One of the Christmas cards I received recently described the Christ Child as the "New Light of the World". The days before Christmas are so dark here.... Just before the holyday, we add lights outdoors to brighten the landscape and help us through the dreariness of the winter solstice. We light the Yule Log to brighten the darkest nights and we find inspiration in the flickering flames of the log, as well as in the colorful twinkling lights we see everywhere. Just adding an extra bit of light can make such a difference in the dead of winter.
And so, a New Year begins, a "New Light" fills the dark skies,the sun once again begins her journey to the south, and our spirits are filled with hopes, goals, "resolutions", the opportunity for a new start. Days become longer by the minute, and we await the return of Persephone so the world can come alive once again.
New starts mean change. The last year has brought so much change, how can I even think about MORE change? But I know that change is necessary if I am to move forward. If not, if I cannot think of re-doing, re-making, re-vising my life, I will not be able to accept the challenges ahead- challenges in aging, challenges in grouping all of my skills into some cohesive whole to try to make a living, challenges in improving my health and weight. If I cannot embrace change, I will remain stuck in the "Widows' Walk". (The widows' walk is the small room. like a small celestory, where women watched the sea and waited for their men to return from their fishing vessels. You can still see these in the homes near the seaside in New England.)
Persephone, my muse, beckons. Her courage and resolve in choosing to eat that single seed, is my image. Persephone chooses to fully embrace life, whatever of it is available to her in her darkened den. She forsakes her deity by "taking a bite of life", and becomes fully human in that single act.
The seed of change. The seed of new life, the image of a personal journey that has begun falteringly, with unsure steps, but made nonetheless. Isn't it notable that the pomegranate is everywhere now, in every grocery store, in abundance. Is it co-incidence that pomegranates ripen in the coldest, darkest months? I somehow don't think it is mere coincidence that we are invited to take a juicy bite of life with this mythical fruit at the very time of the year that represents the dark night of the soul.
And so, a New Year begins, a "New Light" fills the dark skies,the sun once again begins her journey to the south, and our spirits are filled with hopes, goals, "resolutions", the opportunity for a new start. Days become longer by the minute, and we await the return of Persephone so the world can come alive once again.
New starts mean change. The last year has brought so much change, how can I even think about MORE change? But I know that change is necessary if I am to move forward. If not, if I cannot think of re-doing, re-making, re-vising my life, I will not be able to accept the challenges ahead- challenges in aging, challenges in grouping all of my skills into some cohesive whole to try to make a living, challenges in improving my health and weight. If I cannot embrace change, I will remain stuck in the "Widows' Walk". (The widows' walk is the small room. like a small celestory, where women watched the sea and waited for their men to return from their fishing vessels. You can still see these in the homes near the seaside in New England.)
Persephone, my muse, beckons. Her courage and resolve in choosing to eat that single seed, is my image. Persephone chooses to fully embrace life, whatever of it is available to her in her darkened den. She forsakes her deity by "taking a bite of life", and becomes fully human in that single act.
The seed of change. The seed of new life, the image of a personal journey that has begun falteringly, with unsure steps, but made nonetheless. Isn't it notable that the pomegranate is everywhere now, in every grocery store, in abundance. Is it co-incidence that pomegranates ripen in the coldest, darkest months? I somehow don't think it is mere coincidence that we are invited to take a juicy bite of life with this mythical fruit at the very time of the year that represents the dark night of the soul.
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