Day 16: Solstice
Solstice Journey 2020
Day 16: December 21
We have arrived at the day of the Winter Solstice on our journey. I hope that you will take some time today to mark this turning. As we come to a close of these travels, I invite you to look back over the practices of the last three weeks and at any insights you have gained. What would you like to incorporate into your practice as you move forward?
When we celebrate the return of the light at the Winter Solstice, we are at the first day of Winter. The light is returning, but we have winter days ahead. The time of fallow rest continues. In her book Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times, Katherine May writes, “Over and over again, we find that winter offers us liminal spaces to inhabit. Yet still we refuse them. The work of the cold season is to learn to welcome them.”
At the beginning of the pandemic shut down, I secretly hoped that we would be shut down long enough to feel the impact of “The Great Pause,” as some were calling it. Nine months later, we feel the impact, and we are being changed in ways we don’t yet fully understand. In many ways, this year has been one long liminal space.
I was thinking about the “Diligence” card that I drew last week. The diligence that guards the sacred space of the fallow field is patient and attentive. It is discerning. It is slow. It opens the space for what will come when the time is ripe. It is the space between, the liminal space, and it is essential.
Now the light beckons, full of hope for restoration, renewal, and new beginnings. The light is returning. As we enter these winter days, I invite you to continue to create the space for yourself for stillness, for wonder, for reflection, for connection. Blessings on your journey.