If the holiday season feels different this year—quieter, heavier, more reflective—you’re not imagining it.

In this episode of Bertena’s Spiritual Sanctuary, we explore what it means to celebrate Christmas after a spiritual awakening, when your inner world has shifted and old traditions no longer fit in the same way.

Many people on a spiritual path find that Christmas becomes a threshold rather than a performance—a time of stillness, awareness, and returning inward. Yet this shift can also bring challenges, especially when navigating family expectations, religious differences, and emotional boundaries.

In this gentle, reflective episode, we talk about how to honor the season without abandoning yourself.

✨ Why Christmas can feel emotionally and energetically different after spiritual growth
✨ How to celebrate the holidays in a way that honors your evolving spirituality
✨ Navigating family gatherings when your beliefs or practices have changed
✨ How to talk about spirituality (or choose not to) with family members
✨ Setting loving boundaries without guilt or conflict
✨ Reclaiming Christmas as a sacred season of stillness, reflection, and inner light
✨ Choosing presence over performance during the holidays

This episode is for you if:

• You feel more sensitive or introspective during the holidays

• You’re spiritually awakening and unsure how to fit into old traditions

• You want peace, grounding, and authenticity during Christmas

• You’re learning to love your family without shrinking yourself

🌿 What You’ll Explore in This Episode

Why Christmas can feel emotionally and energetically different after spiritual growth
✨ How to celebrate the holidays in a way that honors your evolving spirituality
✨ Navigating family gatherings when your beliefs or practices have changed
✨ How to talk about spirituality (or choose not to) with family members
✨ Setting loving boundaries without guilt or conflict
✨ Reclaiming Christmas as a sacred season of stillness, reflection, and inner light
✨ Choosing presence over performance during the holidays

This episode is for you if:

• You feel more sensitive or introspective during the holidays

• You’re spiritually awakening and unsure how to fit into old traditions

• You want peace, grounding, and authenticity during Christmas

• You’re learning to love your family without shrinking yourself

What is Yule, and why has the Winter Solstice been honored across ancient Pagan and Northern European traditions for thousands of years?

In this deeply reflective episode of The Spiritual Sanctuary: Wisdom for the Divine Feminine, priestess, spiritual teacher, and intuitive guide Bertena explores the spiritual meaning of Yule, the significance of the Winter Solstice, and how this sacred turning point of the year invites rest, reflection, and renewal.

Yule marks the longest night and shortest day of the year, a powerful seasonal threshold where darkness reaches its peak and the return of the light quietly begins. Rather than rushing past winter’s stillness, ancient cultures honored the dark as sacred, fertile, and necessary—a time of womb-like gestation, inner work, and ancestral remembrance.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• What Yule is and how it connects to ancient Pagan, Norse, and seasonal traditions

• The spiritual and symbolic meaning of the Winter Solstice

• Why rest, stillness, and slowing down are essential during winter

• How Yule aligns with intuition, the Divine Feminine, and inner transformation

• Simple daily Yule rituals you can practice to honor the season without overwhelm

• How to work with winter energy for reflection, nervous system regulation, and spiritual renewal

This episode is perfect for anyone seeking seasonal spiritual practices, Pagan or earth-based wisdom, winter rituals, or a deeper connection to the cycles of nature. Whether you’re new to Yule or returning to it as a sacred tradition, this lesson offers grounding guidance for honoring winter with intention, compassion, and reverence.

✨ Light a candle, slow your breath, and join us as we honor the ancient wisdom of Yule and the quiet return of the light.

In this powerful and heart-opening episode of Bertena’s Spiritual Sanctuary, we explore why Goddess Studies are essential for modern spiritual seekers—and why the Divine Feminine is returning so strongly today. Drawing on her decades of experience as a priestess, historian, sociologist, and teacher, Bertena shares the deeper purpose behind goddess mythology, feminine archetypes, and sacred feminine practices.

You’ll also experience a sample lesson from the 52-Week Goddess Study, step into the weekly rhythm of ritual and reflection, and learn why you can begin this year-long journey anytime throughout the year.

Whether you're seeking feminine empowerment, spiritual growth, historical insight, or a supportive sisterhood, this episode offers inspiration and practical wisdom for women awakening to their divine path.

Listen to discover:• Why Goddess Studies matter now more than ever• How ancient goddess myths support modern healing• What a weekly goddess lesson feels like• How ritual, meditation, and embodiment deepen your spiritual practice• Why this year-long program is a dream decades in the making• How you can join the 52-Week Goddess Study at any time

Visit bertena.org to register for the next free info session and begin your own journey into the Divine Feminine.