top of page
Search
mrymntcpw

Winter Solstice 2021



Winter arrives in the Northern Hemisphere on December 21, 2021 at 10:59 am EST. The Earth's axis is angled away from the sun that causes the northern hemisphere to receive the shortest duration of sunlight. This means that we have arrived at the shortest day and the longest night of the year.



Historically, various cultures celebrate this date as both a time of reflection, and a time of renewal and hope for the days to come. Here at Merry Mount we traditionally gather with a group of friends known as "The Porch Crew" to celebrate the Solstice with food, drink, poetry reading, storytelling, and much merriment. This year we gathered on December 18 & 19. The stories we told were comical, enlightening, and bold.






Winter Evening


When snow falls against the window, Long sounds the evening bell... For so many has the table Been prepared, the house set in order. From their wandering, many Come on dark paths to this gateway. The tree of grace is flowering in gold Out of the cool sap of the earth. In stillness, wanderer, step in: Grief has worn the threshold into stone. But see: in pure light, glowing There on the table: bread and wine.


By Georg Trakl




The Solstice is a time of quietude, of firelight, and dreaming, when seeds germinate in the cold earth, and the cold notes of church bells mingle with the chimes of icicles. Rivers are stilled and the land lies waiting beneath a coverlet of snow. We watch the cold sunlight and the bright stars, maybe go for walks in the quiet land. . . . All around us the season seems to reach a standstill — a point of repose.


- John Matthews



Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening


Whose woods these are I think I know.

His house is in the village though;

He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow.


My little horse must think it queer

To stop without a farmhouse near

Between the woods and frozen lake

The darkest evening of the year.


He gives his harness bells a shake

To ask if there is some mistake.

The only other sound’s the sweep

Of easy wind and downy flake.


The woods are lovely, dark and deep,

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.


-Robert Frost




There is a tendency to want to hurry from autumn to spring, to avoid the long dark days that winter brings. Many people do not like constant days bereft of light and months filled with colder temperatures. They struggle with the bleakness of land and the emptiness of trees. Their eyes and hearts seek color. Their spirits tire of tasting the endless gray skies. There is great rejoicing in the thought that light and warmth will soon be filling more and more of each new day.


from The Circle of Life by Joyce Rupp and Macrina Wiederkehr

Winter Solstice


Stop and Observe.

Discover the moments

between Winter and Summer.

Embrace the perpetual change.

The distance between

two points in time

is always

Now.


CPW

71 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Kommentare


Post: Blog2_Post
bottom of page