Every year it seems the sun makes a trek south. Taking with it the warmth and light. It’s a slow process. Starting in the summer at the longest day of the year. Incremental in the sense of time and barely perceptible until one day an hour of light is gone. Then two… three… then the light and dark are balanced at a point marked as the Equinox. After that brief pause the sun procession continues.
The reality of this cosmic event is that the Sun is fixed at the center of our galaxy. It doesn’t really change it’s position. The sun just spins in the way it has for millions of years. The shift is in the rotation, angle and orbit of earth. This is what creates the cycling shift of light and dark a cross the surface of the planet. Giving us the seasons and cycles.
The observation of these cycles has created calendars, mythologies, Deities, methods for planting and harvest. All over the globe people have in some way honored the Sun’s journey and this dance of light and dark.
As the Sun moves away from us and the winter conditions set in. It gets cold. Shadows grow long. Waters freeze. The stories to mark the season take on the genre of an internal journey. There is the metaphor of hibernation and dream time, sleeping seeds, reflection and the mythical explorations of the underworld addressing the subconscious stirrings that are left unattended during the warmer months.
Every year this time rolls in and my body doesn’t like it. I am a solar creature. The sun feeds me. I need to feel that heat on my skin. I’m an unashamed sun worshiper. This time of the year my philandering, pansexual, solar partner seems to wanders off to visit other places. There is no jealousy. We are comfortable with our relationship. It’s cyclical. We know each others habits. In truth it is my fixed place on this planet that moves and I wander into the deep folds of thoughts and ideas. The cold confines me. The long night sky is clear and full of stars. I like the quiet and stillness to listen for the ideas and synthesis of my travels and experiences.
In a couple of days the Sun will venture back slowly up along the surface of the earth. I welcome this turn of the calendar wheel and the warmth and light brings. The dark has stirred ideas and new directions for the coming year. This has been a fruitful darkness so far.
Shaman @ Large 