Embodying the Light

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My current conclusion is that becoming aware of the power and significance of light allows us to metaphorically, and even energetically, embody its aspects in an individual and subjective way to engage in shifting consciousness and transformation of our mental, emotional, and spiritual beings with intention. How will you embody the light and light the way for others this holiday season? 
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If you are like me, part of you loves the way “embodying the light” sounds but another part of you may be asking, “What does it mean to embody something and what exactly is light?” Well let’s jump into this together and see what we discover!

At the time I write this, I have literally just finished my holiday decorations which are filled with, you guessed it, lights! In my house we blend the celebrations of the Hindu holiday of Diwali and the Christian holiday of Christmas while editing the heck out of both to suit the fact that none of us are wholeheartedly behind any one religion but rather passionate about picking up what resonates with us from any source. One thing that Diwali and Christmas have in common that we love is the tradition of celebrating light! With Diwali this ties directly into “light triumphing over dark”. With Christmas this ties back to the Pagan ritual of Winter Solstice. Also known as Yule, Winter Solstice celebrates the return of light as the season changes and the days once again become longer bringing the relief and gift of life that light and warmth offers the earth and its dwellers. To participate in these sentiments, we love to put candles everywhere and string lights on the house to experience the ahhhh effect that comes whenever we set our gaze on the flicker of light. But why do we feel this sensation of enchantment when our eyes meet the light?

Apparently, light is “electromagnetic radiation that can be detected by the human eye” which is a rather dry way of describing a spectacular optical effect. What of the emotional element of being drawn, soothed, or even inspired by light? As I dug deeper than this definition, I found lots of information on activating one’s “light body” and becoming a “light worker”. These lines of contemplation provide lots of intriguing insight into ancient mystery teachings that suggest that we can achieve spiritual ascension by activating our “light bodies” and that many of us are called to become “light workers” to elevate humanity at large. Wow! 

But what about the laws of physics, such as duality, that suggest that we must have the dark to have the light? Talk about throwing a downer on the beauty and promise of the “Law of Attraction”. This makes me think about how me enjoying my light display means I've participated in the overuse of electricity, which depletes natural resources and causes pollution! It’s very difficult to see anything as virtuous these days as we really begin to pull back the curtain and require transparency regarding ourselves and our society. If one follows the trail of any action to its source, one may encounter dismay at the discovery of how much suffering there is on that trail.  As in cell phones, or automobiles, or food, or clothing. In our quest for knowledge to better ourselves, we uncover a growing fear that we are not actually free to always choose the high road. But I am more hopeful than that! My intuition tells me that if one desires to be good, dimensions shift, our outcomes and consequences change, and that our range of opposites will move from things as disparate as agony and ecstasy, to simply different forms of ecstasy. What if simple contrast could replace duality and that contrast could be from pink to purple versus pink to death? But what gives me the right to speculate? My freedom to think and feel my way toward my innate wisdom within, that’s what! My teachers encouraged me to do this, and I encourage my students to do the same! The more we practice hearing this voice, the more audible it becomes!
 
I believe it is our instinct to better ourselves that draws us toward higher frequencies such as light. In our desire to climb to a higher resonance, we seek to emulate, become, “embody” this light. Just look at the many ways we play with this theme:

• Starlight

 
We look to the stars to feel romantic, to discover astrological wisdom, to “Explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and civilizations. To boldly go where no man has gone before”. We even call people who have achieved high levels of performance “stars”. It is one of the highest compliments that can be paid and one of the most radiant positions to be held in society. We celebrate stars for they remind and encourage us to tap into our superhuman potential.

• Moonlight

 
We were so magnetized by the light of the moon that we built a spaceship and travelled to it! We feel the moon as it shifts the tides, runs our menstrual cycles, and super charges our crystals with its special frequency.

• Sunlight

 
We celebrate summer for it brings us the warmth of the sun which effects our production of melatonin, a hormone produced in the pineal gland which helps us to regulate sleeping patterns. The pineal gland is also known as our “third eye” for its ability to perceive light. Our “third eye” (or Ajna chakra) is also associated with psychic perception and our ability to project our mental dreams to be manifest in the physicality of the quantum field.

• Firelight

 
We associate the element of fire with dissolution. We use this in combination with meditation or incantation to release that which no longer serves us or the greater good.

• Rainbow light

 
We feel in awe of the colors of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink. The rainbow effect is created by light reflecting off the inside of water droplets, separating them into their component wavelengths, or as we commonly call them – colors! An interesting parallel to notice is with our 7 main chakras (energetic/ emotional centers in and around our physical bodies). Red – root chakra, orange – sacral chakra, yellow – solar chakra, green – heart chakra, light blue – throat chakra, purple (or indigo) – third eye chakra, pink (or white) – crown chakra. Each of these chakras can be studied on a personal level to uncover deep levels of healing, awakening, and connecting to source. The promise of meeting “god” through self-study is even better than a pot of gold. Or at least a close second!!

• Spiritual illumination

 
All these paths of light seem to lead to a quest to unify with something that we feel separated from. To “embody the light” is to become one with this seemingly lost spiritual wisdom. To become one with a “constant flow of wellbeing”, with nirvana, with unending ecstasy, with source, with the concept of God.
 
My last blog and dance workshop on Ethnic Trance Dances delved deeply into the theme of darkness as we explored the Moroccan Guedra and the Egyptian Zar.  But even within that study, myself and my workshop students were perpetually compelled to transform perceived “darkness” into light and redefine misperceived “evil” with deeper explanations. This was a beautiful journey to watch as a circle of women worked with their intuitive powers to meet the darkness with open eyes and open hearts to transmute, versus deny, intense energetic densities into lighter forms. The experience was powerful and exalting. It helped me to look at my darker emotions with less fear so that I can shift their shape and frequency thereby changing my vibrational point of attraction so that I can be the designer of my reality rather than an unwitting victim of it. You might say it was a powerful way to engage in the practice of “shadow work” in dance form.
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Dancers are no strangers to the gamut of emotions as we must be able to tune into them well so that we can pair our emotional expression or frequencies with the vibrational resonance of music. We understand range, expression, transmutation, and exaltation. And we are no strangers to the light! One of our favorite lights of all is the… spotlight!! Though sometimes thought of as narcissistic or superficial, artists and audiences alike also know there is something quite magical about the spotlight.

And then there's candle dancing, an enchanting way for bellydancers to work with the themes of light, chakras, moving meditation, intention, and ritual!