In this beautiful article from our Winter 2018/19 issue, our resident Tantra expert Dawn Cartwright explored the inherent beauty of winter months, and how it can bring us closer to ourselves and to our beloved ones. Her suggested ceremony that you can perform at this time of year – Winter Lovers – is aimed at kindling Tantric energies and supporting lovers as they merge with themselves and one another.
Winter Lovers
Merging together as One
by Dawn Cartwright
Let her sleep,
for when she wakes
she will move mountains.
Let her sleep,
for when she wakes
she will shake the world.
–Napoleon Bonaparte–
In winter, when everything’s asleep, love turns inward. The excitement of the year has settled, the world is quiet and we are more alert. Fires that burned with passion through summer, smolder. Incandescent with treasures. The perfect time for making love.
Neo-Tantra is an inner journey that begins with sexual energy. The techniques and practices teach us to relax and let go of our typical peak-focus so that our sexual energy flows into the body, beyond the genitals. When we embrace and accept our sexual energy, we nourish the roots of our being. We are no longer swayed by fleeting attractions, day to day stress, or winds of change. Our bodies thrive, our relationships flourish and our hearts grow stronger. Rivers of energy that awaken sexual aliveness begin to flow in our bodies. A feeling of merging we often describe as ecstasy appears.
I invite you to create this ceremony for yourself, first. Then, if you wish, invite a friend or lover to join you.
Winter Lovers Ceremony
Merging together as one.
I. Gather fresh sprigs of evergreen, juniper twigs and berries, fresh cranberries, white candles, gardenias, organic coconut oil, a warm robe, soft towels, blankets and pillows. If you’re unable to locate these items, feel free to make substitutions.
II. Switch off all electronics the night before your ceremony, prepare your space, sink into the silence. Then, wake at the lover’s hour, at least an hour before dawn. If you set an alarm, set it to ring with chimes, softly.
III. When you first wake up, be still. Listen to the silence. Then, take eight breaths to awaken your sexual channels. Place your hands on your collarbones and draw two slow breaths. Then, hands to heart, two slow breaths. Diaphragm, two slow breaths. Warm your hands and bring them to your genitals, two slow, embracing breaths.
IV. Wrap yourself in a warm robe or blankets, draw a hot bath or fill a foot basin. Place greenery, berries, flowers and candles around the bath, a spoonful of coconut oil and perhaps a few sprigs, flowers and berries in the water. Step into the bath. Close your eyes. Begin the journey from your mind to your body. Take in the aroma of the greenery, berries, flowers and oils. Feel the warmth in your body in contrast to the cold outside. See the candlelight through closed eyes. Invite the light to enter your body.
V. In winter, the world turns within and life is drawn to the roots. Feel your senses turn inward. Meet your inner world. Sink into the warmth inside. We are so accustomed to experiencing our sexual energy as something that is outward and genital focused. This meditation makes it possible for you to discover the river of sexual energy that is always flowing inside you. Feel the warmth and sink deeper into it.
VI. Winter is a time of sleep. A time of rejuvenation for our inner being. As you melt into the warmth in your body, focus your attention in the centre of your chest. Feel your heart beating. Bring to mind something you love about yourself, something that is good. Are you kind? An accomplished musician? Are you a generous friend? A devoted employee? What is good about you? Bring that to mind as you breathe gently into and out of your heart. Awaken the lover within.
VII. Feel the fire? Now, expand your breathing. Sink into the bath, feel the candlelight filtering through your eyelashes. Breathe the feelings of fire to the edges of your body as you caress your toes, the arch of your foot, your inner legs and behind your knees, your inner thighs, up the creases on either side of your genitals, around your navel, across your diaphragm, around your heart, underneath your collarbones, then gently touch your tongue. Activating the kidney meridians and the rivers of sexual energy in your body.
VIII. Settle back in the bath. Feel the sweetness of the cool air around you. For the Neo-Tantra explorer, the inner warmth is Shakti, the feminine energy of love and creativity. Shiva, the masculine energy of stability and activation, is the coolness all around you. Feel your body expand and contract with your breathing. Let this oceanic movement take you over. Bring the cool sweet air of winter into the warmth of the feminine energy in your body. Breathe the warmth of the feminine out into the masculine energy all around you. Merge them together as one.
Dawn Cartwright is a Tantric visionary, sacred writer, world traveler, and innovator in bio-energetic Tantra fusion. You’re invited to join her for: The Red Tent . Women’s Sacred Sexuality, April 12th – 14th; The White Tent . Men’s Sacred Sexuality April 25th – 26th; Be Fully Alive . Level 1 Tantra Immersion, April 26th – 28th, in the Wicklow Mountains; and Weaving the Beloveds . Couples Tantra Retreat, May 3rd – 6th, in Lower Rosses, Sligo.
