This year — more than any recent year — I so need this soul-stice time of reflection and renewal, my “cauldron time”. Much is still churning within me. I am restless, questioning my beliefs and practices, finding new paths.
I often find inspiration in poetry and found one, “Winter’s Cloak” (co-written by Joyce Rupp and Macrina Wiederkehr), that is for me the true essence of Winter Solstice — the deep reflection of Winter, our connection to its stillness, the solace and rest found in its darkness, yet with the hope and glimpse of the coming Spring… and the birthing of better times for Mama Earth, and for all who reside here.
In Winter’s Cloak, the poets suggests, “This year I do not want the dark to leave me. I need its wrap of silent stillness, its cloak of long lasting embrace”.
I am still processing all that has happened this year. I too need winter’s soft deep cocoon, wrapping me with the energy and love of Mama Earth, and finding solace in the dark nights and empty places.
And so I will embrace these dark nights and let the light of Father Sun ignite me slowly, brighten my inner light which has struggled to shine at times this year. But I will shine, I will find my way, guided by An Cailleach and the Deer Mothers.
May you too find shelter and solace in Winter’s passage, and in the new calendar year.
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.