The wolves are running...

Solstice day. Shortest day. Midwinter. The dark is at its height, the wolves are running, the shadows looming.
And what do we humans do when the dark gathers around us? We light fire. We retreat to our caves. We hang in there. We dream.

Sometimes this time of year can feel so hard. It can feel like everyone is out there, partying, playing, spending, smiling. And then it’s easy to beat yourself up if you’re not feeling like the life and soul of the party. Yet, hang about. Solstice, Christmas, Yule, was never originally about drunken bacchanalia – that was saved for the warmer festivals! Getting shit-faced is certainly one way of dealing with the dark, but it's not the only one.

You know, Christmas wasn’t always about marketing and hype; about stuffing your face and wrecking your credit cards. It wasn’t about rigid rituals and drear duty. Once upon a time, it was about getting through the dark days; about cosying up to the hearth; about celebrating the people we need to survive – not necessarily the people we like!

Yes, there are fights. Tell me about it. This week it seems like every evening ends on an argument. However hard you try, misunderstandings arise. But that’s part of Yuletide too. In the old days, Yule saw a ritualized combat between the King of the Waning Year and the King of the New Year (the Holly King and the Oak King). Two men would strip to the waist and fight with swords or bare hands while the women…drummed. And doubtless admired their muscles.  Rows and arguments are as natural a part of this season as the holly and the ivy.

For those who say bah humbug to the lot of it, it’s worth remembering that humans have celebrated this turning point of the year for millennia. Remember Mithra, the ancient god supposedly born in a cave at this time – surrounded by the zodiac (and attended by snake, bull, lion, dog). The concept of a god born in midwinter is common throughout ancient religions of the world. What is our Yule log but the World Tree, the Tree of Life. As far back as 2,000 BCE, the ancient Mesopotamians decorated trees with ribbons in honour of fertility and life.

I don’t really go to parties any more. I let the guys go down the pub alone. I prefer the fire-side. I love to sit with just the light of the flames, watching them jump and dance and flicker, see stories in their salamander colours; watch the shadows they throw up around the walls of my cave. Usually I sit in silence – for the sound of the fire is music enough, isn’t it?

What am I saying here? I dunno. Don’t beat yourself up if you don’t feel ‘Christmassy’? Don’t feel guilty if the thought of your relatives descending makes you want to murder? Ditch the idea of perfection because it don’t exist? Or maybe, just maybe, just stop for a moment or two in the hurly burly – listen to a flame (a candle if not a fire); breathe; just be.

I wish you a peaceful solstice, a merry Yule…light in your darkness. Love.




Oh and a couple of posts I've read recently on this theme - here and over here...

Solstices, eclipses and a dose of good advice

Merry Solstice! Happy Lunar Eclipse... It’s the first time the two have coincided for 372 years so it has to be significant, don’t you think?  I’ve been hunting round trying to find out what exactly it signifies and I stumbled upon Elizabeth Barton’s blog and she says some stuff that chimes with me.
First up she gives this quote: “The tail wags the dog until the dog takes a good look at what is going on. A change is about to take place.”

Well, that resonates big time. I’ve been wagged for way too long.

Then she said: ‘If you do magick…. this is the day to do it! Use this mega energy for yours and other people’s benefit.’ So I figured I won’t go out tonight but will stay in and do some “stuff”.

Hmm. What kind of stuff, Elizabeth?

‘First, release the old; last year’s baggage, then make your New Year affirmations and start manifesting. You will be amazed at the results.’

It’s a plan!

‘Also if you have not been looking after yourself, this is D-day. D is for, “Do it now!”

Okay Liz. I hear and obey. Actually I am starting to look after myself. Having not eaten properly for several weeks, I have made myself get a bit more balanced. I’m eating muesli and fruit and vegetables and getting some protein. Eating is still a chore but it is happening. I’m drinking tons of water and lots of peppermint white tea. I’m starting to stretch and move back into yoga and it feels good.

As is the way right now, the perfect things materialise just as I need them and I’ve been sent some absolutely amazing products. They’re by a company called ila and I’m smitten. I don’t pay enough attention to my body but these creams and unguents are sort of forcing me to be a bit more attentive. In fact, I’m going overboard and am positively slave-girlish right now. A small jar of Face Oil for Glowing Radiance sits by my PC and I anoint myself with it (probably more often than the maker intended)... But then, when they say things like this -

The essential oil of damascena rose otto is the most precious for women as it is deeply regenerative and nourishing to the skin's cells as well as bringing glowing radiance.

– what can you do? And if my face is glowing radiantly, I’d better get the body to match, so I’m lathering on the fluffy, light as a cloud, Body Cream for Glowing Radiance too. One neat side-effect is that rose damascena is a pretty powerful scent and it’s managing to nudge out the really disgusting stench of dog food that billows out from the electric heater in my study. If anyone knows why it smells of dog food (talking meat – Pedigree Chum sort of thing) or (more importantly) how I can get rid of it, please leave me a comment.

Anyhow, basically I could devour the entire ila range. Not only do they feel and smell gorgeous but they come in THE most scrumptious packaging. They even do candles (I’m craving the Orange Blossom Candle that supposedly ‘uplifts the soul with higher energy) and the Jasmine Flowers Candle for Inner Light Joy (don’t we all want some of that?) and incense and uplifting and soothing CDs (like Dream Time Journey) and, and, and....oh the hell with it - I want the lot!

Ila is the Sanskrit word for earth and the company uses only the most natural ingredients, produced with respect for both the earth and the people who harvest its bounty. ‘We believe that the concept of balance goes beyond restoring our own energies,’ they say. ‘Being in balance means existing in harmony with the wider world.’

I just love that.

Soooo....I think tonight I’ll have a long soak in the bath (Bath oil for Glowing Radiance added of course) and then rustle me up one bit of powerful ju-ju for a stonking New Year. Changes are a-coming, me hearties... ride the rollercoaster, go with the flow, tumble into the void!

PS....please keep clicking the Next link - up there, top right hand corner of the main blog page...win prizes, nice prizes - and maybe save me from penury while you're at it. 
Look on it as your solstice gift to me...  :)