As the Wheel of the Year turns yet another notch, we find ourselves at the Winter Solstice. This is the longest night of the year & a time to turn inward to reflect on our shadows before emerging into the light again.

At times, it feels as if the darkness of the winter months is overtaking us. But the Solstice offers us the promise of renewal. After tonight, the long darkness is behind us as our days become longer & brighter from now until the time of the Summer Solstice.

To herald in this change from darkness to light, the Oak King battles his mortal enemy – his own shadow – the Holly King, to reign supreme until Midsummer. This is an ancient battle in which the Lord of Light overtakes the Lord of Darkness that dwells within us all.

In this legendary myth, the old King is slain & the new King – or Sun – is reborn from the womb of the Virgin Mother Goddess. It’s a familiar Myth we see reflected in the story of the Roman Sun God Mithras & again in the Christian story of Jesus’ birth.

In the Pagan faith, each King/God knows that there is a time for light & a time for darkness. But like us, they fight the change even though they know in their hearts it’s futile. Change WILL come. Each will ebb & flow in its time & balance will rule.

Eventually, each King/God succumbs to his own death so that the other aspects of his personality can be explored through the filters of light & dark. But in truth, when one King is defeated he’s not really gone, but merely taking some time to heal, think & learn before returning again. And so the cycle continues…

We see this eternal cycle of birth, life, death & rebirth symbolized in one of the oldest Yuletide decorations – the wreath. The wreath represents the Wheel of the Year, which has no beginning & no ending. It’s the Wheel that we all find ourselves spinning on as we learn to honor the light & darkness within us. 

On this day, we light candles as our ancestors once did to lure back the light of the Sun. This is a form of sympathetic magic which dates back thousands of years. Tonight, as we add our tiny flame to the world, we feel the light gather & move within us & without as we work with the natural rhythms of nature to bring back the light! 
 


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