On The Sacred Dark - The Winter Solstice

The longest night, a sacred time.
The longest night heralds a return of the light. Before this return though, the long, cold, quiet dark.
The sacred dark.
The deep dark, that surrounds the covered root. The longest night that gifts us the longest time to gaze at galaxies and planets and stars and twinkling lights that have traveled since the dawn of time.
I’ve often wondered if the nocturnal kin enjoy this prolonged darkness.
This is the time of the Winter Solstice.
We humans light up the night at this time.
Sparkling lights adorning evergreen trees in towns and yards and along city streets.
Are we afraid of the dark?

What if,
what if we embraced the long darkness?
Trained our eyes to see deeper into the skies, catch the light emanating from the snow.
Learned to listen to the sleeping trees, bare skeletons, whose fallen leaves cover our paths, in endless colors that slowly drain to ground.
Listened to the evergreens, some with red cones, some with red berries,
Green needles catching snowflakes one by one, by one. In the trillions.

What if,
what if we slowed down in the long darkness?
Drank tea and broth, ate roots and stews.
Told slow stories, over many nights, one chapter at a time.
Slept longer, dreamed deeper.
Dreams of the past completing, and then glimpsed the future’s weaving.

This Winter Solstice, Animisma - All Things In-Spirited returns.

Your invitation, dear listener, dear kin, is one of slowness. One of safety. This first episode is a walking dream. Find a warm place, a comfortable spot, a place where you feel held. Light a candle if you have one, and close your eyes, entering the edge of a quiet dark forest. When you flutter your mind’s eye open, you will be guided along a path, walking as lightly, gently, and intentionally as the deer. Grace and shadow, cold and calmness. Rivulets of light streaming along a forest floor. A sacred grove of Solstice trees. Blessings. Kindness. Darkness.

Solstice.

Please join me on December 21, 2021.

May your roots deepen, soften, and sleep soundly in the Earth’s exquisite, endless, embrace.
h. xx