Winter Solstice | Naming the Days

Because the Winter Solstice approaches within the north, we discover the adjustments: the times of sunshine are shorter, the darkness is longer, the climate is chilly, the bushes are naked, and snow is commonly on the bottom. John Matthews, who has lectured broadly on Celtic and Arthurian traditions, has written this lyrical passage about Winter Solstice:

“The Solstice is a time of quietude, of firelight, and dreaming, when seeds germinate within the chilly earth, and the chilly notes of church bells mingle with the chimes of icicles. Rivers are stilled and the land lies ready beneath a coverlet of snow. We watch the chilly daylight and the intense stars, possibly go for walks within the quiet land. . . . Throughout us the season appears to achieve a standstill — a degree of repose.”

Listed here are a couple of actions and non secular practices to do in celebration of Winter Solstice.

Ebook Excerpts

That is an abbreviated excerpt of “A Celebration of Winter Solstice” from The Circle of Life by Joyce Rupp and Macrina Wiederkehr.

“There’s a tendency to need to hurry from autumn to spring, to keep away from the lengthy darkish days that winter brings. Many individuals don’t like fixed days bereft of sunshine and months crammed with colder temperatures. They battle with the bleakness of land and the vacancy of bushes. Their eyes and hearts search colour. Their spirits tire of tasting the infinite grey skies. There may be nice rejoicing within the thought that mild and heat will quickly be filling increasingly more of every new day.

“However winter darkness has a constructive aspect to it. As we collect to rejoice the primary flip from winter to spring, we’re invited to acknowledge and honor the wonder within the typically undesirable season of winter. Allow us to invite our hearts to be glad for the braveness winter proclaims. Allow us to be thankful for the knowledge winter brings in educating us in regards to the want for withdrawal as a necessary a part of renewal. Allow us to additionally encourage our spirits as Earth prepares to come back forth from this time of withdrawal right into a season crammed with mild.

“The winter solstice celebrates the return of hope to our land as our planet experiences the primary sluggish flip towards higher daylight. Quickly we are going to welcome the return of the solar and the approaching of springtime. As we accomplish that, allow us to keep in mind and embrace the constructive, enriching facets of winter’s darkness. Pause now to take a seat in silence within the darkness of this house. Let this house be a secure enclosure of artistic gestation for you.”

Non secular Practices

Give thanks for the darkness which is the yin to the yang of sunshine. Consider how soothing darkness is when you’re exhausted and need to take nap. Recall how irritated you had been in a resort or motel the place you may not block out the intense lights from outdoors whenever you needed to sleep.

Private Explorations

• “Good day darkness, my previous good friend, I’ve come to speak with you once more,” Simon and Garfunkel sang in a well-liked track years in the past. Make a particular effort as we speak to greet darkness and share a few of the emotions that come up in you when you consider darkness.

• Ponder the darkness as a spur to reverencing the mysteriousness of God. What place have you ever made for the darkness of the divine as fertile and transformative in your non secular path?

Poetry

Learn this poem aloud. It’s by William John Fitzgerald from his e book Blessings for the Quick Paced and Cyberspaced.
Black Can Be Stunning

O God, black may be lovely!
Allow us to concentrate on black blessings:
Blessed be the black evening that nurtures desires.
Blessed be the black gap out of which creation sprang.
Blessed be the black cave of creativeness that births creativity.
Blessed be darkish wombs that cradle us.
Blessed be black loam that produces nourishing meals for our our bodies.
Blessed be black jazz that nourishes our souls.
Blessed be black vitality that swirls into gracefulness.
Blessed be black coal that heats us.
Blessed be black boiling clouds hurling down lightning and cleaning rain.
Blessed be even our personal darkness, our uncooked, undeveloped cave of shadows.
O God, assist us to befriend black and never deny its energy.
Assist us to not cowl over the darkish with worry however to open to it along with your grace and to be open to your life throughout the darkish.
Could we uncover the blessings that lie deep inside our holy darkish in order that we might freely affirm that
Black is gorgeous certainly!

Here’s a meditative poem by Joyce Rupp “Winter’s Cloak” from The Circle of Life which she co-wrote with Macrina Wiederkehr.

Winter’s Cloak

This yr I don’t need
the darkish to go away me.
I would like its wrap
of silent stillness,
its cloak
of lengthy lasting embrace.
An excessive amount of mild
has pulled me away
from the chamber
of gestation.

Let the dawns
come late,
let the sunsets
arrive early,
let the evenings
prolong themselves
whereas I lean into
the abyss of my being.

Let me lie within the cave
of my soul,
for an excessive amount of mild
blinds me,
steals the supply
of revelation.

Let me search solace
within the empty locations
of winter’s passage,
these huge darkish nights
that by no means fail to shelter me.

Prayers & Mantras

Finish this particular once-a-year-day with this prayer by Edward Hays from Prayers for a Planetary Pilgrim.

A Winter Solstice Prayer

The darkish shadow of house leans over us. . . . .
We’re conscious that the darkness of greed, exploitation, and hatred
additionally lengthens its shadow over our small planet Earth.
As our ancestors feared demise and evil and all of the darkish powers of winter,
we worry that the darkness of conflict, discrimination, and selfishness
might doom us and our planet to an everlasting winter.

Could we discover hope within the lights we’ve got kindled on this sacred evening,
hope in each other and in all who type the web-work of peace and justice
that spans the world.

Within the coronary heart of each individual on this Earth
burns the spark of luminous goodness;
in no coronary heart is there whole darkness.
Could we who’ve celebrated this winter solstice,
by our lives and repair, by our prayers and love,
name forth from each other the sunshine and the love
that’s hidden in each coronary heart.
Amen.