A gift for you
At the end of another year of a world spanning pandemic, where people find themselves tired, exhausted and alone, we invite you to journey with us through the 12 Days of Christmas to find a place of rest and new beginnings. This online pilgrimage will lead you on a interior journey into the heart of Christmas, at your own pace and time.
Every day you will receive a brief reflection, poem, blessing, or practice which you can unwrap like an unexpected Christmas gift.
When we started this journey into the 12 Days of Christmas five years ago we did not know that "cloistering" at home would be the new normal. But here we are, facing another Covid winter, in dire need for redeeming joy.
Thus our theme for his years journey:
“...and always we begin again...”
Because, how else can we go on, in this world, in this time?
Together we will walk from Christmas to the threshold where the old and new year meet and all the way to Epiphany in a contemplative spirit, guided by our heart’s longing and the many wise women and men before us. Almut will lead this Contemplative Online Journey sharing with you what is laid on her heart every day anew — helped by our little girl who lends us eyes and ears to cradle the Divine presence among us.
We are looking forward to having you with us on this sacred journey.
And may Christmas find you where you are,
Almut with Chuck and little one
How to subscribe
You can subscribe below to receive our daily meditations through the 12 Days of Christmas 2021/22 every morning in your email inbox. This is a double opt in process. Please check your emails (or Spam) after signing up below to confirm your subscription.
If you feel compelled to make a gift in return, your giving will not only be deeply appreciated but will help to keep this gift going. Bless you for this!
Our 12 Days of Christmas Journey is a gift given from our heart to yours. If you can, please consider giving a gift in return to help us facilitate this journey and sustain this labor of love. Any gift will be deeply appreciated. To send a check click here.
"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 S., participant and sustaining member of The 12 Days of Christmas Contemplations
About The Twelve Days of Christmas Journey
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 five years ago following a vision of a sacred reading retreat 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 (including Mary, Joseph, Meister Eckhart, Hildegard, Rumi, Bonhoeffer, Kierkegaard and others).
Now, the Journey has gathered readers around the globe since. We do not follow much of 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.
This is not a pre-packaged retreat. But written every day anew in hope to reach your heart anew.
This year’s theme:
“And always we begin again...”
Honestly, I was close to giving up on The 12 Days of Christmas this year.
What could I possibly say that would console the hearts of the many exhausted and numb from too long a journey with grief and fear?
But then the old wisdom of “always we begin again…” was laid on may heart and I got myself together to lead another journey into the unknown. Because Christmas does not end with Holy Night when many are ready to discard their dried out Christmas trees. Like a newborn child, newly-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 hold together our sorrows and hopes on this sacred journey, birthing new life in each of us.
“What if Christmas isn’t a season but a journey?”
How it works
Every day we will provide a brief online reflection or practice you might find time for at the same day or a 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 regularly 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 us.
But one thing you need to do is to journey, how ever that will look for you.
Retreat leaders
Dr. Almut Furchert, OblSB is the woman behind CloisterSeminars. She is a German American scholar and practitioner, wisdom seeker and retreat leader and has published on spiritual teachers like Søren Kierkegaard and Hildegard of Bingen. She is “cloistering” together with her husband Chuck Huff, PhD. and little daughter in a small college town in MN. Chuck will look after little one so Almut can write, but he often adds a reflection, a poem or good counsel on some day of the journey.
