Winter Solstice 2022 at 4:48PM EST on Wednesday, December 21st

 

Dear, Intrepid and Delightful Children of the Earth,

The Winter Solstice is here!  The longest night and shortest day are upon us as I write from the Northern Hemisphere!  The Sun is getting stronger.  After today, Daylight will lengthen as we move toward Spring.

This time on the Great Wheel of the Year has been celebrated as long as there have been people to celebrate.  Connecting with loved ones, sharing food and tokens of apprectiation are all part of our collective DNA.

During the dark time of the year, every culture has it's own way of celebrating the life giving radiance of the Sun and the spark of life held within each of us.

On this night, people throughout history have tended that little spark of life by showing that they care.

In the Pagan world, the longest night of the year is also a Sacred time, a time apart from the everyday.  A time to align oneself with the natural world.

In the world of Nature, it is a time of quiet and rest.

While Mother Nature is deepening her roots, we can make time to rest and go deep into our understanding of who we are choosing to give our care to.

In the language of Astrology, this year's Winter Solstice is taking place while the planet Uranus, the part of us that knows how to break through old beliefs, is in an easy relationship with Venus, the part of us that knows how to receive what we desire.

This combination may reflect sudden and unexpected experiences of loving and being loved. Especially because Jupiter, the part of us that likes to live BIG, is moving into Aries, the sign known for loving action & movement.

But the Moon, our feelings and memories, opposes Mars, the part of us that can take action without thinking.

This Solstice may be calling for a deeper understanding of how our feelings may unconsciously propel our actions, without thinking about the effect those actions might have.

This Solstice, we may need to pay attention to how our actions may not honor how we really feel or how we mean to affect others.

Whatever story we have been telling ourselves about how and why we're right to feel the way we do, take the actions we take, we may find if we go out into Nature and feel the stillness of Solstice, that those old stories don't have such a firm grip on us.

We might find ourselves going deeply inward and finding that light inside.

Blessed be,

Mary

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I am Completely Different

I am completely different
Though I am wearing the same tie as yesterday
Am as poor as yesterday,
as good for nothing as yesterday,
today
I am completely different.
Though I am wearing the same clothes,
am as drunk as yesterday,
living as clumsily as yesterday, nevertheless,
today
I am completely different.

Ah--
I patiently close my eyes
on all the grins and smirks
on all the twisted smiles and horse laughs-
and glimpse then, inside me
one beautiful white butterfly
fluttering toward tomorrow.
                                      ...Saburo Kuroda

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To find out more about this Saburo Kuroda or the Winter Solstice, check out these links.

http://poetrykanto.com/issues/2006-issue/saburo-kuroda

https://www.almanac.com/content/first-day-winter-winter-solstice

https://www.bustle.com/life/december-2022-astrology-mercury-retrograde-winter-solstice

https://www.britannica.com/list/7-winter-solstice-celebrations-from-around-the-world