Winter Solstice arrived on December 21st, and I always celebrate that as the first day of the #12DaysOfSolstice and the beginning of Winter Solstice season. (A quick search of this site for “12 Days of Solstice” will reveal many posts over the years.)
Newgrange (Sí an Bhrú, in Irish) pictured above is located in Brú na Bóinne a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Ireland. It is a 5000+ year old Neolithic earth mound monument, and is perhaps the most dramatic example of the concept of rebirth at Solstice, and its importance to early Celts in Ireland.
The monument itself is essentially the womb of the Great Mother goddess, which is pierced by a shaft of light by the god Dagda at Winter Solstice, impregnating her with Young Angus aka Angus Óg.
If we consider that this as a metaphor that is living and breathing for us, just as it did for our ancestors, what does that illumination now signify or reveal?
What is illuminated by the Solstice light that arrived a few days ago, and can now be seen manifesting as the daylight slowly increases each day?
Can it simply be a reminder to us to shine a light on our own darkness (read that any way you so wish, e.g., fear, confusion, doubt, shadow, anger, various “isms”, etc.) — and our collective conscience — and embrace a collective awakening?
Perhaps it can it be a collective call to action, as well as an individual inspiration.
For instance, we are coming to the end of a very dark year, one now illuminated by the possibility of an end to the darkness of, for instance, the current pandemic.
What other darkness can we transform — perhaps starting to eradicate the rampant inequalities that have existed for so long and creating a society of acceptance and equality for all?