Darkness into Light

THE SHORTEST DAY by Susan Cooper

So the shortest day came, and the year died,

And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world

Came people singing, dancing,

To drive the dark away.

They lighted candles in the winter trees;

They hung their homes with evergreen,

They burned beseeching fires all night long

To keep the year alive.

And when the new year's sunshine blazed awake

They shouted, reveling.

Through all the frosty ages you can hear them

Echoing, behind us — listen!

All the long echoes sing the same delight

This shortest day

As promise wakens in the sleeping land.

They carol, feast, give thanks,

And dearly love their friends, and hope for peace.

And so do we, here, now,

This year, and every year.

Welcome Yule!

I have been reading the haunting words to this poem since it was first written. I love the sense of deep connection to centuries and space and tradition. In this time of well heated homes and cars and as we have strayed a long way from an agrarian society, we have become less connected to weather patterns, moon phases and the outdoors. Awareness of the changes of weather, light, seasons and tides can help us feel connected to something beyond our selves. I feel blessed to live in a part of the country that truly has four powerful and obvious seasons. It emphasizes and exaggerates the lightness and darkness. So as of today, we have made it through the darkest day of the year and can be looking forward to increasingly daylight until the end of June. Give yourself a minute in the midst of the holiday craze to think about how these phases and rhythms effect you. This glimpse of awareness will help strengthen your connection to something beyond yourself.