The winter solstice marks the longest night of the year, the moment in time when the light is at its lowest ebb. Which means that it also marks the moment when, imperceptibly, the earth tilts toward spring, and the light begins to grow.
Where do you find signs of growing light in your life?
In Sweden Santa Lucia, or Saint Lucy’s Day is welcomed in by a girl with a crown of evergreens and candles on her head. January 13 was the solstice in the old, Julian candle, so the day honoring Saint Lucy was a way of ushering in the growing light. But in Sweden you will have to wait quite a long time past December before you will see much of any light at all.
How do you find patience to wait for the light when it is nowhere to be seen?
The day after US Thanksgiving is celebrated as a day of shopping: “Black Friday,” when the merchants hope to end the year in the black. But what if we celebrated Black Friday as a day of honoring the growing darkness of the season? Black Friday could celebrate the mystery of the dark, the beauty of the night sky, the richness of the dark earth, the restfulness of the dark evening time.
What experiences or images of the dark call most deeply to you?
For Diwali, Hindus of all ages light small earthen lamps and set off fireworks, celebrating and rejoicing as they bring light into the darkening season.
How will you brighten the world today?
Today marks the equinox, the point of balance when day and night are the same length. For deciduous trees, this balance point in the cycle of growth and dying back is a moment of great beauty, the time when their colors shine the brightest.
What balance point are you at in your life? How do the transitions allow you to shine?
