"There is
a moment of silence that occurs every year…a moment we have all experienced at
least once in our lives, maybe more than once. It can silence a great city like
London or New York, and it can bring stillness to our hearts, whoever and wherever
we may be. That moment is like no other. It offers the promise of new
beginnings, of the clean slate of new year, and it incorporates the breathless expectancy
of Christmas night itself…" -- THE
WINTER SOLSTICE, John and Caitlin Matthews
Dear
Friends,
Winter Solstice marks the shortest day and longest night of the year in the
Northern Hemisphere, the turning point of the Sun. After a pause, a "standing
still," our days grow longer and our hours of darkness decrease.
Whether we celebrate Christmas, Hannukah, Diwali, Kwanzaa, or Celtic Yule, billions of us across the globe celebrate the return of the
light; but first we acknowledge this pause in the darkness before turning,
a moment full of magic.
In Druidic traditions, Winter Solstice is thought of as a time of death and
rebirth when Nature's powers and our own souls are renewed. The Old Sun dies
(at dusk on the 21st of December) and the Sun of the New Year is born (at dawn
on the 22nd of December), framing the longest night of the year.
Ireland's Newgrange, a prehistoric circular stone monument estimated to be over
5,000 years old, is centuries older than Stonehenge, and older than the Egyptian
pyramids. It was built to receive a shaft of sunlight deep into its central
chamber at dawn on Winter Solstice. Today, the light enters about four minutes
after sunrise; but calculations based on the Earth's precession 5,000 years ago
show that first light would have entered exactly at sunrise -- a marvel of
early astronomy.
Another Fun Fact for you: According to NASA, "this year, bright planets
Jupiter and Saturn will align perfectly on Dec. 21 to create what is commonly
called the Christmas Star or the "Star of Bethlehem". Jupiter and Saturn align
with one another every 20 years or so, but not nearly as close together as they
will be in 2020. The planets have not aligned this closely in about 400 years,
nor has their alignment been visible (occurred at night) in about 800 years."
That's a lot of light to look forward to.
Frankincense and
myrrh
were never gifted to her;
only lodestones -- night and day.
Only She harks their herald…
turning time her way.
©photograph & text copyright Margaret McCarthy 2020