One of my favorite aspects of the Christian Liturgical Feast Day calendar (as I was taught it) is the way that flow, rhythm, and time are depicted in it. The ebullience of Christmas melts into the golden sweetness of Epiphany which flows into the icy clarity of Candlemass. Each feast has its own unique feel to it, its own beat and sway. And each feast speaks to a different side of ourselves and our experiences, a different kind of magic being made.

This is especially true during the beginning of Eastertide with the Feast Day of Shrove Tuesday (known as Mardi Gras in the region where I live), and the onset of the Lenten season with Ash Wednesday following the very next day.

These two Feast Days are in deep relationship to one another. The first celebrates the love of excess and the centering of desire in our lives while the second gives us the opposite and equal reaction, one that is purgative and restrained. From an astrological view point it is like jovial Jupiter and somber Saturn come together for a moment.

Ash Wednesday officially begins the season of Lent in most traditions and Lent ends on Lazarus Saturday, the day before Palm Sunday which kicks off Holy Week and Eastertide.

In the sacred timeline, we are emerging out of Winter, out of a season of coldness and darkness where we have remained indoors, celebrating the various Winter festivals, eating rich, salty, food, and drinking in plenty of spirits. We now enter the later Winter/early Spring season when things around us still look pretty stark and dead…but there is a great deal of life stirring under the leafy mulch and dark soil. In the liturgical story, we are preparing to go, as the Eastern Orthodox put it, into the “bright sadness”.

For as Christmas celebrates the birth of a bright child, the Lenten season prepares to see that child grow into a young man and then be ritually sacrificed for a higher, perhaps the highest, purpose. For the Sacred Artist who may or may not identify with the story and mysteries central to Christianity, the Lenten season can still hold power. It is a time of having one last major celebration, one last hurrah (on Shrove Tuesday/Mardi Gras) and then entering into a time when one’s personal desires are pushed aside in favor of a bigger, broader vision.

It is the time where we identify that thing that we love that is probably not very good for us…and we commit to taking a break from it. Lent is the season where we give up something in order to gain something else, often something much more worthwhile. Lent is also the season where we take an in-breath and allow ourselves to grieve what has been lost, ceded, or foresworn over the past seasons. It is a bright sadness because we know that the sadness will not stay forever, that there will be a new story and new growth, but also bright in the sense of cutting and sharp, a sadness we let ourselves feel all the way down to the bone.

The onset of Lent is a reminder that excess, and restraint go hand in hand with each other. It is a time to focus on what makes us feel good and also a time to recognize that what seems to bring pleasure is not always what actually does. It is a time to allow ourselves space to grieve what has been lost and find that, after our tears have been shed, we are ready to call in what in new and whole once more.

Areas to especially consider as you make your petition include:

• Honoring what brings you pleasure
• Identifying what needs to be released or given up
• Recognizing what you have gained
• Giving yourself time and space to truly grieve whatever/whomever has been lost
• Giving your soul soil time to lie fallow, while all of the action happens underground.
• Getting clear on what new life you are ready to call in

As always, those who wish to add extra magic to their celebrations may order the custom candle for the season: MAKING SACRED. Find it here.