The Solstice is approaching. It is a magical event, a transformation, and a time for new beginnings. The Pagan name for the Solstice festival is Yule, in Scandinavian languages it is called Jul and pronounced the same way. The days are short here now, and the week to come is the darkest in the entire year, before a rebirth takes place and daylight returns.
There’s a shift of energy, a sudden joy that bursts forth shaking off the introspect Autumn. It will still be winter for many months, but it will be increasingly bright and forward looking. There will be small, defiant signs of spring and life all around.
The Solstice marks the end of my most introspect period, the time of the year when I access my deepest unconscious levels and connect with the Goddess most profoundly. This has been a wonderful Dark Season, and the time since Samhain, or Halloween, has been filled with deep dreams and foreshadows of what is to come. It has been a time of deep healing, and now the Solstice is upon us and the seasons change. It is time to put aside my darkest aspects, my most ancient self. The next week is a time of climax and of rebirth. Just like when a fever breaks, the Solstice marks the end of one thing and the beginning of another.
The Solstice speaks to something ancient in me, a tribal need to be joyous and celebratory. I recognise a deep need for warmth, light and love and am grateful for the times I share with my loved ones. In days gone by, people would travel long and far to be with their kin in the darkest weeks of the year. They would celebrate and feast, and coax the sun back into their lives. It was their activities, their joining together in light, warmth and love that made it happen.
So I bear this in mind as I prepare to spend time with my loved ones, in celebration of love, life and light.
I think the ancient ones were right, and that celebrating the solstice is something we must do in order to prevail as a community.
Whether we dance madly or just sit and talk, we must remember that it is our actions that create our community. We weave the community web in the time we spend together, in the things we do together.
Perhaps the Solstice, or Christmas is a sort of social glue between people. The shifting energy, mixed with human activities thus creating magic. If it is so – doesn’t it make this season even more special? I love the idea of increasing the vibrations of love, life and light with laughter and good times. Through doing this, perhaps we can create our own good fortune, our blessings and our peace. Perhaps we can utilise this knowledge, these techniques, to bring about a better year, and a better world. There is such promise in the Solstice, such potential. At any rate, I’ll be spending magical time with people I love this holiday. And turning darkness into light.
Finding the community of Cycle Harmony has made a huge difference to me. I am delighted to be writing to you from the Red Tent and hope to share thoughts and experiences you recognise, or find useful to ponder upon. I look forward to working with you all in exploring what it is to be women, and hope to hear from you. ~ Vild
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