If you liked reading this, feel free to click the ❤️ button on this post so more people can discover it on Substack 🙏
In the bleak mid-winter
Frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron,
Water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow,
Snow on snow,
In the bleak mid-winter
Long ago. ~ Christina Rossettti
Today, the winter solstice arrives. The Sun appears to stand still in the sky for a few days, and the nights are the longest they will be all year. From our limited perspective on Earth, the entire universe has paused. It stops in its tracks; time itself disappears.
Many people will go about their business and never even notice this. Such is our modern disconnection from Nature. We have forgotten how to read the signs of the times and the portents in the heavens.
I want to call you back to the rhythm of Nature and today's extraordinary moment.
What happens in Nature is only a shadow, a hint, of what is happening on other levels of reality.
Today is a day for quiet if you can manage it. It is a day that invites the contemplation of wonders. Around mid-day, notice where the Sun is in the sky. Notice how it is far to the south, hugging the treeline barely above the horizon. Its light is pale and white, its rays sharply slanted, spreading nearly horizontally over the land. It will not even rise over the horizon in some places, and the darkness will seemingly triumph.
The Sun represents Goodness, Beauty, and Truth. Winter solstice reminds us that there will be times personally and globally when those virtues and sacred values are in short supply, beset by the forces of darkness, evil, and chaos. The impulse to light a candle in the dark and set it in the window or string lights on a tree in December is ancient and powerful.
During the day today, as the Sun struggles to shed its light across the land, carve out a few moments to contemplate the Good. Where do you find it? How can you be The Good in the world? What is "Good" and what is its Source? Think about these things. Set your intention to be a channel for Good and ask the powers that be to grace our world with more Goodness, Truth, and Beauty.
When the day fades, and the darkness sets in long before we'd like it to, understand that darkness also has its purpose. It's easy to love the light; it's so obviously lovely and welcoming. Understanding the darkness takes profound wisdom, spiritual maturity, and insight. If you are a novice at spiritual contemplation, I advise you to simply notice and acknowledge the darkness. If you are more experienced on the spiritual journey you can go deeper to see what the darkness hides that may be, in its own via negativa, beneficial. Be warned, a great deal of the darkness is dangerous, so take your guardians, be they angels, ancestors, or archetypes, along with you. When you are done, light a candle in your home or turn on your Christmas lights to signal that you are on the side of the Sun.
The suspension of time during the Solstice offers an invitation to transcend the ordinary and to walk in the realms of the supranaturals, beyond the laws of Nature where phenomena or entities not of this world roam. Tread lightly and go only as far as you are prepared and trained to go.
Join me by watching the short video below for a brief Winter Solstice Meditation.
If you are looking for the Good and the comfort and joy of the season and want a radical act of resistance, go for a long, unhurried walk in Nature with no particular destination. Be fully present with the world as it is right now. Get out of your head and allow your body to move among the trees, stones, moss, and winter meadows. While you're out there, collect a few things, like pinecones, acorns, pebbles, twigs, etc, and create a small mandala, a symbol of the fully integrated and elevated Self, the Soul wholly perfected by the Divine and the world in its Edenic form. Offer it as a blessing to the Earth and all of humanity. That is an act of Goodness to drive away the dark.
Earlier on, we were talking about the supranatural, that which is not natural to our realm but resides in other places beyond our usual perception. This oracle deck from Uusi Studios is the Supra Oracle. I find it quite powerful and use it sparingly. Since we are in the liminal time of Winter Solstice, I thought I would read for the Hedge Mystic Community.
These three cards represent key concepts that are appearing now in the time between years. You may find they belong to 2023 and are fading, or they may be intimations of what will come in 2024.
Card One is Deus Ex Machina - (God in the Machine), which is the plot device we inherited from the ancient Greeks. It’s that moment in a book or movie where a seemingly unsolvable mystery or irresolvable situation is miraculously resolved by the appearance of a force not before seen or alluded to in the story that swoops in and rectifies everything. This is similar to the Tower in the Tarot but with a more neutral aspect. It's a sudden change you didn't see coming, which could be for good or ill. Perhaps you will recognize this as something that occurred in 2023. If not, be on the alert for its appearance in 2024.
Card Two is Manifestation - According to the deck's creators Linnea Gits and Peter Dunham, this is nothing less than “…the Living Creative force of perpetual creation. This force works secretly upon our thoughts, encircling and enabling us to take that advantageous leap from the potential to the actual.” This is the power of life and living, calling you to create, make, and do. Step out, act, and don’t get trapped in mere pipe dreams.
Card Three is Magic - again, from the deck’s creators: “ The landscape of magic is marshy and unsettling and is not for those who are unsure or easily unsettled. It is the realm of the forbidden, the act of deliberately bending the conscious into the subconscious - an act of inorganic mysticism - to bring about a complex phenomena that fleetingly reveals itself in reality.” The invitation here is to do intentional work that takes you deep.
Sit with these words and images and see how they play out when you place the lens of 2023 over them, and then shift your perspective and see them as a vision of the future.
How will you mark the Winter Solstice this year? What insights have come to you during your contemplation of light and darkness this year? Do you feel the effect of time suspended during the Solstice? How does engaging with the Winter Solstice enrich your spiritual journey?
The comments section is a safe and welcoming space to share your insights and experiences.
Comments and conversation are always appreciated and enjoyed, so feel free to let your voice be heard. I read them all and try to respond to each one.
Thank you for reading Hedge Mystic and participating in this vibrant and growing community of creative, spiritual humans. You are always welcome here, appreciated, and loved.
PS
I’m booking NOW for 45 minute, year-ahead Tarot Readings - $ 77.00 7 Cards: Sunset, Horizon, Obstacle, Strength, Advice, Navigation, Clarity
Just a few spots left! Book your appointment HERE
Such a fascinating post! I plan to celebrate the solstice by watching the sun rise tomorrow. Tonight, I will light some candles and make an orange slice garland to hang across the window. I have noticed the past few days how low the sun is in the sky during the afternoon. This is the first year I have lived so far north, and the sun was setting around 3:50 pm. But the past few days it has increased to 3:52, so I think the solstice already happened here according to Mother Earth 😄 I am looking forward to longer days. Autumn was very difficult for me -- physically and emotionally. I think I had strayed into those supranatural realms you talked about, and this added to my fear and depression. I have since come out of it with a much stronger spirituality, which I am grateful for. Happy Solstice and Merry Christmas! Thank you for a wonderful year of enlightening entries! ✨🌞✨
Thank you Jan for your words and your presence! Wishing you a wonderful Winter Solstice 🌞