Winter Solstice: A Paean To The Pregnant Darkness
Solstice = Standing-Still-Sun
Dec. 21st, we enter the belly of the night.
Winter Solstice: We come to the portal that separates darkness from light. Standing in this arch of time where Earth takes a breath before facing us back towards the sun, we too, take a breath, turn inward, pause in this pregnant moment and let darkness reveal its gifts:
Winter Solstice: A time to look back at the year gone by, gather its lessons and put them in the stew of your life. Time to let the heat of your presence cook the stew. Render the lessons into the sweet nectar of wisdom. Then drink of it. One-small-sip-at-a-time.
Winter Solstice: A time to let the longest night of the year seduce you into stillness. Time to silence inner voices, listen to the beating of your own heart. Time to breathe slowly, become the breath. Linger here. The night is long.
Winter Solstice: Time to savor the sweetness of the dark. Nothing to fear. It's only you. And millions of years of Earth's turning; away and then back, away and then back towards the light. It's all you. The dark, the light, the fire, the night: it's all you. You're all it. Sweet oneness, savored in the dark.
Winter Solstice: A sacred link, where Earth's veil thins, the unseen, seen. Images of ancestors and ancient roots threading back beyond time. Back to first humans, their fires still burning to call back the light. We are the ones who hold them sacred. We honor their struggles, their triumphs. We're here due to them. They gave us our blood.
Winter Solstice: A time to reflect on your life in this moment. Like never before, or ever again, reflect on this sweet, fragile moment.
Winter Solstice: A time to let go of what burdens. Empty out stones sitting heavy in the heart. Let bygones be bygones. Acknowledge. Forgive. Begin again.
Winter Solstice: A fertile time, a time to ready the womb; a time for pregnant possibility. A time to sow seeds of imagination, to germinate in the darkness. A time to tend the inner hearth; be warmed by the coals of creativity.
Winter Solstice: The union of opposites. Fullness: emptying. Emptiness: filling.
The shortest day meets the longest night. Celebrate the dark. Greet the light. We've journeyed long; we've journeyed far. In summer, we rejoiced in the sun, now absent. In winter, we settle into the night, now present. We draw inward, tuck in our wings to keep warm. All flights are canceled.
Winter Solstice: A time to check inner weather and road conditions. Are you cold? Are you hot? Are you merely lukewarm? Is it stormy? Is it balmy? Are there blue skies inside? Does the road rise to meet you? Are you on shaky ground? Is it smooth? Is it rocky? Can you see where you are?
Winter Solstice: Can you be with it all, just as it is? No fighting, no trying, no pushing the river. It flows by itself, so you watch it. You notice. You see twigs and branches submerged in the stream of your life. Without effort, the water flows over, under and around it all. Nothing can stop it; it goes on forever. Like you do. Like I do. Like we do.
May you go on forever, like this most pregnant night of the year.
A brief ritual to include in your observance of Winter Solstice:
1) Set aside at least 30 minutes, preferably longer, but whatever works for you is fine.
2) Include friends, family members, or celebrate alone if you prefer. It all works.
3) Settle in, light some candles. Build a fire, if you have a fireplace.
4) Spend time with your eyes closed, breathing slowly, watching the breath.
5) Let your awareness settle down in your belly. Sense it, feel it fill and empty. See your
life coming and going on each inhale and exhale. Feel the strength and fragility of each
breath.
6) You might want to include this magnificent video with images from the Hubble space
telescope. It will connect you with the grandeur of the universe in which we live.
Towards the end of the video, notice the tree-like images from deep in space. As
astrology tell us, "As above, so below." Here's proof.
7) Reflect on your connection with the universe and your place in it. Who are you in the
grandest scheme of things?
8 ) Remain in silence for a few minutes after you've finished. Savor the moment.
The Blessing of the newborn Sun God:
"Out of Darkness Light is Re-born. Carry the hope of this moment like a torch in your heart through the coming year. Let it sustain you in your times of darkness, and be a symbol of blessing in your times of joy. Let Peace be with you.
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Dr. Rich,
Thank you for this beautiful post. I only wish I would have read it before Solstice! It is a gift to have stumbled upon it, and I intend to subscribe to your RSS feed so that I won't miss any of your future writing.
Be well, and blessings to you.
Matt
Throw in some Higgs interaction theory and it becomes obvious that Matter is not what is real, but is merely the reaction of particles (which are made up of mostly nothing) moving rapidly through space. That matter is “created” the same way friction is created by a reaction rather than being the first cause of reactions.
Yet immense masses of these particles (which are made up of mostly nothing) clump together to create our star, the Sun and the planet we walk upon and our bodies and the bodies we eat for energy and everything that surrounds us. This clumping together of quantum particles that behave in a manner so strange as to be described as “magic” or god-like, moving at massive speeds though space, magically create Matter as a secondary reaction, or as if an afterthought.
Yet, paradoxically, Matter seems to require the individual consciousnesses that dwell within this clumping of particles to exist.
So does god dwell in the particles that drive the existence of the universe, or within the consciousness of the observers? Or both? Or is god merely the logos, or the rule that allows this magical universe to exist? Or all three?
This being much too complex for me, I shift my gaze to the relationship of the Sun and the Earth, for it is that intense relationship that allows life and consciousness to exist in this part of the universe. And in that I find our father and our mother and god.
Dearest Judith,
Thanks so much for the tender gift of this luscious post. The Solstice couldn't be falling on a more symbolic time. Winter Solstice:
I am so touched by your guidance.
The shortest day meets the longest night. Celebrate the dark. Greet the light.
"We've journeyed long; we've journeyed far. In summer, we rejoiced in the sun, now absent. In winter, we settle into the night, now present. We draw inward, tuck in our wings to keep warm."
As I am about to go to New York my prayer is that all flights are not canceled!
Bless You!
Eli
Dear sacreddoctor,
Mountains of Thanks! I will use this in my celebrations this year, and I love the idea of writing my burdens on stones, although I think I will write them on paper and burn them in my fire (mostly for convenience). My son was born on winter solstice, which gives it extra special significance, giving birth on the darkest day of the year. I forwarded this poem to friends and family and I recieved replies of appreciation of your gifts and intentions to use them.
Appreciating you,
sacredmama
Dear Sacred Mama,
I'm thrilled that you intend to use this in your Solstice celebration! I'll be using it in mine as well.
And thank you for sharing it with others.
I write this piece in hopes that it would find its way into other Solstice celebrations this year. I'm happy to know that it is.
Many blessings to you in the darkness,
Dr. J
Dr Rich,
What an eye opening post this morning. This year has been one that has opened my eyes to new and wonderful Spiritual things. The Solstice is another that has slipped past me all my life.
Many thanks to Tao for sharing it on her blog and posting a link to your story.
I plan on enjoying this new time and sharing it with others.
Thank you.
Don
How lovely this was--and so NEEDED for me as I struggle to give voice to my spirituality.
These lines in particular resonated with me: "A time to let go of what burdens. Empty out stones sitting heavy in the heart. Let bygones be bygones. Acknowledge. Forgive. Begin again."
What a great start for a ritual--I'll write my burdens on actual stones and chuck them into the little creek-fed lake in our neighborhood. (And come home to a nice warm stew.)
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Oh, NotHannah,
What a wonderful idea, about the stones! See this all works? You've expanded my idea and shared it and now others (including myself) can include your idea in our Solstice ritual. I love this!
Thanks so much for stopping by, sharing your experience, and enlarging the conversation.
By the way, I'm curious about the "NotHannah"...... is there a story about that?
Happy Solstice,
Judith
:) I shared it with some other mothers on a local forum, as well, and will blog about it on my spirituality blog later! (The circle grows...)
"NotHannah" comes from the title of my "all purpose" blog. The name came from the realization that despite my penchant for making Halloween costumes for my son, I was not at all like the Hannah from the Bible. I'd been told a simplified version of her story--one that left out the infertility issues AND the handing over of her son to the temple. (Plus, she wasn't making crushed velvet pirate coats, bless her heart.) If you'd like, you can read the whole non-nutshell version here: http://imnothannah.blogspot.com/2005/12/why-im-not-hannah.html .
Blessings to you!
Isn't the sun's rotation the work of a big, invisible man who'll send you to a hot, horrible place for almost anything, but at the same time loves you? (see George Carlin's description of religion)
If ever I wondered if there were a higher power, I have only to look at my own reflection and the beauty of the universe. How magnificant! To think that the same matter which makes up my physical form swirls around in the heavens is astounding!
Hello Angie!
So nice to see you here! Thanks for checking in. Indeed it's all amazing and you are such a great mirror of the universe's beauty. Thank you for being that so others can see their own through you.
Much love,
Judith
Dear Sacred Woman, Lady of Darkness and Light,
What fun it must be for you to open new doors, and call forth the sacred in each of us. I imagine you smiling as you stand at the "portal" of new territory, gently and reassuringly pointing the way. The Dark time of the year has always been one I've tried to avoid ... dank and cold. What a new concept: a time to let go, to reflect, a union of possibilities, pregnant potential. Thank you for your always-thoughtful insights, reading your work often feels like entering a new domain.
I send you blessings, thank you for your gifts.
Thank you, dear Lise.......
Your comment reflects your own beauty. I'm honored to stand in that arch with you and call forth the sacred.
Many blessings always,
Judith
You had me up until the tree/astrology comment. The tree-like images are clearly earth-based. I'm all for honouring our human history and reflecting on our personal pasts and futures, but astrology is just plain hooey. As a scientist I don't care for an attempt to use the Hubble images as some kind of proof that astrology is real.
Dear Baseballmom,
Please read comment below from eklawson, who corrected me on the source of the tree-like images. Actually, it turns out, according to him, those images were super-imposed by the filmmaker for effect. So I stood and stand corrected on that statement.
However, my nuclear physicist friend asures me that indeed, "as above, so below", that we (and things in nature) are holograms of what lies in space. Astrology has taught that for 1000's of years. So perhaps we're in the gap of understanding between disciplines.
You might be a "hard" scientist who wouldn't recognize astrology as a science, but interestingly enough, Carl Jung, the Swiss psychiatrist and founder of analytical psychology, was also an astrologer. He did astrological charts on every one of his clients.
I know we're getting into gray territory here where everyone has different opinions of what is "true or fact". I do appreciate your opinion and that you took the time to express it here. Hope you enjoyed the rest of the article.
All the best to you,
Judith
"Let darkness reveal its gifts...." yes, I know this. Both literally and metaphorically. The winter solstice--Dec. 21--is my birthday, and each year I face that darkness, my own and that of the earth. I grew up in the arctic, where the longest night was long indeed, and there is something fearful and magic in that day that you have captured in your magical words. I have come through a very difficult year, and what I understand is that darkness does indeed have gifts, though they are gifts we might not want to have learned, or at least not in such a hard way. But that is what it is to be in the world, isn't it? Swinging on the wheel of the year, from darkness to light.
It was your wording-- the pregnant darkness--that struck me the most, because even in the darkness there is the seed of the sun...And this is the time to be quiet, to review what has been, and to let things be.
Thank you for this beautiful article; I'll read it again on my birthday. Finding your words was a gift. And a seed of light.
Dear cuervosueno,
First, Happy Birthday, dear one!
So much to celebrate on this night for you. Your birthing day, the birth of the Sun, and yes, this most pregnant moment. Those words flew into me and I gasped to hear them and couldn't write them down fast enough, even as they then instructed me to slow down and feel them. They stopped me dead in my tracks. I'm happy they caught you too. Words are so juicy!
To grow up in the arctic, my, my! Now YOU know about long nights! AND long days in the summer. I love your words, "to swing on the wheel of the year". Nice imagery! It's like that, isn't it?
May the lessons of this difficult year be the seeds of new creation. Sounds like you've earned it.
Blessings this Solstice/Birthday,
Judith
This is such a beautiful time for me...your words make it even more wonderous, meaningful. I feel so gloriously powerful...in a very cool, very impish, personal way. I love the feeling of strength in body and mind. Thank you for this brief but much desired respite...I needed it dearly.
Ahhhh, sweet Sparky Dash,
How wonderful to feel "gloriously powerful in a very cool, impish, personal way". To KNOW this about yourself is so delicious! Linger here in this place of respite, listen to that strong body's message. No need to "SparkyDash" back to the madness so soon. Time to slooowwwwww it down......
The Great Mother calls us now to turn inward and rejoice in our own "glorious power".
Thank YOU for sharing these feelings!
Blessed Be,
Judith
Winter Solstice has a physical pull for me..that "beautiful darkness". Blessings for your work in sharing this art with all.
jkh,
It is, indeed, my honor. Thank you for your blessings!
All the best to you,
Judith
The tree-like images were actually screen shots from Darren Aronofsky's movie, The Fountain. However, it was pretty amazing how the filmmakers utilized macro photography of chemical reactions to simulate the look of traveling through the gaseous clouds of the Orion Nebula, which is actually so much more awesome than there being some tree-looking gaseous clouds up in space.
No wonder those trees looked so "real"! It blew my mind to see those images, but even if they were added by the filmmaker, I still believe in "As above, so below".
Thanks for making that distinction, eklawson.
All the best,
Judith
See Dr. Cara Barker's Profile
Once again, dear Judith, you lead us into the land of the significant. The imagery you describe is positively inspiring, as well as soothing, comforting, healing. Your words link us back together, and reunite us with that place called home. We are, indeed, here to be fertile. We are here to be creators insynce with Creation. We are here to rejoice.
What a gift you are, my sister!
Love,
Dr. Cara
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