2022 Winter Solstice Prayer
Strands Beach, Southern California, Winter Solstice 2022
May your spirit soar on
this longest night when our friend Darkness
lingers
revealing hidden power to nest
our tenderness, our joy, our longing, and belonging.
May together we weave strands of mystery
into a cloth of many colors
shimmering by candlelight, moonlight, flame, desire.
May the long hours whisper their way
into your dreams, trailing magic
and angel dust of possibility
as curiosity illumines your brief hibernation.
And when the cycle of dawn awakens
once again, light tick-tocks toward
spring and summer, may you linger
a little longer in this bardo time,
dazed and dazzled by glimmers of grace,
always present, though at times hidden
even when we seek, and the reveal is in cosmic timing.
May you understand your true
homecoming is a slow bake of
arrivals and departures, cooling
and heat, dark and light, always a both-and.
Pause now beloved,
drink into the suction cup
of oxygen. Allow laughter footings
in your soul, hope to glimmer
in despair, and the ____________
you long for to arrive,
unannounced, sparkling
with relief and welcome.
Open the present of darkness,
of light, of mystery, of
grace.
Be brave, believe.
--Pegge, 12.21.22
Strands Beach, late afternoon close to sunset
Today on Winter Solstice, I spy sparkles on the Pacific Ocean surface, sun glimmering as waves expend their journey along the storyline of shore. If I were home in -15F degree Alaska, frosty tree branch sparkles would dazzle in low sunlight while river ice dams freeze along the shore will fracture and jut, birds will dart or make a slow flight then rest in the light. I’d nestle near the fireplace, twinkle lights and candles illumining the early dusk after sun sets near 4:00. Finding myself in California this year, I’d instead love a beach fire tonight, except I’m carless and on foot in this SoCal landscape, without dry timber and a fire ring to celebrate the light and dark. I’ll keep my toes buried in cold sand on this coast I know like the back of my hand where I’m writing, and watch the sun tuck beyond the horizon gaze, offer this prayer for my friends, penned in the golden lingering light, on this longest night in the northern hemisphere.
So much grace, love, and starlight to you and yours, Pegge