Winter Solstice -- Dec. 21, 2024

The Long Night is upon us, our hemisphere turned farthest away

from Sol it will be all year. The darkness has fallen.

*

I have been watching these rhythms all year now, in ways

I had not before, sensing the inevitable changes of season,

*

of time, feeling them hone my awareness in ways only the

ancients knew long ago. New moons, full moons, eclipses,

*

slowing me down to help me feel, subtle energies cascading

through me from the ground up, reminding me again

*

and again: I am a part of something bigger than my Self,

separation is an illusion, I am an Eternal Soul

*

living a human experience.

*

The Long Night keeps us in darkness that we may feel

rebirth, the sacredness of tomorrow’s dawn, the

*

birth of faith, of trust, of hope. Light your Yule log,

sit by fires this season, contemplate the inevitability

*

of tomorrow’s day being a moment longer,

and the day after that, and the day after that,

*

even as the ground lies fallow, regenerating, cocooning

through the cold. Think deep thoughts, simple thoughts,

*

away from the overlaid shallowness of buy/sell,

give/take. Make friends with your Shadow self,

*

that it may illuminate the balance we so desperately

need, the union for which we long deep down in

our souls. The Birth of Light is just over the horizon,

awaiting our arrival, but first we traverse the darkness

*

of the Long Night. Leave behind what no longer serves.

Set intentions for your own rebirth. Live in candlelight

*

for a night, and feel your pulse slow, your breath lengthen,

as winter

works

its

magic

on you.