Days Outside Of Time

Christmastide-or whatever you'd rather call it- traditionally lasts 12 days and are considered by many to be days outside of time, reclaimed from the change of one calendar to another. The period encompassing Yule (Winter Solstice) to 6 January( Epiphany) has a particular vibe that has always felt other worldly to me in the same fashion as Halloween (Samhain). They are a part of the phenomena of  'thin places'-sacred space which transcends reality and time.


In the British Isles, the period from 26 December to 6 January are known as the Omen Days. There is a type of divination involved where each day is assigned to a month in calendar order, and so omens that are observed on a specific day are traditionally assigned to the corresponding month,e.g.,Day One is January, etc. The only difficulty with this is discerning the omens themselves. A disciplined and trained eye is required in the identification, but building the skill is easily achieved by a few minutes of daily practice.

Some occult practitioners use this time to make predictions for the New Year using Tarot or other oracles. Others use deep meditation to make a psychic connection. Still others- and I count myself among the latter-use intuition or a 'gut feeling' to guide them into reflections. I do most of my psychic work intuitively ( and most of which I keep to myself, because I also realize that those feelings will be colored by my own projections). Even though I have posted some predictions of my own in the past in this blog, I haven't made a habit of it because my background in psychology tells me that what is coming through is just as likely to be due to environmental influence rather than occult knowledge of the future. The eminent psychologist Carl Jung posited that the symbolism of the Tarot  “are sort of archetypal ideas, of a differentiated nature.” I believe this to be so, as with all intuitive tools.

These last few days of the dying calendar year and first few days of the New Year have always felt anchor-less to me : giddy and fuzzy and a bit like walking through fog. The feeling is not as disagreeable as it sounds, but all the while still disconcerting. Perhaps it is due in part the myth and illusion attributable to Carnival, or simply the resistance to ending what is known and the uncertainty of what is new. Whatever the cause, this is not ordinary time.

Truth be known, I find most 'world predictions' to be more entertaining than anything else. Some are so obviously inevitable that they cannot miss coming true, others so vague to be applicable to a variety of situations. The ones that come out of left field are what I find so stunning and give credence to the prognosticator. Okay, so I'm a little jaded on the subject. There are a lot of fake psychics out there, and they irk me because 1.) the public tends to lump those with the genuine gift of second sight  in with them,  and 2.) they take advantage of the gullible.

It's been said that what you do at the beginning of a New Year sets the pattern for what will happen during that year. I believe this is where our urge to make New Year Resolutions originate. Sounds beneficial and positive, right? The problem is that as humans, we tend to to be more enthusiastic than realistic in our goals. We are good intentioned but miscalculate our ability and shun putting forth the effort to achieve measurable results. We are impatient and want instant satisfaction. These are somewhat immature but thoroughly human characteristics. And we all do it to a degree. At least I know I have. I am as slothful as the next person. So to combat the feeling of failure, I don't make sweeping resolutions. Instead, I start out slowly making changes and don't beat myself up if I discard something after awhile because it isn't working or doesn't feel right. I have to keep reminding myself that it's okay to do that and not feel guilty about it. Time will eventually give me something else to fill that space.

That is the beauty of having days outside of time: they turn what you believe upside down by being open to an alternate possibility. They are liminal and suspend expectation.

However you spend these days, stay mindful of their magic.