It is the Season of Solstice – Earth’s tilt in relationship with Sun leans us to the furthest point, either South or North:

see Her there in your mind’s eye, where She is in Her orbit …

For the Southern Hemisphere December Solstice is the awesomeness of the return to the dark, the turn out of the peaking of the long daily hours of light: it is a celebration of the fullness of Being, and the pouring forth of it – a fulfillment of purpose.

For the Northern Hemisphere December Solstice is the magic of the return to the light, the turn out of the peaking of the long daily hours of darkness: it is a celebration of the Birth of all manifest form, of Being, the Promise of ongoing Creativity.

The Solstices mirror each other … the Summer peaking of light celebrating a Radiance, the shining forth of all that a being is/may be, which is at the same time a dissolving of self … like the Sun does in every moment: and the Winter peaking of dark celebrating the Origins/Womb of all, which is at the same time a Flaring Forth of being … as happens in every moment in the quantum foam, and as the Sun’s “return” may assure. The Solstices – both Summer and Winter – really celebrate an essential Cosmic mystery of sacred Interchange, a reciprocity at the heart of Life, the relational quality of existence … “to be is to be related”[1] – to be is to be in deep Communion. Mother Sun is a primary model for this deep Communion, and generosity of being, a model for what Australian Indigenous peoples name as “ngapartji-ngapartji”[2]. This quality celebrated at Solstice may be regarded and named as a primordial “Mother” quality, understood by all Indigenous cultures, and one’s own inherent Indigeneity/Nativity – we are all of Her, and return to Her.

Summer Solstice may be a remembering of the union of the fullness of being with the Space/Void/Night to whom All returns – the re-union of this Form we so love with All-That-Is: the fulfilment of our purpose, the small selves that we are – shining forth and given over … an ongoing “Give-Away”[3] in every moment, in every day: just as our Mother Sun is radiant. It is often expressed as a union of Beloved and Lover.

Winter Solstice may be a remembering of the Space/Void/Night out of which All arises – existence springs forth in every moment out of the dark sentience in which we are always immersed … it is an ongoing miracle of manifestation, in every moment, in every day: as constant creativity breaks forth from the seamless Dark Womb of Space. It is expressed cross-culturally and throughout the ages in the icon of Mother and Child[4].

The actual Moment of December Solstice @ EarthGaia is 23:03 UT 21st, or 9:03 22nd EST Australia which is where I am. For other global times see archaeoastronomy.com

For some Summer Solstice Poetry and reflections: see PaGaian Summer Solstice 2009 on YouTube, and pagaiancosmology.com

For some Winter Solstice Poetry and reflections: see PaGaian Winter Solstice 2009 on YouTube, and pagaiancosmology.com

If you are celebrating Winter Solstice – The Birthplace of the Universe  may be an inspiring contemplation of our Origins, the Womb in which we are. And whichever Solstice it is that you may be celebrating, these short clips of Brian Swimme’s DVD’s may be nurturant of that spirit: Radiance and Generosity of the Sun.

Here at our Place in the Blue Mountains of Australia, we will gather for Summer Solstice ceremony in MoonCourt on the 20th December at 6pm. The invitation reads:

This is the time when the light part of day is longest

 You are invited to celebrate

SUMMER SOLSTICE

Light reaches Her fullness, and yet …

She turns, and the seed of Darkness is born.

This is the time of the rose, blossom and thorn 

– for pouring forth the Gift of Being.

The story of Old tells that on this day 

Beloved and Lover dissolve into the single Song of Ecstasy – that moves the worlds.

Self expands in the bliss of Creativity,

Sun ripens in us. We are the Bread of Life –

we celebrate Her deep Communion and Reciprocity.

If you wish to attend, you may email me (Glenys) for an invitation and details: glenys@pagaian.org

Some Summer and Winter Solstice story may be found in Appendix F of PaGaian Cosmology, or if you have a paper version of the book there is an Index for references throughout. These Seasonal Moments in relationship to the whole Wheel of the Year may be found in Chapter 5, and ritual scripts are offered in Chapter 7 – the on-line versions are usually a bit different from the paper versions, as they evolve.

NOTES:

[1] This is a quote from The Universe Story by Brian Swimme and Thomas Berry, p.77, and I discuss it in relationship to PaGaian Cosmology chapter 4, p.116 in particular.

[2] for more on this term see PaGaian Cosmology Chapter 8, p. 256.

[3] As Starhawk describes Summer Solstice, The Spiral Dance p. 244.

[4] so often in the christianizing of this Seasonal Moment it is the Child that is focussed on, and the Womb of All is given scant recognition: the Mother’s gaze is usually upon the Child, no longer holding Her own integrity.