By Mariel Camilleri
At this time of year, a quiet doorway opens.
Not a religious doorway, but an inner one: the subtle architecture of a season devoted to light in the midst of darkness. Advent is a global contemplative pattern, a rhythm that has repeated for nearly two thousand years. When millions of hearts move through these four states together — Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love — something powerful forms.
This is what biologist Rupert Sheldrake calls a Morphogenetic Field: a living pattern strengthened through repetition, attention, and shared intention. Because Advent has been honoured for so long, its field is unusually strong and surprisingly easy to enter.
Anyone, from any background, can step into it and feel supported.
This year, our Wednesday community will walk this path together.
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Week 1 — HOPE (Nov 26)
Hope is not optimism. It is not denial or wishful thinking.
Hope is the quiet tremor of “something wants to be born.”
During Week One, I’ll share my own hopes for Serendipity Nature Sanctuary — a place where community, land, love, and learning meet; a place where people can co-create a life that feels grounded, collaborative, and close to nature. Many of us long for deeper belonging, for people we can grow with, for shared vision.
Hope plants the seed.
And once planted, hope asks:
What is quietly stirring in me? What wants space to emerge?
Transition: With the seed planted, the next step is creating inner stillness so it can germinate.
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Week 2 — PEACE (Dec 3)
Peace is not the absence of conflict — it is the return to inner spaciousness.
Our guest facilitator Viktoria Kalenteris will guide us through Peace via compassion, nervous-system awareness, and conscious communication. Peace grows when we soften our edges, listen with our whole bodies, and speak from clarity instead of reactivity.
Peace prepares the soil.
It asks:
What must I release so my inner world can become calm, steady, and receptive?
Transition: And when the inner world becomes still, something begins to rise…
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Week 3 — JOY (Dec 10)
Joy is the quickening — the moment the seed moves, the moment life whispers “I’m ready.”
On Gaudete Sunday, the Advent candle turns pink, symbolizing joy. This week, my sister Teresa brings improv, play, movement, and laughter to awaken our natural buoyancy. Joy doesn’t need to be earned — just allowed.
Joy breaks the surface.
It asks:
Where in my body is joy waiting to be freed? How can I give it permission?
Transition: As joy awakens, the heart becomes spacious enough for the final week…
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Week 4 — LOVE (Dec 17)
Love is the embodiment of light.
Not sentimental love — but warm presence, grounded compassion, tenderness with oneself, connection with others. Love is the state in which we recognize:
I am not alone, and I am not meant to be.
This evening will be guided either by a guest facilitator or by me, depending on who steps forward. Either way, we explore Love not as an idea but as a felt sense that anchors us to truth and to each other.
Love is the blossom.
It asks:
How can I embody warmth in my words, my choices, my relationships?
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Christmas Week — The Christ Light (Dec 24)
The final candle — white, luminous, central — symbolizes the Light reborn.
Whether one resonates with the Christian story or with a universal archetype of illumination, this is the moment when clarity returns.
We’ll gather simply:
Candlelight.
Voices raised in song.
A sense of belonging on the longest night of the year.
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New Year’s Eve — Visioning (Dec 31)
After walking through Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love, we turn toward the year ahead.
This evening invites you to reflect on:
• Who am I becoming?
• What wants to grow through me?
• What will I carry forward into 2026?
Together, we open the path toward a year shaped by intention instead of habit.
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Haiku
Four weeks, slow and bright
Hope awakens in the dark
Love completes the flame.
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An Invitation
If these themes speak to you, you’re warmly welcome to join our Wednesday community gatherings in South Etobicoke. Each evening includes reflection, embodied practice, and meaningful connection.
Wherever you are on your path, may these weeks offer you the space to breathe, soften, listen, and become more fully yourself.
May hope steady you,
peace ground you,
joy enliven you,
and love guide you home.
— Mariel
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