21 DECEMBER, 2020
Kalachakra Matrix, monotype with mixed media
"And the seasons, they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We're captive on the carousel of time
We can't return, we can only look
Behind, from where we came
And go round and round and round, in the circle game" Joni Mitchell, The Circle Game
Winter Solstice
Winter solstice, as you probably know, is the day when one of the Earth's poles has its maximum tilt away from the Sun. In the northern hemisphere, this occurs in December. It is the day with the shortest period of daylight and longest night of the year. Winter Solstice has been, for me, an important marker in time. For some people, it's the calendar new year, January first. But I think the concept and the general appeal of these time markers are the same: They give us the psychological and spiritual opportunity to start over.
"Since prehistory, the winter solstice has been seen as a significant time of year in many cultures, and has been marked by festivals and rituals. It marked the symbolic death and rebirth of the Sun. The seasonal significance of the winter solstice is in the reversal of the gradual lengthening of nights and shortening of days." (Wikipedia)
Out of the Darkness
Transformation 51, monotype with mixed media
You might be wondering how this particular day holds any real significance in these modern times. We're no longer an agrarian culture, so the cosmological cycles aren't celebrated by many of us. But the psychological implications of the Sun's rebirth seem more relevant this year than ever.
That's because it has been, for most of us, a very dark time. And we are now, coincident with the solstice, just beginning to come out of the darkness. Finally, we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. It may be far away, and very tiny, but we can see it at long last. And that's exactly what we need right now.
A Solstice Poem
Even now,
in the sterile age of technology,
beneath the banging, crashing, clashing street noise,
the deafening roar of airplanes,
beneath the sounds of shrieking missiles, exploding bombs,
beneath the humming and ticking of artificial intelligence
(or none at all),
beneath the ceaseless rushing, pushing, struggling...
Still,
the quiet heartbeat of the earth,
turning in her silent cycles,
as she whirls around the sun,
the ancient dervish dance
of sun, moon, and planets,
ceaseless motion unchanging,
drawing a spiral pattern across space and time...
as it began,
so it remains.
and now
she retraces the infinite pattern,
reaches
the apex of her wandering arc,
and turns her face once again
to the brilliance,
toward the one,
the light.
as it was in the beginning,
as it ever shall be,
so it remains. Transformation 35, monotype with mixed media
Transformation 32, monotype with mixed media
Begin Again
And so, at this special marker in time, I'll try to throw away the despair, disorganization, and darkness, and focus on that tiny light. I'll try to move forward, to begin again. I hope you can, too.
This year, there is a rare alignment of Jupiter and Saturn, resulting in what some are calling a "Christmas star." My dear friends, I wish you a blessed solstice, and all the best for the coming year!
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