




"tethered locusts were flown in a wind tunnel"









Light is the most stable of these cues, and it can be used not only to signal dawn and dusk, but also, since the amount of light falling on the Earth varies precisely with latitude and season, to calculate the time of the year. This is how the salmon and the loon and the monarch know when to migrate, the roe deer and the wallaby and the cicada when to mate, the squirrel how to find its stash on time, and the tobacco plant and the evening primrose when to release their scents for pollinating nocturnal insects. It is how the internal private message becomes the external natural poem.
Happy Yule!
Today marks the winter solstice, midwinter, the longest night of the year. From here on in, daytime lengthens; light seeps back into our half of earth, as winter's shadow recedes from the hemisphere. The goddess as mother-goddess births the sun god, the horned god, and the Holly King departs as the Oak King arrives. (In Spanish, the verb "to give birth" is dar luz, literally "to give light.")
This article explains the astronomy of today's celestial event, when the sun appears to stand still in the sky, as the North Pole points directly away from it.
"The term [solstice] is derived from the Latin sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still)."
"During this dark season, you can attain great wisdom by contemplating the karmic lessons from the past year. This is also the time to incubate your new vision for the coming year."
"Follow the Golden Rule and treat others as you would want to be treated. Be grateful for your life. Look for ways to appreciate others. All these things begin a process of purifying hidden feelings of guilt and resentment. Let those feelings come up."In those moments i sometimes feel utterly overwhelmed and try to practice Pema Chodron's "compassionate abiding."
"Contacting the experience of being hooked, you breathe in, allowing the feeling completely and opening to it. The in-breath can be deep and relaxed--anything that helps you to let the feeling be there, anything that helps you not push it away. Then, still abiding with the urge and edginess of feelings such as craving or aggression, as you breathe out you relax and give the feeling space. The out-breath is not a way of sending the discomfort away but of ventilating it, of loosening the tension around it, of becoming aware of the space in which the discomfort is occurring."
"Release is powerful medicine, a plumbing of the depths, fertilizing your foundation. This Winter Solstice, write down what you would like to release into the darkness. You can write as many thoughts as you wish, about a situation, energies, a person or a habit. This is a time to revere what has taught you well, not to revoke yourself for the past. Think about what you would like to release, as well as what you would like to replace it with. With your fire or candle lit, cast the written offerings into the fire, and as it burns, affirm this release by declaring what you would like to replace things with. After fully finished, let your fire or candle burn completely to the end, releasing that which is now gone. If there are any remnants of your ritual fire or candle, you can either keep a few ashes or a piece of wax to commemorate your releasing next year, and recall that which you have consciously "let go" of for 2010. Lastly, celebrate your awareness by enjoying pleasure! The long night has just begun, your fire is burning and there is much to treasure."
in the night of the year
when the sun is at its farthest
we can find the darkest part
and glow like stars