Saturday the 22nd we usher in the Winter Solstice in Australia, just days after the Sagittarian Full Moon. The Sagittarian Full Moon was the Gateway Opening to the Winter Eclipses with the first eclipse beginning on the 2nd of July. There is a lot coming up over the next few weeks so taking a respite of reflection within during the Winter Solstice is just what we all need.
Winter Solstice also celebrated as Yule is the rebirth of the Sun, it is an important turning point in our planets cycle around the Sun, as it marks the shortest day, when the hours of daylight are at their least and the Sun appears to stand still. The word “solstice” means “the standing of the sun”. It is also the beginning of the increase in the hours of daylight, up until the Summer Solstice in December. At Winter Solstice, the sun returns to its waxing journey through the sky, offering hope for the coming months where light will once again reign and provide warmth and sustenance.
Winter Solstice brings with it the increase of hope, abundance and the promise of growth that is to come after we journey through the depths of the dark cycle of the year and through our own internal shadows.
During this time, there is much celebration of the upcoming season, of moving into the direction of the possibility and of celebrating the lessons that have come into our life during the shadow time as we peel back the layers that no longer fit us.
The Winter Solstice is a time of inward reflection and digging deep to find what it is that we are wanting to bring into our future. When we move through shadowlands, we have the ability to have an increase in clarity as to what we are wanting to have be our reality in the future.
This is a time of journeying within, of moving into the shadows and finding the deepest truth that lives inside. During the Winter Solstice, we move through the shadows and into a time of rebirth and renewal
Yule is represented by the symbol of a wheel, conveying the idea of the year turning like a wheel, The Great Wheel of the Zodiac, The Wheel of Life. The spokes of the wheel are the points of the old festivals of the year, the Solstices and Equinoxes.
Yule is deeply rooted in the cycle of the year, it is the seed time of year, the longest night and the shortest day, where the Goddess once again becomes the Great Mother and gives birth to the new Sun King. In a poetic sense it is on this the longest night of the winter, ‘the dark night of our souls’, that there springs the new spark of hope, the Sacred Fire, the Light of the World..
Fire festivals, celebrating the rebirth of the Sun, held on the Winter’s Solstice can be found throughout the ancient world. Unlike the more public outdoor festival of the Summer Solstice, Yule lends itself to a more private and domestic celebration. Yet like its midsummer counterpart, is strongly associated with fertility and the continuation of life. Here the Goddess is in her dark aspect, as ‘She Who Cuts The Thread’ or ‘Our Lady in Darkness’, calling back the Sun God. Yet, at the same time, she is in the process of giving birth to her Son-Lover who will re-fertilise her and the Earth, bringing back the light and warmth to the world.
Metaphorically it is said we are born again at Yule/Winter Solstice, coming out of the shadow and the dark void, with the birth of the Sun, we are born into our divine nature. We are the light. We are on a journey, just like the Moon and the Sun, cycling through the seasons…living, dying and re-birthing, finding meaning as we journey here on Earth.
Winter Solstice Blessings to all ♥
For Simple Winter Solstice Rituals follow this link…