This time of darkness, before the light begins to return at Winter Solstice, is meant to be a time of rest and regeneration. It is that time when seeds and bulbs—full of their potential to become blue oak or yellow buttercup, towering redwood or orange poppy—wait for warmth, water, and light before beginning their journey to become what they are meant to be. 

     I like to think of this time like the void, empty but full of potential. 

     Taken to the void many times in shamanic journeys, I’ve been shown how to see in the dark, see what is possible, and make sense of what could be coming. These journeys have has changed my shamanic practice and my life. They are a gift that has given me an expanded perspective—beyond my small self, beyond what I believe, beyond even what I’ve dreamed. 

     It was also these journeys that guided me into the understanding that aligning with cosmic energy is possible—as the subtitle of my book Weave the Heart of the Universe Into Your Life says!  

     It’s this expansion—for everyone who is a visionary, dreamer, light worker, or one who sees into the mystery—that offers the courage to keep going. That anchors and supports our belief that another world is coming. That confirms and deepens our sense of interconnectedness. That renews and regenerates our imaginations with potential.

     In 2004 my husband and I hiked to Q'ollorit'i, a place of such sacred power that the visions just flowed into me. Q'ollorit’i is on the sacred mountain Ausangate in the E. cordillera of the Andes, in Peru. 

     Introduced to the Q’ero stone—an enormous black basalt boulder resting on a steep hillside above the valley—our group of about 20 encircled it, arms touching the stone. Immediately I was taken to the void, a place of vast darkness, rich with potential. I heard in this vision that the Q’ero nation went annually to this stone to receive their prophesies, and I felt as if I could learn everything there. 

     The whole valley is a site of a Solstice festival honoring the apus on June 21 (their summer solstice is our winter solstice) attended by over 80,000 indigenous and Catholic pilgrims. Across from the Q'ero stone, a Catholic church holds a famous basalt imprint of the face of Christ. So I wasn’t exactly surprised to hear the stone was a place for vision. But, just to make sure, I confirmed the information I'd received with one of our Q’ero guides. Later I learned that the mystical significance of the festival is about retrieving your highest vision or destiny. 

     The void has become a place for alchemy and renewal for me. Over the years, scientific exploration of black holes and superclusters like Laniakea (see image) merged with my visionary experiences in the void, and those ordinary and non-ordinary worlds became a place of calm and comfort, deep meditation and brilliant guidance. I’ve learned to rest in the void, empty but full, as I learn about what we humans can do to foster peace and sustainability, openheartedness and alignment. 

     At this solstice my wish for you is that you find your own way to the void, the fertile darkness, through meditation, journey, or whatever tools you use to vision and dream.