Celebrating the Winter Solstice 2010

I love rituals – they mark the ending of one stage and the beginning of another – ending singledom, beginning couple-dom – ending fall, beginning winter. I like the demarcation of completion/commencement.

Six women (two whom I barely knew, but cherish as of that evening) gathered on the eve of the Winter Solstice to honor an ancient earth rhythm, the longest night of the year – the turning point, initiating the winter season. Barbara Malone and I researched rituals on the net – some of which are incredibly convoluted and precise. We opted for simple and meaningful … starting with a surprise guest (Cat Noyes), aka the Light Bringer, carrying a candle – representing the restoration of light, the beginning of longer days. We ate and drank and were merry, celebrating the bounteousness of the harvest (and of our lives). We prepared for the barrenness of winter by releasing the old, the unwanted, and the past via fire in the burning bowl (aka flower pot); and we declared our intentions for this new season/year on paper, sealed in an envelope, to be mailed to us at the Summer Solstice. Then we ate delicious nuts and seeds, symbolic of beginnings.

Barbara led us through each phase – letting the old out through the west door and welcoming the new in through the east door. It was fun, connecting, honoring, supporting, de-light-FULL. Thank you, Barbara, for hosting, Kathy Davis for initiating the whole idea and who was too sick to participate, and all of us for honoring Mother Earth, honoring ourselves and each other, and enjoying the whole process. Who knows what this may have started.

Pic from left to right – Valerie Burson, me, Holly Davis, Angela Caughlin, Barbara Malone, Cat Noyes in the inset picture – as our Bringer of Light. Click on the pic to make it larger – easier to see Cat's elaborate headdress.