The Winter Solstice
Below is an excerpt from Circle of Life: The Cycle of Seasons by the foundation for Global Community, Palo Alto, California.
"Silence...cold...stillness...deep...dormant...rest...waiting...
Stillness and thought of death come more readily to us in winter and remind us that each season is part of an ongoing cycle of birth, growth, fruition, and death.
The annuals that die in winter provide the mulch and compost for the spring seedlings. The cold of winter provides the dormancy for seeds and bulbs so that they may burst forth in spring. It is gestation time for the lambs, calves, and other creatures that will be born in spring. The harshness of winter prepares us for the burst of creativity, freedom, and light of spring and summer. The crisp, clear, cold, nights reveal a sky filled with the stars of the galaxies that connect us with our origins and the origins of all that is.
The bare branches of trees, stripped to the essentials, remind us to reflect on what is essential in our lives. Winter brings the still time for us to consider what is meaningful and what is not. To ask: What choices have I made-what decisions do I need to make now? What inheritance have I received from life-what legacy will I leave?
To take the time in winter's quiet to ponder these deeper, inner questions pays honor to this season and to the eternal rhythms of the Earth."
"Silence...cold...stillness...deep...dormant...rest...waiting...
Stillness and thought of death come more readily to us in winter and remind us that each season is part of an ongoing cycle of birth, growth, fruition, and death.
The annuals that die in winter provide the mulch and compost for the spring seedlings. The cold of winter provides the dormancy for seeds and bulbs so that they may burst forth in spring. It is gestation time for the lambs, calves, and other creatures that will be born in spring. The harshness of winter prepares us for the burst of creativity, freedom, and light of spring and summer. The crisp, clear, cold, nights reveal a sky filled with the stars of the galaxies that connect us with our origins and the origins of all that is.
The bare branches of trees, stripped to the essentials, remind us to reflect on what is essential in our lives. Winter brings the still time for us to consider what is meaningful and what is not. To ask: What choices have I made-what decisions do I need to make now? What inheritance have I received from life-what legacy will I leave?
To take the time in winter's quiet to ponder these deeper, inner questions pays honor to this season and to the eternal rhythms of the Earth."
posted by Julie A. Carda | 8:00 AM
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