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December 22, 2005
Solstice
Earth is tilted in such a way that between the Gregorian dates of 21 and 22 December, the Northern Hemisphere experiences more hours of night than at any other period. All of which is very scientific, and has almost nothing to do with the screaming willies a seemingly endless nighttime brings to the human nervous system. Looking into the night is as close as we are going to come to looking into entropy itself. On a solstice eve, in the northern hemisphere, we can be forgiven if it seems the hour of the wolf has turned into an age...
It is not a surprise then, that holy days celebrated in December feature candles. Candles are some small way we humans have of holding back the darkness; of using our innate humanity to create spaces for ourselves to live and thrive. It may well be impossible to defeat entropy, but we will certainly try...
And that is why to us Pagans this night is different from all other nights. It is at this moment when the night is at its most dark that we must celebrate our very lives. When life itself is at its lowest ebb, we step forward and cast a small flame against the dark; in celebrating we become a small flame against the dark. Else all will be consumed...
Posted by Andrew at December 22, 2005 12:12 AM
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