"Traditionally, the Winter Solstice, December 21, was considered the birth day of the sun, that magnificent point in time when the sun begins its return to the Earth again. In the midst of the longest darkest night, deep in the earth, even the seeds begin to stir with hope.
In times past and present, people gathered around bonfires, lit candles, sang songs of holiness and joy, and danced together to welcome the return of the light and the promise of new life. Homes were decorated with evergreen boughs, the symbol of life everlasting, and great feasts were prepared. We can still do much of this!
Now, more than ever, when so many people are suffering, isolated and alone, and the Earth herself seems in crisis, it is important to honor and celebrate these great shiftings of Earthly cycles.
✨ We are the light, living stars on Earth reflecting our light back into the darkness. Our task is to remember to turn that light on in our hearts and souls. Let it reflect in who we are and what we do in the world and the possibilities are infinite.✨
This Solstice, join your energies with the thousands of others around the world who are lighting their fires and singing their songs into the darkness. Dance freely, set your intentions, let go, and release all that no longer serves you or humanity. Order your seeds, plan your gardens, dream your future, and never fear, the sun is returning again and a new dawn is on its way.
With love from Vermont,
Rosemary 🌿"
Happy Yule! I have always appreciated and been in awe of the Winter Solstice, but, unlike many dear friends (M!), I have never actively celebrated it. With my recent affinity for gardening leading me to Herbalism (what I like to call Kitchen Witchery), I am finding myself drawn to earth-centered beliefs and Pagan rituals.
Do you have a Solstice ritual? I actually started one this year. I of course had candles, sage, and the Internet to find blessings and words of wisdom, all accompanied by a mug of Cinnamon Apple Spice Tea, a recent gift from a dear friend... 🍵 As good a time as any to chase away the darkness and to conjure light in these troubled/trying/tragic times, right?
P.S. If you're paying attention... yes, my blogging routine is Tuesdays and Fridays but, since today is the Winter Solstice, it only made sense to post on the actual day.. 🔥🕯🔥🕯🔥
POEM(S):
I cannot tell you
how the light comes.
What I know
is that it is more ancient
than imagining.
That it travels
across an astounding expanse
to reach us.
That it loves
searching out
what is hidden
what is lost
what is forgotten
or in peril
or in pain.
That it has a fondness
for the body
for finding its way
toward flesh
for tracing the edges
of form
for shining forth
through the eye,
the hand,
the heart.
I cannot tell you
how the light comes,
but that it does.
That it will.
That it works its way
into the deepest dark
that enfolds you,
though it may seem
long ages in coming
or arrive in a shape
you did not foresee.
And so
may we this day
turn ourselves toward it.
May we lift our faces
to let it find us.
May we bend our bodies
to follow the arc it makes.
May we open
and open more
and open still
to the blessed light
that comes.
- Jan Richardson
Spell of the Christmas Cactus by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
Something magic
about knowing
it’s the darkest days
that bring on the buds,
the extravagant bloom,
because oh, friend,
how dark it is.
To Know the Dark by Wendell Berry
To go in the dark with a light is to know the light.
To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight,
and find that the dark, too, blooms and sings,
and is traveled by dark feet and dark wings.
Love the Dark by James Crews
Sometimes it is only the darkness
that can free us. Sunlight might be
streaming in from all sides, yet you
crave the safety of drawn shades,
locked doors, the silenced phone.
Give yourself permission to rest
like the orchid whose bud must stay
shut tight as a chrysalis for days,
curled up and waiting for that final
moment of unfurling, when it opens
pink-veined, white wings of petals
wide to the sky, embracing the light
that comes only after the longest night.
QUOTE(S): "Darkness deserves gratitude. It is the alleluia point at which we learn to understand that all growth does not take place in the sunlight." ~ Joan Chittister and Rowan Williams
"Reclaim what has been forgotten. Dance the fire of your longing under the waxing moon of your full presence. Carry the seeds of your dreams awhile longer in the womb of Nature’s being. Let the Earth incubate your wild if-onlys in its embryonic embrace as you re-member the self you were so many eons ago when you were forest and moonlight." ~ Edveeje Fairchild
"I danced with my shadows until they became part of my light." ~ Jodi Livon
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