winter solstice (yule)
Winter Solstice (or Yule) represents DEATH and REBIRTH.
It is one of the pivot points of the year - the earth has been breathing out since summer solstice, the energy of the earth has been falling and the sun is at its lowest. At winter solstice, the energy current switches and the earth begins her in breath…
And so, it is the point of death and rebirth in the year - it corresponds with the point of menstruation in our monthly cycle and the Crone in our life cycle…..
Honouring winter, the invitation to slow down, the meet our crone, to be still, to listen, to rest - is a practice worth honing, and a very radical in a world that asks us to hold the same level of energy in a continuous linear pattern.
These songs help carry me through the winter and are beautiful chants for any solstice circle or ritual.
Wisdom of the crone
Spend some time with your Inner Crone - ask her what guidance or wisdom she has for you - if she could whisper in your ear, what would she say?
Come Home
I feel her in my bones
She’s calling me back home
To the Wisdom of the Crone
Winter is calling me
Deep into the Earth
The Earth is asking me to come home
Winter is calling me
Deep into the Earth
Into the wisdom
The wisdom of the Crone
Dream Deep Winter Dreams
This is not one of my songs - I found it through Libana who have a lovely version called “Winter Solstice Round” - it’s one of my go to winter tunes!
Deep down in the belly of the earth
Dream deep winter dreams
And lie safe, in your grandmother’s arms
Still as a seed.
Still as a seed.
Midwinter
The cycle of life is everywhere we look - including our breath. Microcosms in Macrocosms.
Yule corresponds the pause between the outbreath and the inbreath - this fleeting moment of stillness, of the changing current of energy - where one breath dies and another is reborn.
A reminder that every end is also a beginning - every death a rebirth.
And usually we don’t even notice this moment. However, if we pay attention, we can extend and prolong this moment…we can explore it.
I am the dying
I am the death
I am midwinter
I am the end of the out breath
I am beginning
I am reborn
I am midwinter
I am the start of the in breath