Celebrating Solstice: The Return Of The Light
Solstice 12/21/22
4:48 EST 2:48 pm MST
Everything has a season and a turning point in time. Perhaps there is no more evocative holy-day than the winter Solstice celebrating the return of light, the metaphorical rebirth of the Sun each year the moment that it enters the sign of Capricorn.
In Latin solstice translates into sol meaning the sun and sistere meaning to stand still. Once again we are invited to take selah, a holy pause to lift up and exalt; when it appears that the Sun is standing still we too can honor the solstice by taking a sacred pause to reflect within our own being. We can take a walk in nature or perhaps sit peacefully softening into ourselves as we receive our breath and align ourselves with our true nature by gazing within.
This miraculous moment in time beautifully mirrors the balance of our outer and inner worlds. We forget we don’t see the world as it is, we see the world as we are. It is a mirror reflecting our habitual way of being. At their core, habits are styles of perception or feeling that become second nature to us.
In this moment, as I am writing this I just used the thesaurus find a word that I could use instead of habitual. There were two synonyms that are particularly eye opening to me. This first is addicted, the second perpetual. They literally just stopped me in my tracks for a moment and I have had to reconfigure this blog in the midst of composing it.
I mean, addicted isn’t that surprising we know for example that a smoking is a habit. But in the context of a habitual way of being, of moving through our lives, our habitual perceptions perpetuate our experience. Including the experiences we would like to change over time. I mean how often have you said or heard a friend exclaim “Why do I keep attracting this?” And the irony is often we will defend these very ingrained ways of being that recreate the familiar terrains of our lives to the death with a sort of “I know what I know” mentality because what we know is familiar and comfortable. It feels safe. For me it is both profound and ironic to consider this in terms of addiction.
On a certain level our habits live in the darkness of our unconscious, in our shadow. They are there operating behind this scenes and we are so accustomed to these perceptions we remain unaware of how they are pulling our strings until we hit a crisis (ie turning point which is the very definition of crisis).
So during this solstice, this time of balance between light and dark, we can connect with the universal in all of us aligning with the reciprocal nature of our inner self to outer self, giving to receiving, and darkness to light. It is an opportune moment to reflect, lovingly with care and compassion for ourselves, and examine the patterns within our lives that we would like to shift by considering them within the context of our habitual ingrained, perceptions. In essence we are returning them to the light.
I reiterate from my last blog: To live lives full of wonder and joy we must be the steward of our lives that our soul deserves. We must apprentice ourselves to live a life that aligns with our values. It demands that we treating ourselves and the world around us with reverence. In particular we must treat our inner world from which all is born with reverence.
As Walt Whitman said “Every hour of everyday is an unspeakable miracle.” As we move towards the close of 2022 and threshold of 2023 it is worth examining what we have made holy both consciously and unconsciously within our lives. Asking ourselves whether what we have elevated as sacred simply by the act of giving it our attention worthy of our time? In other worlds are we treating the precious commodity of our time as an unspeakable miracle?
When we honor the seasonal wheel of the year while reflecting on our personal cycles and process, we are reminded that we, too, are connected to a universal life force that is generative and wildly transformative. Seasonal rituals are like mirrors, reflecting to us what has shifted, what is of value, and how to source true inspiration from within.
There are less than two days between the Winter Solstice and December’s New Moon in Capricorn on the 23rd at 3:16AM MST. I invite you to use the time between, even briefly to consider both what you are in essence unconsciously recreating and that which you wish to create. Capricorn takes the inspirational energy of Sagittarius and asks us to build something of value that is lasting. That is real. It is about walking the walk vs waxing on about endless possibility without taking action. With the Saturn archetype as its ruler Capricorn yearns for the manifestation that lies beyond inspiration.
During this solstice of 2022 we can ignite the flame of inner peace and call forward our fresh inspirations for the coming year. All our winter candles and bonfires and yule logs are remembrances of the light and warmth of the Sun returning. Evergreens and mistletoe the symbols of the continuing fertility of the Earth, in spite of outward appearances, and the promise of spring to come. All these symbols whisper to us, “We will make it through.” let’s enjoy our cocoons and the gentle reawakening of the light. Let’s give Time and Saturn their due, by respecting the natural cycles of life, but let’s allow what is no longer serving us to die off gracefully, and let’s ring in the changes with open and expectant hearts.
