In the season of late winter and early spring, some of us may be journeying through the Christian season of Lent - the six weeks leading up to Easter, traditionally a time of spiritual purification through fasting, prayer, and giving.
Some of us may be remembering when we used to practice "giving something up" for Lent... perhaps with a wide range of emotions attached to that practice!
When I was younger, I used to challenge myself to go without an "indulgent" food (sometimes chocolate, sometimes all desserts) for six. whole. weeks. during Lent.
I didn't even allow myself the official, Church-sanctioned "breaks" from Lenten practices on Sundays! I was quite the puritan in this sense.
And while there were times when Lenten "giving up" helped me release something unhelpful or unhealthy from my life, there were also times when Lent became a sort of "suffering olympics" - a contest to see how holy I could become by denying myself the things I desired.
Perhaps you still "give something up" at this time of year, or feel that you should.
Perhaps you are sick and tired of being told you should "give something up" - especially at a time when we are facing so much loss and grief in the collective!
The Divine Feminine, in Her cycles of nature, helps us form a healthy perspective on releasing and receiving...
...which, like the Christian practice of Lent in preparation for Easter, is really about dying and rising.
There's an old story that tells how Brigid, the maiden Goddess of spring, is eager to return each year - but in order to bring the springtime back, She must first engage in a tug-of-war with Her sister, the Cailleach, ancient crone Goddess of winter.
Brigid, the embodiment of springtime and new life, cannot return until the Cailleach has fully killed off everything that needs to die with the winter.
The seasons of the Goddess are clear: Winter must precede spring.
The new cannot be born without the death of the old.
We do, indeed, need to "give up" or release things when their time is up in our lives...
...but this releasing is not about self-denial, because the Goddess loves and values us and wants us to thrive!
Rather, it's about making space for the new life that is coming.
Personally, I have chosen not to take on any specific practice of "giving up" for Lent this year, because the past year has asked me - as it has asked us collectively - to "give up" so much already.
Instead, I am continuing to focus on releasing and grieving the things I have had to to let go of, as well as asking over and over again, How might this be making space for something new?
This Lent, I invite you to bring the "releasing and receiving" in your life to the loving attention of the Divine Mother.
What has She asked you to let go of, because its time is now complete... and how might you be open to receiving something new, eventually, because of that releasing?
It's okay if you don't know what the "new" thing is yet... those tend to come in very unexpected ways, as those of us who follow the Christian story already know.
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