Solstice a bright reminder of rebirth for all
Johanna Mitchell
December 11, 2010
As it is each year, I stand in autumn, as the light of day becomes shorter and shorter, and turn inward. The last of the flowers are spent. Gray skeletons from former shade trees cast dim shadows on wet streets and brick paths. This time of year offers me a chance for reflection on the power of hope in the darkness and the reminder of the constancy of change in the cycle of the seasons.
Here in the Northern Hemisphere we see darkness triumph over light. To carry on the tradition of the ancient ones, I turn toward the celebration of Yule, the Winter Solstice. The solstice is a turning point in the wheel of the year, when the sun symbolically dies and is reborn from the womb of the Goddess.
My family celebrates Yule with fire; it is a celebration of both the light and the dark. Each season we gather on the longest night of the year. We create our altar with holly and cedar, mistletoe and ivy. I love the feeling of connection with generations past, with my ancestors.
We are members of a chosen clan. We are a circle.
When we create our celebration of the returning sun and call the directions, we step between the worlds, where day and night, dark and light, joy and sorrow, birth and death meet as one. I believe what happens between the worlds can change this world. It is in recognition of change, of the inevitable ebb and flow of life, that we see the holy in nature. We call this power, the Goddess. We recognize that we all drink the same water … we all breathe the same air … we are all rooted in the same Earth … we all need the same sun.
On Yule Eve we start our fire with the remains of last year’s Yule log. Since this is a time of giving, we give back by writing down what we are willing and wanting to bring into the light. We tie these scrolls to our Yule log. We give thanks for all we have received this past year, the lessons of celebration and good fortune as well as the lessons learned with hard work, effort and sometimes tears.
On this night, my family and I stay up all night to keep the Mother Goddess company as she labors to give birth to the sun, the new year, from her night-sky womb.
We keep the fire burning, hoping that the sun will be reborn. In the very early morning, we go to Alton Baker Park to watch for the dawn. Playing our noisemakers we sing and welcome the reborn sun-child who brings back the light and the promise of summer.
The sun rises, and I am reborn with the year.
Within each one of us, whatever our age, the miracle child we were at birth emerges anew. The secret I learn from the solstice is that just when everything looks darkest, the light is sure to be reborn.
Johanna Mitchell practices Earth-based spirituality in her attempt to feed the holy in nature. This column is coordinated by Lane Interfaith Alliance to offer inspiration, share personal spiritual experiences and bring a deeper understanding of individual faith perspectives with the intention of blessing our community and the world. For information, visit www.laneinterfaithalliance.org or call 541-344-0430.