Dark

Days are noticeably shorter and Nights longer. It is as if, after those long Bright Days of Summer, the Night reaches up to gently hold and shelter us. I noted on Weather Underground that today Daylight was 9 Hours and 44 Seconds long, which is 1 minute and 38 Seconds shorter than yesterday.

Amongst traditional Peoples, Winter is the season of resting, going inward, retelling stories which bind us as a People in relationship to all of Creation. In some ways, we are not so different.

After our intense Summer and Fall on Butterfly Hill Farm, Rest is very much welcome. Naps are good. Wool Blankets are within easy reach.

Harvest is now stored on shelves which were almost empty only a short time ago. We 3 C's are having Eggplant Parmesan from the Freezer for Dinner tonight. Its wonderful aroma is wafting past my nose as I clatter away at these keys.

Favorite Books are beginning to appear on horizontal surfaces. Queries which had no time before are beginning to come into focus. Tender spaces of personal growing are making themselves known where there was little time before.

I shall be working on my Book this Winter. Some Craft Projects, especially with the Holidays coming up soon, are waiting in the Wings. Now that we are inside more, we are beginning to make more shifts in settling here into this little House.

Traditional Peoples watched the Sun as He moved toward His Winter Home in the Southern Skies. They were unsure He would return. They deeply knew their Lives depended on Cycles of Nature across the Seasons. They watched with Fear, Fascination, Humility and Awe at the Sacred Cycle of Life which supported their Being. They offered their Praise to the Creator for Creation which supported their Lives. In their protected Winter Homes, they told the Stories of their People and prayed for the Sun's Return.

We Modern Ones with our intense fixation on ourselves take a lot for granted. Too much, it seems. We assume that things will just continue in their Ho Hum Way, regardless of what we do. With changes in Climate and Weather Patterns, we are beginning to note that such is not necessarily the case. As the Season shifts to Dark, we have some pondering we need to do.