As the Winter Solstice approaches in the north, we notice the changes: the days of light are shorter, the darkness is longer, the weather is cold, the trees are bare, and snow is often on the ground. John Matthews, who has lectured widely on Celtic and Arthurian traditions, has written this lyrical passage about Winter Solstice:

"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."

Here are a few activities and spiritual practices to do in celebration of Winter Solstice.

Book Excerpts

This is an abbreviated excerpt of "A Celebration of Winter Solstice" from The Circle of Life by Joyce Rupp and Macrina Wiederkehr.

"There is a tendency to want to hurry from autumn to spring, to avoid the long dark days that winter brings. Many people do not like constant days bereft of light and months filled with colder temperatures. They struggle with the bleakness of land and the emptiness of trees. Their eyes and hearts seek color. Their spirits tire of tasting the endless gray skies. There is great rejoicing in the thought that light and warmth will soon be filling more and more of each new day.

"But winter darkness has a positive side to it. As we gather to celebrate the first turn from winter to spring, we are invited to recognize and honor the beauty in the often unwanted season of winter. Let us invite our hearts to be glad for the courage winter proclaims. Let us be grateful for the wisdom winter brings in teaching us about the need for withdrawal as an essential part of renewal. Let us also encourage our spirits as Earth prepares to come forth from this time of withdrawal into a season filled with light.

"The winter solstice celebrates the return of hope to our land as our planet experiences the first slow turn toward greater daylight. Soon we will welcome the return of the sun and the coming of springtime. As we do so, let us remember and embrace the positive, enriching aspects of winter's darkness. Pause now to sit in silence in the darkness of this space. Let this space be a safe enclosure of creative gestation for you."

Spiritual Practices

Give thanks for the darkness which is the yin to the yang of light. Think of how soothing darkness is when you are exhausted and want to take nap. Recall how irritated you were in a hotel or motel where you could not block out the bright lights from outside when you wanted to sleep.

Personal Explorations

"Hello darkness, my old friend, I've come to talk with you again," Simon and Garfunkel sang in a popular song years ago. Make a special effort today to greet darkness and share some of the feelings that arise in you when you think about darkness.

Ponder the darkness as a spur to reverencing the mysteriousness of God. What place have you made for the darkness of the divine as fertile and transformative in your spiritual path?

Poetry

Read this poem aloud. It is by William John Fitzgerald from his book Blessings for the Fast Paced and Cyberspaced.

Black Can Be Beautiful

O God, black can be beautiful!

Let us be aware of black blessings:

Blessed be the black night that nurtures dreams.

Blessed be the black hole out of which creation sprang.

Blessed be the black cave of imagination that births creativity.

Blessed be dark wombs that cradle us.

Blessed be black loam that produces nourishing food for our bodies.

Blessed be black jazz that nourishes our souls.

Blessed be black energy that swirls into gracefulness.

Blessed be black coal that heats us.

Blessed be black boiling clouds hurling down lightning and cleansing rain.

Blessed be even our own darkness, our raw, undeveloped cave of shadows.

O God, help us to befriend black and not deny its power.

Help us not to cover over the dark with fear but to open to it with your grace and to be open to your life within the dark.

May we discover the blessings that lie deep within our holy dark so that we may freely affirm that

Black is beautiful indeed!

Here is a meditative poem by Joyce Rupp "Winter's Cloak" from The Circle of Life which she co-wrote with Macrina Wiederkehr.

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.

Prayers & Mantras

End this special once-a-year-day with this prayer by Edward Hays from Prayers for a Planetary Pilgrim.

A Winter Solstice Prayer

The dark shadow of space leans over us. . . . .

We are mindful that the darkness of greed, exploitation, and hatred

also lengthens its shadow over our small planet Earth.

As our ancestors feared death and evil and all the dark powers of winter,

we fear that the darkness of war, discrimination, and selfishness

may doom us and our planet to an eternal winter.

May we find hope in the lights we have kindled on this sacred night,

hope in one another and in all who form the web-work of peace and justice

that spans the world.

In the heart of every person on this Earth

burns the spark of luminous goodness;

in no heart is there total darkness.

May we who have celebrated this winter solstice,

by our lives and service, by our prayers and love,

call forth from one another the light and the love

that is hidden in every heart.

Amen.