If you are tuned in to the natural cycle of the year, as I am,
and if you pay heed to the stages of the sun’s apparent journey through our
skies, as I do; if, additionally, for the sake of family and friends who
subscribe to them, you pay respect to the religious traditions that surround us;
if you enjoy this period of the year because of the goodwill, the festivities,
the parties and the re-connection with distant friends whatever the source or inspiration
for these efforts and events; why, then, the period between Thanksgiving at the
end of November and Twelfth Night on January 6 is one long round of glorious celebrations,
one long feast for body and soul!
And that, in a much less Dickensian sentence, is just what I’m
enjoying!
It would be tedious for me to list all the times and places
that I’ve been celebrating the sun’s turning and returning; suffice it to say
that they’ve included a snowy, sunny stone circle in Quebec; a joyous celebration
with children and their families in New Hampshire; delicious family meals
cooked by my daughters Jessica and Louise here in Vermont; much visiting
hugging, exchanging of news, greetings and presents; walks on the windy blessed
shore of Lake Champlain; candle-lit evenings of dance with precious friends; holiday
concerts; wreath-making; dance, and more dance!
Today, December 28, I’m still looking forward to celebratory
New Year circle dances in Burlington and St. Johnsbury; to Burlington’s
fabulous First Night celebration, and to an 11th-night fire circle
to greet the January full moon as it rises, we hope, over my backyard.
The sun’s standstill and slow return has been a special
moment in the year since people first noticed it many thousands of years ago. It’s
spawned countless myths, beginning perhaps with Gilgamesh or even earlier. It
is, indeed, really THE story, the basic and only story, because if it doesn’t
happen both daily and annually, we cease to exist.
The story is this:
“The sun returns, the sun disappears, the sun returns.”
It is a circle, it’s the eternal circle, and that’s why we
dance in circles.
.JPG)
No comments:
Post a Comment