Remembering Copal

At the beginning of each year, a stone comes forward to journey with us through the 4 seasons. Before we explore the stone that has come forward for 2024, let’s take a thoughtful look back at the year stone for 2023, Copal. I do a review of my year on a personal level and with my business. This year, in addition, I’m inspired to remember and appreciate the many gifts that this golden being offered us.

Why look back?

On a personal level I look back at my year for several reasons. Most importantly, I do it for when that old familiar critical thought rises up…_another year has past and what have I done_. Do you know that one? It’s the self-effacing thought goes through the mind at the end of every year that has us feeling like we’ve failed. Then, full of doubt and motivated to make this year count, we make unreasonable, grandiose plans that set us up to fail. We may even start out strong and accomplish a lot, and at superhero speeds, but we can’t keep up the pace. We burn out and drop everything—until the end of that year where we begin the cycle all over again.

If we took a moment to look back over the past 12 months with kind eyes, we would remember how much we actually accomplished. We would see what worked and what didn’t work; what we liked and didn’t like; what we want and what we don’t want in our lives. We would learn a little bit more about who we are and, truth be told, that is reason we are here in this body—to know ourselves. With that awareness we could begin the new year with more clarity and purpose.

Copal’s song says it all

When it first came forward, Copal shared a message with us that offers another reason to check in with ourselves to make sure we haven’t lost our direction:

“With everything outside the self, it is easy to loose touch with the truth of who you are. And while it is beneficial to explore the many possibilities of what life can be, it is important to check in with yourself to make sure you haven’t become lost to your truth.”

Copal’s most important gift

The first thing Copal showed us was its capacity for healing trauma. It can do this on a personal level, but it really came here to help us to move through and out of our collective trauma. We are beginning to forget about the global pandemic now, but humanity went through something unlike anything else in our history. All of humanity. It definitely brought out the best and the worst in us—mostly the best. And for a brief moment in time, it unified us.

Afterwards, we shared something else. Collective trauma. It manifested in different ways for each of us, but we were all affected. Copal revealed this particular gift they have of healing the collective in its very name. Cope-all.

Golden Healer

Copal heals in other ways, just as it healed the trees it flowed through before it became solid. In its liquid form as sap it was the life blood of trees, the sweet nourishment it needs for life. It also acted as a natural bandaid for the trees, healing any open wounds. We can connect to its golden healing essence when we have open wounds of the heart, the mind or the spirit.

Getting unstuck

The stickiness of Copal’s personality helps us to see another of its gifts—that of becoming unstuck. Many a being has fallen into sap’s sticky trap and Copal can show us how to avoid getting stuck in our own lives and how to get free when we do find ourselves trapped. It preserves this knowledge much as it preserves the creatures whose forms are encased within its translucent golden tomb. When we want to preserve a piece of sage wisdom, or hold onto the memory of something important, we can invite in Copal to help us seal it in time.

Copal tells us something else—something important—through its sticky nature and its metamorphosis from liquid sap state to a hardened solid. It was revealed in the second part of its message to us:

“The human being can easily take the shape of what is around it. It is easier to allow oneself to become moulded to the current surroundings rather than purposefully taking your true form. That is why it is so important to choose with thoughtfulness, where you place roots and who you spend your time with.”

I recorded a YouTube vide of my memories of Copal that you can hear by clicking on the play button below.

Copal has become one of my dearest stone friends and will always hold a very special place in my heart. I hope that this exploration will help you to remember the sweetness of this stone being and if you’re just finding out about Copal now, that you will invite it in to play with.

I will be sharing the 2024 year stone in our next light log post.