Solstice Carole (Wyrd Sisters)

From the New York Times Weekend Briefing:

Today is the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, the longest, darkest night of a long, dark year.

This winter’s darkness is as literal as it is metaphorical, with the catastrophic toll of Covid-19, and fear and dread for what is to come. But as our faith and politics reporter writes, it also serves as a reminder that for millenniums, “humans have turned to rituals and stories to remind one another of hope and deeper truths.”

There is some solace for the darkness: On Monday night, Jupiter and Saturn will almost kiss in the night sky, appearing as one bright planet. The last time they came this visibly close to each other was in the year 1226. Go out and look southwest in the hour after sunset.

For those looking for greater meaning, “this is the end of an era and the beginning of a new one,” said the astrologer Chani Nicholas.

Do you have a Solstice ritual?  I know my friend M does.  Maybe I'll start one this year.  I certainly have candles, herbs/sage, and the Internet to find blessings and words of wisdom.  As good a time as any to chase away the darkness and to conjure light in these troubled times, right?

NR:  Girl in the Blue Coat by Monica Hesse

SONG:  Solstice Carole by Wyrd Sisters

BOOK:  The Shortest Day by Susan Cooper, Carson Ellis (Illustrator) 

POEM:  A Winter Solstice Prayer by Edward Hays

The dark shadow of space leans over us

We are mindful that the darkness of greed, exploitation, and hatred

also lengthens its shadow over our small planet Earth.

As our ancestors feared death and evil and all the dark powers of winter,

we fear that the darkness of war, discrimination, and selfishness

may doom us and our planet to an eternal winter.

May we find hope in the lights we have kindled on this sacred night,

hope in one another and in all who form the web-work of peace and justice

that spans the world.

In the heart of every person on this Earth

burns the spark of luminous goodness;

in no heart is there total darkness.

May we who have celebrated this winter solstice,

by our lives and service, by our prayers and love,

call forth from one another the light and the love

that is hidden in every heart.

Amen.

QUOTE:  "Both the Winter and the Summer Solstices are expressions of love. They show us the opposition of light and dark, expansion and contraction, that characterize our experiences in the Earth school so that we can recognize our options as we move through our lives." ~ Gary Zukav

At the Turning of the Year (Herdman, Hills, Mangsen)

From Circle Round by Starhawk...

Yule is the ancient name for the Winter Solstice, the longest night and shortest day of the year. In northern climates, this is the darkest and coldest time of year. The sun seems to be weak, even dying and we fear the winter will last forever.

But just as soon as the Solstice passes, the days begin to grow longer again. The Solstice is a turning point in the wheel of the year when the sun symbolically dies and is reborn from the womb of the Goddess.

In our tradition, darkness is not something bad or something to fear. Of course we wouldn’t want the world to be dark all of the time----that’s why we’re so happy when the sun begins to return after the long nights winter. Light and dark must always be in balance. But we know that without the dark, nothing could live or grow. Without night, we would have no day, no chance to rest and sleep. We would have no dreams----and dreams are out gateway to the Otherworld. Babies develop in the darkness of their mothers’ wombs. Seeds must be put into the dark earth in order to send out roots and push up new shoots.

The countdown begins - may your 2008 sparkle with laughter, love and light!

SONG: At the Turning of the Year by Anne Hills

BOOK: The Night of Wishes by Michael Ende, Regina Kehn (Illustrator), Heike Schwarzbauer/Rick Takvorian (Translators)

POEM: The Shortest Day by Susan Cooper

And so the Shortest Day came and the year died
And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world
Came people singing, dancing,
To drive the dark away.

They lighted candles in the winter trees;
They hung their homes with evergreen;
They burned beseeching fires all night long
To keep the year alive.

And when the new year's sunshine blazed awake
They shouted, revelling.
Through all the frosty ages you can hear them
Echoing behind us - listen!

All the long echoes, sing the same delight,
This Shortest Day,
As promise wakens in the sleeping land:
They carol, feast, give thanks,

And dearly love their friends,
And hope for peace.
And now so do we, here, now,
This year and every year.

Welcome Yule!

QUOTE: "Time has no divisions to mark its passage, there is never a thunderstorm or blare of trumpets to announce the beginning of a new month or year. Even when a new century begins it is only we mortals who ring bells and fire off pistols." ~ Thomas Mann