Fire and Light for the Season
A Winter Solstice Photo Essay
This message is especially for my friends who are approaching Winter Solstice. For my southern hemisphere friends who may want a Summer Solstice practice, please check out my article, Journaling in the Summer Solstice. Sending light and love, no matter your locale!
I naturally feel myself going quiet as winter emerges from the colors of autumn. Having grown up on the southern shore of Lake Erie, November and December blizzards muted the sounds and colors of everyday life.
I carry that experience in my body, even now that I’m living in a less snowy area. I long for the silence, the endless expanses of white. My mind and spirit resist the frantic holiday pace and the end of the academic semester demands.
Words are not the way I primarily experience winter. It’s a time where my life is dominated by the body’s responses to cold, damp, gray. And like our ancestors, I look for the light to carry me through these dark days.
For the winter solstice, I’ll light candles. Since our post-war ranch wasn’t built with a fireplace, I’ll put on our electric version that brings a heat and light of its own. And I’ll enjoy the quiet of waking early to mark the moment when the longest night gives way to sunrise and a change in momentum, the movement toward greater light.
And, if the rains passes us, we’ll make a fire in our fire pit and sit together, noticing the contrasts of light and dark, heat and cold, community and solitude. If not on the solstice, then soon.
In the meantime, I’ll enjoy reminiscing about our past fires. Would you like to join me? I’m sharing some photos so you can take part in this experience virtually, too. Fire and community: a beautiful way to mark the solstice.
Wishing you warmth and light for the season,
Lori
Beautiful! So far, we've had a bright and sunny December where I live in Hawaii, but the breeze is a little cooler. It's not always like this. A downpour is a more likely scenario in December. But the weather is so changeable here—you never know from one day to the next. I might need to consider the summer solstice link you shared!
Those photos of the fire are stunning!