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Winter Solstice and the longest night ~ A love note from your online abbess

12-18-2016-top-photoA major obstacle to creativity is wanting to be in the peak season of growth and generation at all times . . . but if we see the soul’s journey as cyclical, like the seasons . . . then we can accept the reality that periods of despair or fallowness are like winter – a resting time that offers us a period of creative hibernation, purification, and regeneration that prepare us for the births of spring.

—Linda Leonard, The Call to Create

Dearest monks and artists,

This reflection is excerpted from our Sacred Seasons online retreat for the Celtic Wheel of the Year:

The Winter Solstice is another profound moment of pause and turning in the great cycle of the year. In Galway our apartment windows face east and south, so one of the great gifts I experience through the seasons is watching the sun make her pilgrimage across the horizon from summer solstice to winter solstice. It is quite a long journey, and on December 21st she will rest at her point furthest south, appearing to stand still for three days before making the return journey again in the long walk toward summer.  It is a rhythm of journey, pause, and return, again and again. It reminds me a great deal of walking a labyrinth and the way I follow the path inward, pause and receive the gifts at the center, and then begin to move more fully out into the world carrying the light that is growing.

I love winter, especially Irish winters which are so rainy and grey, so conducive to lighting candles and making a cup of tea.  I adore the bare branches that reach up to the sky, their stark beauty, the way they reveal the basics.  I love the quietness of winter, fewer people outside.

Linda Leonard’s quote above speaks right to the heart of the gift of honoring the seasons. When we recognize that spring and summer always lead to autumn and winter, in our own lives we will perhaps resist the times of releasing and resting that come to us.

To go in the dark with a light is to know the light.
To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight,
and find that the dark, too, blooms and sings,
and is traveled by dark feet and dark wings.

—Wendell Berry

This poem speaks to me most pointedly about what embracing the darkness means. It does not mean carrying a light into the dark, it means walking right into the darkness and exploring its landscape so that our other senses become heightened and attuned to the sound of seeds jostling deep beneath the black soil, to hear the slow in and out breath of animals in hibernation, to feel our own heartbeats and the heartbeats of those we love, to experience the pulsing of womb-sounds within us just before the water gets ready to break.

Winter invites me to rest and contemplation, to making time for quiet walks in the few hours of light.  The God of winter invites me into a healing rhythm of rest and renewal, of deep listening in the midst of stillness, of trusting the seeds sprouting deep within that have been planted.  There is a harshness to this winter God as well, winter speaks to me of loss, it is the landscape of my grief in all its beauty and sorrow.

With great and growing love,

Christine

Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, REACE

Photo © Christine Valters Paintner

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5 Responses

  1. This is a beautiful reflection on the Winter Solstice. It gives us time to rest in the darkness, to be still enough to feel the sacred silence.
    Winter, with the holidays of several religious beliefs, is holy, even if you may not believe another’s path to the Divine. The effect of others
    faith strengthens our own. Blessings to all here.

  2. I love this post! It has helped me to embrace the reality and beauty of winter instead of rushing through to spring.

  3. Enjoyed your post, Christine and the words are like a soothing salve put upon ones’ body after being exposed to some harsh realities of life on certain journeys. I visualize myself in Ireland – seeing the barrenness of the winter scene, yet not disturbed by it, but able to embrace the site and enjoy the quietness of the moment since few people are out. Sometimes, all a person needs at any given moment is to embrace the quietness surrounding them, taking a few moments from tge hussle and bussle or everyday happenings.

    Thank you, Christine, again, for allowing each of a glimpse into your environment, heart, and thoughts. Sweet, sweet music to tge mind’s delight!

  4. Beautiful post,Christine. I’m in awe of people who love winter, & love to hear them talk/write about it. Learning to love it through them, through you.