The Winter Solstice

The word “solstice” comes from Latin, meaning “the sun stands still,” which it appears to do. This astrological phenomenon has been important to many cultures.

In Persia it was viewed as the victory of light over dark.

For the ancient Chinese it was a turning point where the yin qualities of darkness and cold gave way to the light and warmth of yang.

In their celebrations of purification at this time, the Native American Pueblo peoples welcome the kachinas, spirits from the mountains, who will live with them for half the year, teaching them wisdom so they can seek to maintain harmony in the world.

Traditional cultures recognize that the balance of life is constantly shifting. But those shifts, while perhaps ultimately providing balance, do not guarantee continuity.

The exploding aggression of totalitarian regimes all over the world,
the growing intolerance of the diversity of our world and its inhabitants,
the progressive destruction of the environment without which we will not exist,
the increasing treatment of others as inhuman are all threatening
the harmony and delicate balance of existence in our world.

While the universe’s continued balance between darkness and light, yin and yang, harmony and strife may be inviolable in the vastness of eternity, it does not necessarily include the continued existence of human life on the tiny planet we occupy. If we do in fact have any role in our future, the transitions to light and harmony the winter solstice welcomes are desperately needed from us now.

More and more it seems to me this can only come from within.

Perhaps instead of emphasizing the need for harmony and balance in our physical lives, it might be possible to consider exploring and embracing an understanding of reality which embodies the realization of the awareness of being,
so we can emphasize the need for the recognition of the
harmony and balance of our presence within the consciousness of that which is.

Freeing your mind helps to free your body.

Photo by Marty Fate