The Twelve Holy Nights

Basic Instructions/Suggestions
While this process can be done at any time for the purpose of study, the 'Twelve Holy Nights' (December 24th - January 6th) offer a special sacred energy which opens our intuition and anchors meaning deep in the soul.
- Allow one 'preparation day', usually December 24th, and then a 'closure day' at the end, after completing all twelve signs.
- Decide ahead of time how deeply you want to engage with the process so you can plan activities accordingly.
- If you intend to do the retreat intensively and 'solo', do be sure to let friends and family know that you'll not be available so they don't worry if you don't respond to phone calls or emails!
On your preparation day ...
- Prepare yourself, clean and order your 'working space', and collect what you'll need in terms of drawing or writing materials, music, etc. Use your journal or a device on which you can record an audio-diary.
- Take care of practical matters such as food and drink needed, and completing tasks so your time can be as free as possible from distractions.
- Take some time to review the previous year. Using your journal, make some brief 'timeline' notes. As you do this, bless and release 'the outgoing', or pause anywhere that you feel your energy 'caught up' ... and then see what's needed there. You can ask for healing, clarity, forgiveness ... to be granted to you as you do this 'Twelve Holy Nights' work.
- Set personal intentions, as relevant for you.
Try working with the whole Zodiac on the preparation day ...
Simply get a feeling, vision or sense of the Zodiac like a protective 'aura' around the Earth, for example ... draw, paint, write, move... or just sense and feel inwardly ...
Once you begin, start with the sign of Capricorn, contemplate one sign per day going in forward
sequence,
ending with Sagittarius
Experiment! For example, use the Johfra images or focus on the glyphs only ... draw, paint, write, move ...
browse the notes below for some ideas.)
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Be sure to open and close consciously each daily working session ...
Enter a period of quiet. Take your time. Settle your mind and your energy.
Switch off phones, timers and anything which might call your attention away.
Perhaps ring a meditation bell, light a candle, burn incense ...
The Zodiac Glyphs
Try first studying only the actual glyph for each sign-of-the-day, for an evocative and spacious focus. Contemplate the glyphs, and perhaps make notes or record your experience. Meditate, write, draw, paint, sing, make music ...
And then look at the Johfra images afterwards ...
Working with the Johfra images
Click here to enter the online gallery
Here are a few ideas to help you study these inspiring pictures. An excellent way to learn about the signs of the zodiac is by cultivating a personal and experiential relationship with each one of the cards and the images they contain.
If you have the physical cards, try dividing them into different groupings,
then studying each sub-group. If you don't have the cards, use the
online gallery,
or create your own cards!
1. Cards representing the 4 Elements:
FIRE - Aries, Leo, Sagittarius
EARTH - Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn
AIR - Gemini, Libra, Aquarius
WATER - Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces
2. Cards representing the 3 Modes:
CARDINAL - Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn
FIXED - Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius
MUTABLE - Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces
3. The 6 Polarities:
The pairs of signs which are opposite each other in the zodiac.
ARIES - LIBRA
TAURUS - SCORPIO
GEMINI - SAGITTARIUS
CANCER - CAPRICORN
LEO- AQUARIUS
VIRGO -PISCES
Look for similarities, differences and themes which recur:
- Explore ... colour, shape, symbol, geometrics ... take your time.
- Make notes ... while you explore the detail.
- Allow yourself to attune to the 'space' in which this entire process of discovery is being held.
- Let your 'Higher Mind' inform you and bring an additional, totally personal level of meaning into play.
- Pay attention to your own feelings, thoughts, intuitions and sensations ...
- Let yourself free-associate to each card on its own special day, bringing whatever astrological knowledge you have to the process, whether that's a lot or a little ... don't fret about 'what it means', but just let the cards 'speak' to you.
To facilitate inspirational writing:
(See some beautiful examples on the 'Gallery' pages - click on each image)
- Use the 'Card of the Day'. (For study purposes, at any time, just pick a card which has 'called to you', or one which you pick 'blind' like a divination.)
- Let yourself respond to the card by listing SINGLE WORDS ONLY, for a few minutes.
- Do it quickly to support your spontaneity.
- Repeat this procedure, to allow time for more words to come.
- Now write a poem, using as many of the words as possible from your list. Add no new words, except perhaps link-words like 'and' or 'then' (only if absolutely necessary - try first without adding any extra words at all).
- Again, do it quickly. This prevents the 'monkey-mind' from taking over!
Planetary domicile
- If you have studied some astrology, follow the trail of planetary rulership of the signs: dignity, detriment, exaltation and fall.
- Get curious ... for example, why might it be that Mercury is not 'fallen' in any of the signs? Why are the 'Esoteric' rulers of Leo and Capricorn the same planets as their 'Dignity'?
- How are these various conditions of 'domicile' expressed in the images?
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DIGNITY |
DETRIMENT |
EXALTATION |
FALL |
ESOTERIC
(Alice Bailey) |
SUN |
Leo |
Aquarius |
Aries |
Libra |
Sun |
MOON |
Cancer |
Capricorn |
Taurus |
Scorpio |
Virgo |
MERCURY |
Gemini
Virgo |
Sagittarius
Pisces |
Aquarius (?) |
- |
Aries |
VENUS |
Taurus
Libra |
Scorpio
Aries |
Pisces |
Virgo |
Gemini |
MARS |
Aries
Scorpio |
Libra
Taurus |
Capricorn |
Cancer |
Scorpio |
JUPITER |
Sagittarius
Pisces |
Gemini
Virgo |
Cancer |
Capricorn |
Aquarius |
SATURN |
Capricorn
Aquarius |
Cancer
Leo |
Libra |
Aries |
Capricorn |
URANUS |
Aquarius |
Leo |
Scorpio (?) |
Taurus (?) |
Libra |
NEPTUNE |
Pisces |
Virgo |
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Cancer |
PLUTO |
Scorpio |
Taurus |
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Pisces |
On your closure day ...
May your Twelve Holy Nights experience be your companion over this
Sacred Time, however you choose to participate!
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