Happy Winter Soltice

The Shortest Day by Susan Cooper

So the shortest day came, and the year died

And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world

Came people singing, dancing

To drive the dark away.

They lighted candles in the winter trees;

They hung their homes with evergreen,

They burned beseeching fires all night long

To keep the year alive,

And when the new year's sunshine blazed awake

They shouted reveling.

Through all the frosty ages you can hear them

Echoing behind us - Listen!!

All the long echoes sing the same delight,

This shortest day,

As promise wakens in the sleeping land;

They carol, feast, give thanks,

And dearly love their friends,

And hope for peace.

And so do we, here, now,

This year and every year.

Welcome Yule!

The Winter Solstice

WINTER

By Tommy Makem

Winter, a sharp bitter day

the robin turns plump against the cold

the sun is weak

silver faded from gold

he is late in his coming and short in his stay

Man, beast, bird and air all purging, all cleansing,

earth already purified awaits the rite of spring

Her bridal gown a virgin snow and frosts in her hair

A snowdrop by the road today bowed gracefully

and high upon the wind up in the sparkling nothingness,

a lone bird began to sing

can gentle spring be far away?

Winter Solstice - The First Day of Winter

Today officially welcomed Winter! After today, our days will begin to increase in length, ever so slowly. This shortest day of the year blessed us with sunshine and blue skies. Although the daylight was short in length, it was warm ,cheery, and left with a beautiful glow.

"Yule, is when the dark half of the year relinquishes to the light half. Starting the next morning at sunrise, the sun climbs just a little higher and stays a little longer in the sky each day. Known as Solstice Night, or the longest night of the year, much celebration was to be had as the ancestors awaited the rebirth of the Oak King, the Sun King, the Giver of Life that warmed the frozen Earth and made her to bear forth from seeds protected through the fall and winter in her womb. Bonfires were lit in the fields, and crops and trees were "wassailed" with toasts of spiced cider."

Out of the Darkness

We came out of the longest night of the year with an awe-inspiring sunrise this morning. The whole Eastern sky was various shades of pink and yellow as I stepped outside at a little after 7:30 AM. A beautiful start to our shortest day of the year. Happy first day of Winter!



To Go into the Dark

Tonight is the longest night of the year. Tomorrow will follow with the shortest day of the year and then the Earth will begin a slow re-birth toward Spring. May this dark night be filled with light and  promise for you!

To go in the dark with a light is to know the light,
To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight,

and find that the dark, too, blooms and sings,

and is travelled by dark feet and dark wings.

Wendell Berry