Beginning Again, With Honey in the Heart
I received a text from a dear friend that I have been having some very meaningful conversations with recently. It arrived the morning of New Year’s Day, saying, “Welcome to the New Year.”
While there is a part of me that sees New Year's Day as another day, neither more nor less special than any other day, other parts of me see the value in remembering that marking the cycles is important. The Gregorian calendar is established in our society and in many cultures, so I include it as a way to mark the end of one cycle and the beginning of a new one. A year that I called “Twenty-Twenty-Five” has closed with all that happened (and didn’t), and a new one full of possibilities opens.
Welcome to Twenty-Twenty-Six!
Before you read on, I invite you to ground and center. This is a variation on how I was taught to do it:
Find (or imagine) the cord that connects from the tail of your spine, down through the floor, soil, and rock, to the center of the Earth. Notice how the center of the Earth has been waiting for this connection. Or perhaps, how it has never really released this connection. Feel the cord become taut and how that allows changes in your body as it works with gravity. Bring your awareness to your breath. In. Out. Pull in a long in-breath, feeling the lower abdomen extend, then the chest rise, and finally the shoulders lift slightly as the lungs fill completely with air. Let the exhale be longer than the inhale. Two more of those, feeling the breath going all the way down into the pelvic bowl.
Feel different?
Welcome to the New Year.
I hope that there is plenty of honey in your heart in this new year and beyond.
The idea of “honey in the heart” comes from Martín Prechtel’s book Long Life, Honey in the Heart. He tells of this Tzutujil prayer;
"Long life, honey in the heart,
White roads paved with the eyebrows of the moon, which is sea foam,
Yellow roads, all colour roads, which are paved with abundance
From the tail of the morning star, which is a deer,
No evil,
Thirteen thank yous"
Grandfather Mowgli, Charlotte Spring Dancer, and I have held a couple of ceremonies for bringing honey to the Heart. One was on the final day of the retreat last February in the Yucatán. As the three of us prepared the night before, Grandfather Mowgli asked me to reflect on the honey that was in my heart. As I checked in, what I discovered was that I was out of honey! The tank was empty. Rather, I had let it run dry - and it caught me by surprise! Without replenishing it, I had used it all up as I tried to be a “good” traveler, driver on Mexico’s roads, apprentice, facilitator, friend, guest, and host over the last week. I fell silent with the shame and disappointment of this emptiness. My partners tried to pull me out of it with supportive words and offering the honey in their own hearts. I heard the call of my inner voice to turn inwards. The outer world faded, and time slowed. I felt my non-physical self fall through the floor, into the Earth. What felt like about 30 feet below the surface, I entered a small cavern with reddish-brown stone walls. It was lit by the flames of a couple of candles. I lay on a stone slab. There was just enough room on either side for the Mayan Grandfather on my left and the Grandmother on my right, each sitting as if waiting for me to arrive. They appeared to me to be made of a living stone and were silent. Moving slowly, the Grandmother produced a clay pitcher and rose over me. She poured the pitcher’s worth of honey into my heart. Its sustaining sweetness filled my heart as tears rolled down my cheeks in this world, where my partners were wondering where I had gone. I thanked the Elders and returned to my body in the cabana. There, no one would be able to convince me that the experience I just had was not “real”, (and likely still cannot). The honey that was gifted to me fueled me through the rest of the retreat and beyond. It carried with it a knowing that while there is always more available, it is up to me to not let it run out.
I have come close a few times, and when I have returned in spirit to the cavern, I am always refilled. The Grandmother there is very generous and I feel the responsibility to collect my own honey to keep my heart full. Rest and ceremony, such as sweat lodge, have helped me do this.
I hope you find ways to refill the honey in your heart in 2026.
Do you need a refill?
If yes, we invited you to the Yucatán retreat in February. The January 3rd online Shamanic Breathwork and the in-person Shamanic Breathwork on January 10th are other good ways to refill your tanks.
"Long life, honey in the heart,
White roads paved with the eyebrows of the moon, which is sea foam,
Yellow roads, all colour roads, which are paved with abundance
From the tail of the morning star, which is a deer,
No evil,
Thirteen thank yous"
I have added the words that past retreat participants have shared here.
Thank you for reading!