Honouring the shortest days

(Nimue)

I don’t tend to think of the solstice as an exact time – although many people do and that’s absolutely fine. Some people like to celebrate sunset at the solstice, but not everyone does. In my part of the world that’s a cold time indeed to be outdoors for a ritual. I did manage it last year, but I’m not planning to attempt it this year.

Rather than thinking about the shortest day, I’m more drawn to the idea of a solstice period, as we go through the shortest days of the year. It will be a while before it feels like the days are lengthening again.

If you can, then this is a good time to pause, reflect and retreat a bit. Of course that isn’t available to everyone. If you’re working more hours at this point, or have a lot of family-orientated work to do, it can be a demanding and hectic sort of time. Be gentle with yourself if you get the chance. If you can, spend a little time with the darkness, with the setting sun or the rising sun. See if you can catch a midwinter dawn chorus – the birds where I live are still singing the sun up, albeit quickly and quietly compared to what happens in summer.

Each cycle of the seasons offers opportunity for growth and renewal. The old year falls away and the new year rises. Change is inevitable. We have no way of knowing what lies ahead. This is often a good time for looking back, reflecting on lessons learned, and whatever this last turn around the sun has brought us. What do we want to take forward? What do we hope to leave behind?

As we move through these short days I will be thinking about where this last year has taken me, and what I want to carry forward. I’m more into setting intentions rather than goals, and have been thinking for some time about the directions I want my life to go in.

I know that whatever else I seek next year, I will be focusing on abundance and joy – how to have more of that for myself and how to bring more of that to other people.