Winter solstice - a blessing

On the winter solstice
The sun sails low in the sky
Before sinking again
Ushering us into the longest night of the year

Before you light your candles,
May you take a moment to be with the dark

Feel it; hear it;
Notice how it echoes a quiet song from within; 
Deep calling to deep.

Screwing up your courage,
May you descend
May you feel for those deepest places within
That so often persist without acknowledgement

Trusting that, here in the dark,
If you wait patiently,
You will witness a spark
Primordial; blindingly bright:
A rebirth.

For the thing that
dictates the height of your branches
Is the depths of your roots;
You cannot fly unless you are also buried deep.

As the Wheel of the Year turns yet again,
May new, wondrous things be born in into your life,
And may solstice bells ring out, jubilant,
To announce that once again,
Life will grow out of death

All because we were brave enough to descend,
To be a midwife to our fears
To see that our shadows are as essential as our light.