Der Yuul

En Hallicher Yuul zu eich alle! 

Voryuul Timeline, Eastern Deitscherei, Nights 1-5

Regional Timeline of Voryuul Events for the Eastern Deitscherei

Note: If you find yourself struggling with the realities of answers dredged up by some of the shadow-side work, please discontinue the exploration and reach out to me, to a trusted friend, or to any of the clergy of Distelfink Sippschaft. 

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NIGHT 1: Wednesday, December 8, 2021; Sunset Local Time

Night 1 of Voryuul begins. Start with twelve candles burning, consider the meditation of the day. Snuff or blow out one candle in the middle of your meditation and contemplate the change in the lighting, ambience, and atmosphere of the room. When meditation is completed, be sure to extinguish all candles!

Suggested Meditation 1

Nacht 1 - Night 1

Es 2020 waar  ’n zaehes Yaahr gwest. Es 2021 (doch im Gang) iss en besseres Yaahr gwest. Bischt du noch gedreir de Lehre vun 2020, adder bischt du widder zimmlich desselwert es Mensch, as du im 2019 waarscht?

2020 was a tough year. Did you retain the lessons learned in 2020, or are you again pretty much the same person who you were in 2019?

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NIGHT 2: Thursday, December 9, 2021; Sunset Local Time

Night 2 begins with eleven candles burning, and the number of lit candles will be reduced to ten by the end of the meditation. 

Suggested Meditation 2

Bedrachdungsvorschlack 2

Wer bischt du heitich? Bischt du froh? Bischt vergniechlich?

Meditation Prompt 2

Who are you these days? Are you happy? Are you contented?

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NIGHT 3: Friday, December 10, 2021; Sunset Local Time

Night 3 begins with ten candles lit and the number is reduced to nine.

Suggested Meditation 3 

Bedrachdungsvorschlack 3

Kannst du net mehr aus me Trott haerauskumme? Wann du yuscht eeni Sach in deim Lewe umwandle kennt, was watt es sei? Weswegge? Wuzu? Zu wellem End?

Meditation Prompt 3

Are you stuck in a rut? If you could transform just one thing in your life, what would it be? Due to what? Why? To what end?

LUTZELFRAASLAAF: Distelfink Sippschaft will observe Lutzelfraaslaaf beginning at 6:00 PM EST at Rob Schreiwer's house in Bristol, PA.

BRISTOL BUGGY PULL will take place during Night 3 (approximately 7:30/8:00 PM EST behind Bristol Borough Junior-Senior High School, Bristol, PA 

YULETIDE SOCK DRIVE begins at the Buggy Pull.

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NIGHT 4: Saturday, December 11, 2021; Sunset Local Time

PARADE OF SPIRITS: Sunset on December 11 begins the Parade of Spirits though the streets of Northern Liberties in Philadelphia.

Night 4 also plunges us into the shadowy sides of ourselves. We begin with nine candles lit and end with eight. 

Suggested Meditation 4

Be prepared to go a little bit meta and to think about the past few nights' meditations, particularly the aspects of confronting the shadow side of yourself and developing a better understanding of the totality of yourself. 

Then ask yourself some of the tough questions. 

What are my motivators? What are the causes of my actions?

All behavior can be boiled down to four functions: attention, avoidance, sensory stimulation, and access to tangibles. What impels some of the shadowy behaviors? Without going into too much personal detail, I sometimes see attention as a primary motivator, even more so than avoidance, which would have been a major player when I was younger. Of course, all of us shift from function to function throughout our lives, but it is the nagging, troublesome shadowy behaviors that I am looking at within myself. 

Did you ever notice certain patterns in your life, particularly those that result in detriment to yourself? Are there things that you keep noticing are causing problems with relationships, jobs, self-fulfillment? The old saying is, "Do what you always do and get what you always get." Sometimes we need introspection (Selbschtreiguck) to move toward self-improvement (Selbschtverbessering). Tracking those things back to the behavioral function that they serve may help with some enlightenment and some positive change... Or, at the very least, understanding why we do the things we do can lead to more deliberate choices, even on the shadow side.

Voryuul is indeed the time for introspection, and confronting the shadow side is just about as introspective as one can get!

Note Again: If you find yourself struggling with the realities of answers dredged up by some of the shadow-side work, please discontinue the exploration and reach out to me, to a trusted friend, or to any of the clergy of Distelfink Sippschaft. Night 4's meditation an open up some old wounds, which presents all the more reason to come out to spend time in the community having fun embracing the dark and facing your fears. 

NIGHT 5: Sunday, December 12, 2021;  Sunset, Local Time

Night 5 begins with eight candles lit and ends with seven.

Suggested Meditation 5

Night 5's meditation starts with the question, "What do you do when you win the battle but lose the war?" By "battle" here I do not mean literal battle (though that could certainly apply here as well). Instead, I mean the struggles that we encounter with unstable friendships/relationships or the strains of improving one's career or whatever it is that we find ourselves vying to attain. How do you cope with loss of this type? What actions soothe you, and what impact does your self-soothing have on. yourself and on others? Do you give up on lost causes gracefully? Less than gracefully? Or do you plod forth hoping that tomorrow will be a brighter day?

Note: If you find yourself struggling with the realities of answers dredged up by some of the shadow-side work, please discontinue the exploration and reach out to me, to a trusted friend, or to any of the clergy of Distelfink Sippschaft. Night 5's meditation is meant to shake us out of our comfort zone. Being truthful with oneself on this meditation can stir up guilt and regret. Those feelings must be extinguished along with Candle 8 is blown out. If there amends that need to be made with other people, extinguish the guilt and work to correct the actions of the past. If no reconciliation is possible, then, when blowing out the rest of the candles for tonight, commit the guilt and the regret to the past while learning any lessons that the incidents in question are presenting to you. 

----- Nights 6-12 will be presented in a later post -----