We entered the month of December – the month of love, of heart and hearth, and of true magic. This is the time when stars aligned and under the brightest one, a baby was born, one who grew up to then become one of the greatest teachers of the human heart and the power of love.
Any child is a miracle, and you too are a miracle. It takes so much magic for a soul to be born. All your cells came together, in a mutual decision to say, yes to you, yes to life. And here you are. Born of love. With a nose to smell the sweetness of cake, lips to speak I love you, hands to hold another’s hand, to hold on holding strong, and ears to hear the laughter of your family. Isn’t that magic?
And so in this month we celebrate the heart, we celebrate life, we celebrate the thing greater than all of us: love.
Love is a home. It is the home of the heart. Love is a seed of God, the beloved is a seed of God. And in the church of skin it may grow, bloom, so that we become shelters to all. So that we become a hearth of passionately ever-burning flames and of this love, so much more can be born. Miracles. Made only of our human hands, lips and every day gestures.
Christmas is a special time indeed, and it is also considered a very sacred time. Throughout many cultures and belief systems from around the world, the 12 days of Christmas, spanning from December 24th to Jan 6th, are known to be sacred, magical and very potent.
In European Mysticism, the tradition has it that during these days the veils between the worlds is very thin and our upcoming year can be “read”. Each day represents the next twelve months, and for each day a different theme was reflected upon and celebrated.
For example, the first day of Christmas represents the month of January and we celebrate our roots and ancestors by sharing family stories. And on day three, we celebrate the human heart; opening our heart chakra and allowing miracles into our life. As a rose, we expand our vision and compassion and should only do what gives us true joy.
The night of the 24th is particularly magical as it was believed that animals speak to us, in their own unique language of course.
It is a common tradition to leave food for them on that special eve. It was a way to give back to nature as it gave to us the gift of a child born under the stars; a child who came to teach us unconditional love and togetherness.
During these potent twelve nights, we are the creator of what we want to speak into our existence for the upcoming year. Words carry very powerful vibration and we should be mindful of that. It is a wonderful time to gather all parts of us into wholeness and holiness; to bless our tenderness, to be grateful for what’s passed and focus on what we desire for our future, remembering that beyond the outer skin is the beautiful being that we already are. It is important to spend our time with those that truly matter to us and strengthen these connections – because family is the most important thing in life. Really, nothing much else matters. It is love, always.
Coming into the New Year, people often say “out with the old, in with the new” but I’ve never really resonated with that. We are a marriage of the two. We are a continuation. And there is deep reverence in which we should be for this simple humble higher truth. We are often shown on social media and all across the internet and television that aging is something to be avoided – that realness is not really supported. We have fillers, filters, potions and lotions – but aging is one of the most sacred rites of passage. Once we step into it, through the marriage and continuation of love that we are from deep within, from times before times beyond times, only then we are offered the great wisdoms. Through the natural process of aging, of the waxing and the waning of the moons that our own bodies are, we experience ourselves in our fullness. Old and new, forever dancing into one, two worlds kiss. We are who we are because of all those before us. This humility deserves to be treasured, and embraced.
A really exciting project that I’ve been begun this past year involved supporting the Rose Valley in Bulgaria. Roses are my most favourite flowers – and have always been since I was a child. For the month of December I offered a little pouch filled with dried Bulgarian rose petals and buds for every purchase of my poetry books – sourced directly from the Rose Valley in Bulgaria.
Roses are sacred, ethereal, and heart-opening. For those of you who don’t know, the Bulgarian rose (rosa damascena) is one of the most expensive roses in the world, and its oil is the considered the best. The Rose Valley in Bulgaria produces the best oils due to its perfected techniques and the sweetness of its aroma.
The gathering of rose petals from the valley is a very delicate and labour-intensive process as it is done by hand while exercising great care. Immediately after being carefully hand picked, the roses must then be quickly transported to the distilling location, where nearly 1,500,000 rose blossoms are necessary to make just one kilogram of rose oil.
Bulgaria’s Rose Valley region produces the highest performance rose essential oils in the world, due to both perfected production techniques and the properties of the Bulgarian rose itself, which has been shaped by generations of careful cultivation and from Bulgaria’s unique geography. Because of its high cost, many manufacturers use alternate rose cultivars and synthetics in their perfumes – all of which cannot duplicate the many benefits of true Bulgarian rose oil.
The Bulgarian rose has velvet-like petals and is known as the queen of the flower kingdom – the creme de la creme of all roses. Not only an aphrodisiac and associated with a long history of love, divinity and romance, she is also known for many healing qualities, for restoring emotional balance and for grounding. The aroma is deep, strong and complex.
As Gertrude Stein once said, “a rose is a rose is a rose,” unless of course, it’s a Bulgarian rose.
The proceeds from the rose petals and buds go directly towards supporting the many women and their families working in the valley.
Each year, there are also many celebrations in the Rose Valley where children can learn all about the roses and how to care for them and nurture them – and they join their grandparents and mothers, as they walk the valleys and gather the precious petals. This is not only educational, but it serves to connect our youth to nature, values, caring, intention and the power of togetherness.
I’ve been so excited to include these beautiful rose petals and organic oils in my parfumerie as I am currently working on my unique perfume oil formulations, while also sourcing from beautiful smallholder farmers from all around the world and supporting their communities grow, expand and be sustainable by many projects on land.
For example, in the past few months I’ve been in my role as a business consultant for a women-led social start-up in Zanzibar, where we are supporting the smallholder farmers of the Pemba Spice Forest – creating access to market, building water plants, helping with seaweed fertilizer, fighting climate change in the region – all to create sustainable impact to alleviate poverty, support the women farmers to feed their children and go to school, create future opportunities for the youth in the region, as well as to support the soil and land in the forests, which are experiencing a really hard time currently.
And of course, there is always my writing here at my Art of Love space. This past year I’ve been so happy to expand with many more topics, to add a few more stories and fairytales to my Story Threads series, and to also stay committed to my new series {poem + story}. I also introduced my Slavic poetry translations, where I translated old Bulgarian poetry to give it new life and awareness – while paying respect to my heritage. It isn’t always easy to self-motivate and stay disciplined as a writer, creative and entrepreneur, so I am really happy that I managed to publish so many exciting projects while staying consistent and devoted to all my existing and beloved ones.
And so, miracle, circuit of light, dear reader you,
Thank you for being a part of my Art of Love space, and thank you to all those of you who have supported me throughout the year and who continue to support my work of love – because I really, really, really love what I do – and because of your support I am able to sustain it.
Thank you thank you thank you!
This past year it’s been so wonderful to see my readers come from over 152 countries worldwide such as: UK, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Iceland, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Mexico, Dominican Republic, USA, Canada, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, France, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Slovakia, Poland, Greece, Bulgaria, Hungary, Russia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, UAE, Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, and others. It’s been so humbling to see us all, different languages, different cultures, across seas and lands, share a space, a moment, even if quietly through screens, connecting as one through the stories of love and of heart.
I feel so grateful that I can share this space with you all, where I can be free in my creative expression, while also allowing myself to shift my perspectives and grow as new insights emerge. It is because of you that I can continue following my passion, my heart and share more musings.
Whatever you celebrate — Christmas, Solstice, Yule, Hanukkah, another holiday, or just making it through another year — wholeheartedly I wish you warmth, light, harmony, peace of mind, magic, abundance of creativity, appreciation, true connection, a lot, a lot of love, and support of kind people in a loving, caring space. You’ll always find especially the latter here at Art of Love.
Merry Christmas!
With love,
For more of my writings, browse through my Art of Love.
I love what I do, I love to create, and if you would like to support me, you can do so by sharing my articles and poems, buy my books or donate some magic coins in my hat on Paypal. By supporting me, you allow me the freedom and ability to be even more creative and contribute with more. All proceeds go towards expanding my work made of love, including publishing my books, my humanitarian projects and creating content including courses and holistic programs. If you would like to work with me, visit my Sacred Offerings.
Your support means so much to me! Thank you wholeheartedly!