Making Spirits Bright
Part #3: A Soul Journaling Service to honor the Winter Solstice with Marcy Farrey
Welcome to the third installment of my four-part holiday series, “Making Spirits Bright.”
This article was generously contributed by Marcy Farrey, the writer and creator behind Soul Journaling Sessions and CollabStack.
Her mission is to help people develop deeper connections to their Souls and to one another. She enjoys weaving various tools for mental and spiritual health into her work, including meditation and Tarot/Oracle cards.
She currently lives in Arizona with her husband and her two young daughters Carsey (3 years) and Avery (18 months). In addition to her two Substack publications, you can also connect with Marcy on Insight Timer.
Welcome, lovely Souls!
I’m so honored to have you as part of our circle for the Yule (Winter Solstice) Soul Journaling Service.
A Soul Journaling Service honors nature and seasonal shifts with a Tarot/Oracle message and a Soul Journaling Session. The journaling session calls on us to go within to channel our Soul’s wisdom, rather than relying solely on sources outside of ourselves for guidance and insight.
Yule & Winter Solstice Themes
Yule is typically celebrated on December 21 or 22 in the Northern Hemisphere and on June 20 or 21 in the Southern Hemisphere.
This is the darkest day/longest night of the year, and then the light slowly begins to return from here on out. It gives us the opportunity to honor both the darkness we’ve moved through and the light that is returning.
The Winter Solstice invites us to:
Rest and reflect. This is a time for slower activities, for practices that help us go inward and look back on what we’ve experienced or learned in the past year, having gratitude for the highs and the lows. In this darkness and stillness, we have the space to invite deep healing and integration.
Connect. Many families and communities gather around the Winter Solstice and the holiday season in general, celebrating the return of the light, a coming new year, and the ability to simply be together. Reach out to and spend time with the people you love and do your best to be fully present at gatherings.
Cultivate hope. The light will slowly begin to return now, reminding us that even in our darkest periods, this is all part of a cycle, and the darkness does not last forever. We will navigate these challenges, we will learn and grow, then open ourselves to the new opportunities that await as the light returns.
Stay present in the space of hope and possibility. This wasn’t meant to be a time to rush ahead, take quick action, or make any set-in-stone plans, even though the New Years energy might make us think that. This time is better spent exploring the possibilities ahead, asking what different paths we could take and what that might look and feel like for us. Get curious about any opportunities coming your way and connect to your team in Spirit and your Soul to see what is right for you.
If you want to learn more, my favorite source for all things Wheel of the Year is Cassie Uhl’s book, Understanding the Wheel of the Year. I love all of her books and decks and recommend them for anyone getting started with Tarot or any other spiritual practices.
The card spread
This spread reflects what spoke to me as themes for the Winter Solstice this year: Reflection and Connection. The message will help us explore how to find the right balance between the two.
The Collective Message
For the collective message, I worked with The Yuletide Tarot by Kristoffer Hughes with art by Erin O’Leary Brown.
A couple interesting things to note about this reading:
First, we had one “jumper” card that came out as I was shuffling to ask the final question. I included it with question 4, so this is an energy we need to be aware of.
Second, in that same final question about balance, we received the card “Balance.” So this energy is very much emphasized—balance is important!
Below I have listed out the questions followed by a photo of the card we received. (And as this is a collective reading, I reframed the questions to be for the collective.)
What is ready to be honored with gratitude and connection? Knight of Canes (Swords)
What is calling for deeper reflection and restoration? Nine of Candles (Wands)
Where in our lives are possibilities and potential brewing? The Wheel of the Year (Wheel of Fortune)
What will help us cultivate the right balance between connection and reflection? Five of Candles (Wands) and Balance (Temperance)
You can settle in and listen to the full message in the audio track below. I’ve included highlights of the message afterward, in case you don’t have time to listen or would prefer to read.
Message Highlights
Your resilience and determination in standing by and speaking your truth is worthy of recognition. You leaned into your logical side this year to speak clearly what you know to be right or true—and even if you feel you fell short of this from time to time, what you learned from those experiences has made you wiser and stronger. You are even more well-equipped now to communicate your views, and you can speak, act, and make decisions from a more confident place.
You also were better able to stand your ground when faced with conflict or disagreement this year, which is something that may have been challenging for you to do in the past. As a result, you drew in more likeminded people, and these are connections you should continue to cultivate.
Sharing your voice, your views, and your logic also posed some challenges, and you may be feeling a bit weary now from fighting the good fight. But the light will soon return and you are in the final stretch. Take some time to reflect on moments of resistance (internally and externally) and the lessons that came from them. Ask yourself what you might do differently next time to protect your energy.
Possibilities and opportunities will appear when you surrender and go with the flow, being open to changes as they come. It is through change that you will find new beginnings, hope, and transformation.
Maintaining a balance between reflection and connection is all about moderation—not engaging in so much connection that you’re overwhelmed and not engaging in so much reflection that you begin to feel isolated or confused. Be honest with yourself and others about your limits and boundaries and don’t feel guilty when you need to shift from one to the other.
Be aware of any conflict or competition at family or social gatherings, doing your best not to engage. Don’t let petty arguments distract you or take you away from the joy of connection.
To sum it all up, this message points to the growth we’ve all done in the realm of speaking our truths and getting the word out about who we are and the things we care about.
We did this despite conflict and friction, and we learned to navigate the discomfort without losing ourselves.
But that process in and of itself has left us a bit tired and weary, so now it is time to rest, integrate our lessons, and be open to the many possibilities that await us in the next phase.
Your Soul Journaling Session
In the audio file below is a prayer/activation and a direct prompt for your Soul.
Your Soul Prompt for Yule:
What is it about the holidays that make you stressed or melancholy?
Wasn’t that great? Let’s all send a big thank you to the magical Marcy Farrey for sharing her storytelling gifts with us today!
Readers, please join me next week for the final installment of the “Making Spirits Bright” holiday series.
Blessings,
Eleyne-Mari
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Thank you so much for sharing this! I am honored to be a part of this series!