December, 1986, as a parent in the Princeton Waldorf school, I hear about the Twelve Holy Nights. Rudolf Steiner, the founder of Waldorf education and extraordinary visionary and source of mystical wisdom, brought many insights on the yearly festivals. He revealed the Twelve Holy Nights between Christmas and Epiphany as the time when the Spirit of the individual and the Spiritual World are most connected. It is a time for special attention to our inner path of personal development. I begin to explore a variety of intentional practices. I don’t succeed as I forget to pay attention or choose readings that fail to lead me into myself. Yet, I continue to feel there is something of deep possibility during these nights. Years go by.

On December 23, 2004, I find myself at Rockefeller Center, looking at the giant tree with its thousands of lights and listening to canned Christmas Carols. A great New York experience but so electric and commercial. I come home and write an email to the several hundred people on my mailing list about the meaning of Christmas and the Twelve Holy Nights. Spontaneously, I commit to sending a daily message between December 25 and January 6. Over the next two days I decide to write about the 12 senses - the ways we perceive ourselves, the world and other human beings. Christmas morning I write and send out my first message. I include a thoughtful description of the perception and a few questions for self-reflection. I am scared - what if people find it silly? People don’t. I get emails thanking me. People forward it to friends. I keep writing every day.

In June, 2005, Eric Utne, founder of the Utne Reader Magazine, sends me an email, asking if I will do a piece on the Twelve Holy Nights for his great Cosmo Doogood’s Urban Almanac, 2006. Of course! 50000 copies are printed. It is a gem of an almanac.

December, 2005. I send out another Christmas message and promise another set of daily messages. This time I work with prepositions. Why prepositions? Because prepositions indicate relationship. We can learn a lot about how we relate to our personal lives if we contemplate prepositions like - in, between, toward, over, etc.
Again, the messages are well-received. I realize that I have found a wonderful way to celebrate the Holy Nights and that the gifts I offer have meaning for most people. I begin to think of doing a book called Inner Christmas.

August, 2006. Inspiration strikes. I have received a number of short flash movies promoting coaching services or inspirational books. Why not create an Inner Christmas movie that would bring images, words and music about the mystery of the Twelve Holy Nights to viewers? I buy the software and engage the support my dear friend, Catharine, and my partner, Alan. I choose the images and write the text and production begins.

December 18, 2006. The release date is December 1, but due to technical difficulties The Inner Christmas Movie is sent to 223 individuals on December 18. By January 6, over 30,000 people in 70 countries have viewed the movie and 10,000 have subscribed to the messages. I get notes from all over the world. The 2006 Holy Nights messages are about Soul Qualities, core experiences of our inner life.

Now it is November, 2007. I have a manuscript and am working to do the final edits. The book will be published for Christmas, 2008. I am self-publishing and will sell over the internet. I was just interviewed for the December issue of Ode Magazine and the movie will be on their website. Ode has a circulation of 130,000. I am also being interviewed on radio and podcasts. I hope to have well over 100,000 subscribers for this years messages.

All this is amazing. It is joyful and thrilling and a huge responsibility. But I have the Christmas I always longed for.

The rest of the year, I am an integrative wisdom counselor who helps people heal and grow. You can learn more about my life and my work at www.lynnjericho.com. I also give talks and workshops on personal development and sometimes on esoteric spiritual topics.

See my website for further information on me. Go to my website by clicking here.