In the northern hemisphere, the winter solstice – the feast of Yule – is upon us. On December 22, at 08:04 GMT, the North Pole reaches the point at which it is tilted furthest – 23.5 degrees – away from the Sun. As I wrote exactly a year ago: One breath later, we begin to …
Several years ago, I saw a coffee mug imprinted with the words, What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail? For months, I offered those words to people I knew who were frightened, unsettled, stressed, unhappy…but gradually, in the way of such things, they drifted out of my consciousness. Then, …
High Holy Days open conversations in paradoxical ways. Sometimes dialogue around the extended family table seems anything but. Often it is a rote repetition of past years, little more than familiar monologues competing for airspace. A neutral observer might wonder if there had been an intervening year, or growth, or change, or world (national, community, …
NOTE: If you missed the ritual for the end of Lughnasadh and beginning of Samhain, you can find it in last Wednesday’s reflection. This link will take you there. The feast that begins Samhain (pronounced SOW-en) is All Hallows Eve (or Halloween) on the night before All Saints Day. It is one of the four …
My mother’s birthday is June 19 – she would have been 85 this year – but her favorite day of the year was the Summer Solstice. On that day, she would traditionally drive to somewhere she could see the sun set into the ocean, and she would drink a champagne toast to the light. One …