Happy Winter Solstice! Happy Yuletide!
This, the darkest of Nature’s days for us in the North makes Spring feel a long way off. Yet, I am glad to have some time to pause, reflect, and replenish. I want to move slowly, take my time and just be. Savour these words by John Matthews from ‘The Winter Solstice: The Sacred Traditions of Christmas’
“The Solstice is a time of quietude, of firelight, and dreaming, when seeds germinate in the cold earth, and the cold notes of church bells mingle with the chimes of icicles. Rivers are stilled and the land lies waiting beneath a coverlet of snow. We watch the cold sunlight and the bright stars, maybe go for walks in the quiet land. . . . All around us the season seems to reach a standstill — a point of repose.”
I am relishing this quiet time for myself, just ahead of the coming festivities. Let Nature run wild and steal the light for a while. And in between the strong gusts, when the wind drops, notice the stillness.
2016 will be an onward journey on the Path of Light; the spiritual journey. If this Path is important for you too then please watch out for the coming MEDITATION COURSE and the regular WISDOM GATHERNGS (Satsangs) as well as out weekly YOGA CLASSES, as well as BLOGS. Please check here for updates and details: ww.transcendenceyoga.co.uk
The dark wonder of this overcast and rainy day warms me and this poem aptly conveys how I feel. Enjoy this, our shortest day of light, as we lean gently back towards the sun. The light from our star may be in its shortest supply right now but its astonishing beauty is never dims.
Winter’s Cloak
This year I do not want
the dark to leave me.
I need its wrap
of silent stillness,
its cloak
of long lasting embrace.
Too much light
has pulled me away
from the chamber
of gestation.
Let the dawns
come late,
let the sunsets
arrive early,
let the evenings
extend themselves
while I lean into
the abyss of my being.
Let me lie in the cave
of my soul,
for too much light
blinds me,
steals the source
of revelation.
Let me seek solace
in the empty places
of winter’s passage,
those vast dark nights
that never fail to shelter me.
Joyce Rupp
There is a glow within. Be still and you may feel it. Happy Winter Solstice to you all.