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The Wheel Turns Again and Again

The Year Turns.  We make ourselves ready, turning from the familiar towards that which waits to emerge in our lives.


Tomorrow night is the Winter Solstice, the time of greatest darkness of the year.  Some will stand on a bonfire lit hilltop keeping vigil for that first crack of dawn, ready to toast in the coming year.  Others will stand in circles, declaring their intentions for this cycle to come.  Still others will enact the drama of being born into this life anew.

No matter what our style of celebration, those of us who honor the cycles of the sun acknowledge that the time of resting in the dark Mother’s womb is ending.  When we nestled in here at Samhain it seemed as though we might live in darkness forever but now we make ready to re-emerge with the growing light.

As I reflect on the year that is passing and my hopes for the one to come, I find that a deep sense of gratitude for what has been sits right along side of that sense of “come on, let’s get on with it!”  There’s a curiosity and excitement about new possibilities that’s hard to hold back, a longing to explore what this New Year might bring.

But even while I sit with this desire to find out what’s coming next, the natural cycle holds the reins.  Counting down the hours, preparing special meals and finishing our preparations to mark the year’s passing, we hold each moment precious.  We can savoring this final day as though it was fine wine, offering ourselves a sense of completion that may have been hard won.  Somewhere we know that although we might want to rush out to meet it, what comes with the new cycle will hold none of the familiarity of this time just finishing.


None-the-less, Sunday morning the sun will be reborn and so will we.  For life’s journey continues no matter where we are or how we feel about it.  Sometimes we have to reach out and meet our life where it propels us trusting that we will meet it with grace and wisdom.




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