Join our 12 Days of Christmas Contemplations 2024: "Into the depth."
A contemplative online journey to the heart of Christmas for dancing monks and weary pilgrims, joyful warriors and wounded healers, seekers and skeptics.
Have you ever wondered what the twelve days of Christmas are about other than a silly song?
We have.
Eight years ago we decided to take time off every day to ponder each of them in our 12 Days of Christmas Contemplations. Since then we have grown into a communion of fellow pilgrims across the globe journeying together through this sacred time.
All paid subscribers will receive our 12 Days of Christmas Contemplations every day in your email inbox.
As a paid subscriber you will receive every day a brief inspiration which comes to you like an unexpected Christmas gift. You will become part of a Communion of kindred pilgrims searching for the living light. And you will walk with us through this threshold time where the old and the new year meet and all the way to epiphany to find Divine wisdom within.
If you are clergy, chaplain, or in any other ministry who serves during Christmas here is a special gift of appreciation for you.
This year, Almut invites us "into the depths" of the union between our story and the Christmas story. Helped by depth thinkers and archetypal understandings we will ponder and contemplate the symbols of Christmas and see what they can offer us for our own journey towards renewed life.
Here, you can (re)visit our contemplations from the last year.
We are looking forward to journeying with you through this sacred time,
Chuck with Almut & little one
PS: Thank you for sharing or forwarding this invite, and thereby help us find other kindred spirits who would wish to join this journey . Thank you 🙏.
PPS: If you are a member of a religious order or if you need some extra help please feel free to respond to this letter and we will add you manually to the list.
Not sure yet?
Facilitators
Dr. Almut Furchert, OblSB is the woman behind Cloister Notes, a newsletter in the intersection of philosophy, psychology and spirituality to deepen your path, nourish your heart and build wisdom within.
Almut is a German American psychologist turned philosopher turned writer, teacher and retreat leader and has published on wise men and women like Søren Kierkegaard and Hildegard of Bingen.
Her husband Chuck Huff , PhD will look after their five year old so Almut can write, but he often also adds a reflection, a poem or some other surprise to the journey.
What participants say:
"I cannot express in words what the 12 Days of Christmas does for my soul. Your willingness to keep going despite trepidations means so much to so many. A thousand thank yous."
— Kathleen Schmidt, participant since 2018
Join our 12 Days of Christmas Contemplations 2024: "Into the depth."
A contemplative online journey to the heart of Christmas for dancing monks and weary pilgrims, joyful warriors and wounded healers, seekers and skeptics.
A confession first: We are not very Christmas-y people. At least not in the velvet bows and tinsel sense. Usually, we arrive late and out of breath for Advent, and often simply recycle a tree from the curb, when neighbors have tossed theirs out. Thus, our take on the 12 Days of Christmas, - which we have only known as a silly song before - is born of an utter need:
What treasure lies underneath, hidden in the depths under the traditions, when we arrive in the silence of the silent night? What lies at the heart of this old story of Divine birth, and how does it matter to our own heart’s journey?
Every year we wonder anew if we want to challenge ourselves to this journey, and every year we are humbled again by the many across the globe, from Germany to New Zealand(!), who join us on this pilgrimage where seekers like us can take a break from the hustle and bustle, breathe, and wonder, guided and sustained by the wise women and men before us (Mary, Joseph, Meister Eckhart, Hildegard, Rumi, Bonhoeffer, Kierkegaard, Hesse and others).
Together we will walk — in a contemplative spirit and in your own pace and time — from Christmas to the threshold where the old and new year meet, then all the way to Epiphany, guided by our heart’s longing and the many wise women and men before us.
Every day you will receive in your inbox a brief reflection, poem, photo meditation, blessing, or practice which you can unwrap like an unexpected Christmas gift.
You can walk these days in solitude while reading and reflecting, walking along side us in spirit. You can also partake in our communion of travel pilgrims from across the globe in our private comment section which accompanies the daily contemplations.
This year’s theme: “Into the depth…”
Now in its 8th year, and the second time here on substack, we invite you to journey with us through the 12 Days of Christmas and to find a place of rest and new beginning. This online pilgrimage will lead you on an interior journey into the heart of hearts, at your own pace and time.
Every year, again, I arrive weary at the Advent door…
What could I possibly say that would console the hearts of those exhausted and numb from too long a journey through pandemic years, political and personal turmoil; what could I possibly write in this aching world?
Every year again I wonder about a theme which could fit our longing and our times. Last year’s Reclaiming Joy, and before Cradling Hope, Beginning anew, have been themes of the past. “What could we possibly add?” I asked into the quiet of the morning break.
“Into the depth…” came to me (and how does that work?) and I nodded. Isn’t that what we do together? Journeying each year into the depth of the Christmas meaning? Until our heart becomes the stable?
I have sprinkled archetypal meanings and symbolism into my daily reflections always. But this time we will sit together with those deeper meanings. Every day we will contemplate a Christmas figure, Mary, Joseph, the star, the stable, until it reveals its deeper meaning to us on the journey to the indwelling Divine.
Beware. The 12 Days of Christmas Contemplations are not a pre-packaged retreat. Instead, our Contemplations are offered as daily inspiration and meditations, sometimes brief, sometimes longer, written while walking along side you, raw and dusty like the road to Bethlehem, one step at a time, never quite knowing the ending, other than at the Divine dwelling place.
And I invite you to join us, and travel along, Almut
Here, you can (re)visit our contemplations from the last year.
Here are some voices from our previous journeys:
"Dear Almut, Every time I open one of your notes -- I take time to breathe, to enjoy the photographs, to remember to find joy in my surroundings. These are priceless gifts.” -- Anne W.
“I've been reading the recent 12 Days... and am reminded of God's goodness and love shining through you to me and I am grateful.” — Luann Raadt
“Do a cloister. It will enrich tech rest of your days.” — Ina Christopherson
"Almut, I cannot fully express how your work and gift uplifts, challenges, inspires and brings joy and warmth to this older soul. Thank you!" — Kathleen Schmidt
"I am always so grateful to read your thoughtful meditations, Almut! Many blessings on your new ventures, and on these upcoming days of Christmas. I look forward to the journey with you!" — Erik Haaland
Will you journey with us (again)? And will you bring some one along?
All you need to do to join us is to become a paid subscriber to our Cloister Notes here on substack and to help us grow this project into a movement of seekers who long for a quieter and deeper Christmas path. And if you are already on our list (yay!) please bring some one along who fits this description :-).
And if you have been moved by these Contemplations before you can also become a founding member of this journey, inviting a friend along, or giving a gift subscription.
If you are already a paying member but do not have the time to participate this season, feel free to uncheck the 12 Days emails in your account setting here.
Facilitators
Dr. Almut Furchert, OblSB is the woman behind Cloister Notes, a newsletter in the intersection of philosophy, psychology and spirituality to deepen your path, nourish your heart and build wisdom within.
Almut is a German American psychologist turned philosopher turned writer, teacher and retreat leader and has published on wise men and women like Søren Kierkegaard and Hildegard of Bingen.
Her husband Chuck Huff will look after their five year old so Almut can write, but he often also adds a reflection, a poem or some other surprise to the journey.
The idea behind The Twelve Days and how it works
The 12 Days of Christmas might remind some of a silly song. But we use these days to revive the early medieval tradition of a sacred time between Christmas Day and Epiphany. We started our 12 Day of Christmas Online Journey eight years ago following a dream (literally, a dream I had one night) of a sacred reading retreat between the years where seekers like us can walk together towards the heart of Christmas, take a break from the hustle and bustle, breathe, and wonder, guided and sustained by wise women and men before us.
Those who have traveled with us before know, this is not a prepackaged journey where I offer you a curated selection of texts. Instead, I am thrown into the movement of the heart myself, every year again, humbly walking along to offer you what I receive, in each moment and time.
We do not follow the traditional string of saints’ days for the season, but rather explore every year anew what Christmas might mean to each of us, while creating a breathing space for you, guiding you through readings and practices from Holy Night to the threshold of the Old and the New Year and all the way to Epiphany on a quiet interior journey.
How it works
Every day we will provide a brief online reflection or practice you might find time for that day or another time of your liking. The reflection will help set the stage, and the question or practice will help you construct your own interior journey through the 12 Days.
You should set aside 15-20 min every day if you want to follow along daily, or mark regular times in your calendar for your personal Christmas Journey. Some set aside a day or two for a 12 Days of Christmas retreat. What ever works for you will work for the Spirit.
But you must show up for the journey, how ever that may look for you. Some walk in and out of the different Christmas days as their schedule allows, some set aside time on the first day of the year or on Epiphany to conduct their own retreat reading several posts. It is important that you find a sense of travel and pilgrimage.
Christmas does not end with Holy Night when many are ready to discard their dried out Christmas trees. Like a newborn child, new-born hope must be cradled, carefully fed and tended, protected, nourished, and guided on its way. And as there is no hope without facing darkness and no Christmas Day without Christmas Night we want to tap into the deep well of courage that allows us to hold both our sorrows and hopes on this sacred journey, birthing new life in each of us.
How to subscribe
All you need to do is to become a paying subscriber to our Cloister Notes in order to receive our 12 Days of Christmas Contemplations in your inbox every day. Those who give more help us sustain this journey for all. Thank you, thank you!
Upon registration you will receive some welcoming email to help you set up your journey, a Blessing for the journey on Holy Night and from then on our daily meditations through the 12 Days of Christmas 2024-25 every morning in your email inbox.
Here, you can (re)visit our contemplations from the last year.
Thank you, Almut. It is so lovely to have this retreat to look forward to again rhis year.
just wondering if this post went out as email also. Did you receive it?