 
You cannot look at your garment closely, except that you notice that it shines with a very bright peacefulness. Your breasts are surrounded with such splendor that they shine as a reddish dawn full of reddish lightning. And you hear various kinds of music being sung ‘as intensely as the reddish dawn.’
 
You spread out your splendor as if it is a garment, and you say: ‘It behooves me to take in and to provide for.’ 

And then as if in a flash of lightning, a multitude of angels run to you. The angels perfect you by making various seats and steps on you for people to sit on.
 
Next you see some suffering infants near the earth, but in the air. They are like fish swimming in the water. These infants enter your womb through the many holes that are in it. You then sigh, drawing the infants up to your head where you breathe them forth through your mouth, remaining pure in the process.
 
Then a peaceful light appears to you. This peaceful light takes the suffering skin from each of the infants and throws that skin beyond life. You then uncover the peaceful light for these infants and cover them with a beautiful garment.”
​

At the end of the meditation, sit quietly for a few moments. Then consider the following:
 
Where are you suffering in your life right now? 

• Name each area of suffering out loud.
• Write these on little pieces of paper and put the papers in a little bowl on your altar.
• Circle the bowl with your candle and then cover the bowl with a beautiful cloth, with the intention of transforming the suffering into peace. 
• Sit in silence for a few moments, letting the light of peace flow through you.

May the Queen of Peace embrace you and dissolve the suffering you’re experiencing!
 
If you have enjoyed this meditation, I invite you to purchase my Sacred Night's Journal so you can access more meditations like this one and use them as you transition from 2019 into 2020! Shop Now!