It is the Season of Solstice – Earth’s tilt in relationship with Mother Sun, our Source  of life and being, leans us to

Winter Solstice Dawn 2008, MoonCourt Australia.

the furthest point, in both the South and the North:

Summer Solstice Dawn 2009, MoonCourt Australia.

see Her there in your mind’s eye, as She orbits …

The actual Moment of June Solstice 2016 @ EarthGaia is 10:44 UT 21st, or 8:34 21st EST Australia which is where I am. For other global times see archaeoastronomy.com

For the Southern Hemisphere June Solstice (Winter) is  the peaking of the long daily hours of darkness, and the magic of the return to the light: it may be a celebration of the Birth of all manifest form, of Being – in the large scale of things and in a person’s small personal life. It has expressed for the human the Promise of ongoing Creativity, since the most ancient of times, and may yet still in these times.

For the Northern Hemisphere June Solstice (Summer) is the peaking of the long daily hours of light, and the awesomeness of the return to the dark: it may be a celebration of the fullness of Being, and the pouring forth of it – a fulfillment of purpose … in the large scale of things and in a person’s small personal life.

The Solstices mirror each other … 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: and 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. The Solstices – both Winter and Summer – 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.

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.

Tiamatimage,Adele Getty, Mother of all Nature.

It is expressed cross-culturally and throughout the ages in the icon of Mother and Child[3].

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”[4] in every moment, in every day.

Lover Radha entranced with the Beloved, Summer.

It is often expressed as a union of Beloved and Lover, which may be understood as a union of small self with Larger Self (as it in mystical traditions).

For some Winter Solstice Poetic video: PaGaian Winter Solstice 2009

For some Summer Solstice Poetic video: PaGaian Summer Solstice 2009

Here in the Blue Mountains of Australia we will celebrate Winter Solstice ceremony on the 25th June, gathering in our “MoonCourt” – ceremonial space for Goddess – at 7pm.The invitation reads:

At this time when the Dark part of day is longest, as Earth leans us away from Sun to the furthest point,

You are invited to celebrate

WINTER SOLSTICE

Darkness reaches Her fullness, and  yet …

She turns, and the seed of Light  is born.

This is the season for the lighting of candles,

and receiving the Gift of Birth.

The story of Old tells us that on this night,

the Great Mother gives birth

to the Divine Child 

– the New Young One within all.

We celebrate Her eternal Cosmogenesis,

and the Miracle of Being.

O Holy Night

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

PaGaian Cosmology blogs for Winter Solstice/Yule

PaGaian Cosmology blogs for Summer Solstice/Litha

You may enjoy the Winter Solstice or Summer Solstice tracks on PaGaian Cosmology Meditations CDs to nurture your meditations and participation in this Seasonal transition – either just for yourself or for a group. The tracks may be purchased individually or you may enjoy to purchase the whole set.

Winter Solstice and Summer Solstice preparation/celebration e-notes, images and meditations are offered: Celebrating PaGaian Cosmology On-Line .

Some Winter and Summer Solstice story may be found in Appendix F of the book PaGaian Cosmology, or if you have a paper version 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.

There is a PaGaian Cosmology Facebook group where all members may initiate discussion and/or respond, and also a Pagaian Cosmology Facebook Page … which you are welcome to “Like”.

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.

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] 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.

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