The Gift of the Winter Solstice
aka. Yule
Welcome to 19 Days!

Day One we take a look at one of the ways the Winter Solstice is celebrated. Yule, is a quarter day Sabbat on the Great Wheel of the Year. In these upcoming 19 days I’ll be sharing ideas, poems, audio and more as we stand ready to receive the gifts of

….The night is cold and I stand facing the darkness; thick and almost opaque in its veiling. I think on all that has brought me to this point of the Great Wheel and call to myself the memories of lessons learned and shadowy places uncovered needing nurturance and cultivation. Each memory is illuminated from within and I feel the heat of my Inner Sun flaring out from center’s core; extending light filled streams of connection to each treasured sensation and image.

Tingling energy moves across my back affirming my growing anticipation of the promise held in the rising sun as I await the dawning of the Solstice Sun. I think on the moments of waiting I have seen at this same cycle of time the many years before and how each has held its own joy of new expression. I breathe into these thoughts, envisioning the flame of sunlight growing within myself. I breathe deeply into the joy of being able to turn the focus of that light outwards as the sun gains strength in the sky above and I attune to that same solar cycle within.

I look ahead and see rays of filtered light flowing around and through me casting their long slim finger-like beams on the snowscape in front of me. The time is now. One more deep breath in affirming the strength of the dark that has come before, and I turn to face the rising sun. Dawn of the Winter Solstice has come and with its rising so too does the rising of my illuminated self; forever changed….

Snow silently fell
As the wheel it
Turned round.

Darkness cycled its course
The Light lay at hand
Brilliant flames of blue leapt
High from sacred inner domain.

As we celebrate the Winter Solstice and the blessings of the return of the Light that holds the promise of lengthening days we are also priming our Inner Light that has been in process of quickening during this waning half of the year. There are many stories that are woven through the cycle of the Wheel, the cycles of the God and Goddess primary among them. I would like to offer an interpretation of the Greater Wheel of the Year as a journey of Light that begins at the time of the Winter Solstice. We are all familiar with the concept of the Divine Spark, Inner Flame or Inner Sun said to reside within each of us. This is the aspect of our being that emits great light and connects us with the outer particles of light, in all of its forms, which surround us. This light serves as a beacon calling to itself the flow of Prana (the life force) that enlivens us and makes us identifiable by our own personal signature to all other beings of light. In rhythm with the outer movement of the Sun and its waxing and waning of energy from solstice to solstice we can attune to our inner sun’s rhythm and use the energy of the Wheel to quicken, enliven, sustain and renew its energy.

I like to use the analogy of a lighthouse, shining the brilliance of its massive light 360-degrees out over the waters as beacon and guide for all to see as they are carried on the waters towards the edge of shore. They have set their course and the light serves to offer up clarity and safety on their journey. We are the strength of that lighthouse and the beacon of light is that which emanates from our inner sun’s core. Each action we take from the time of that light being birthed and renewed at the time of the Winter Solstice is a step towards the brilliance of our own light radiating outward in dynamic outpour towards all whom we encounter.

At the point of its reaching its full spectrum of expression at the Summer Solstice, this light now begins its journey of turning inward. And, the fullness of this light now guides the way for navigation through our inner waters and landscape. It becomes the lantern of the Hermit as we move through the darkness of our fears and doubts and is fueled by those things we find in these spaces that are to be transformed and energized as seedlings of the greater light to be reborn at the Winter Solstice.

Day Two: The Waxing and Waning Sun’s Light

For a quick reference:
19-Days of Illuminated Darkness Index