Yesterday
probably wasn’t the best of days, I hadn’t been feeling so good anyway but went
out to do some Christmas shopping and get a bit of, ahem, publicity all the
same. It poured with rain and I ended up looking like a drowned rat on crutches,
with a suggestion of the kind of person you’d cross the road to avoid. I need a
makeover and a break.
Not so good –
“the darkest night of the year” – except it isn’t.
I hope you
will all share a virtual drink with me on the night of the 21st, the
winter solstice. A night of revelry and bonfires, to celebrate the casting out
of the old devil and the return of the sun from its holiday – the days get
longer every day. Yay!
Not far from
where I’m typing this is a very old yew tree and depending how strongly you
feel about it, it’s between 1000 and 2000 years old. Its branches have grown
down to the ground and then cast their own roots, while the original trunk has
rotted away leaving only a ring of knarled and knotted wood, so that you can
put you head inside. People come to walk around its extended trunk and look
into its twists and turns to see faces. I have to admit it’s a tree that
deserves a hug. It’s a sacred tree, people leave ribbons and gifts in
surprising amounts.
At the
solstices the followers of the “old religions” assemble and have little
ceremonies. Actually, it’s a modern thing and the numbers are quite large. Mind
you, it always was the kind of villiage which had its fair share of people who
might have had a little wax model and a box of pins handy, just in case.
Whatever
rocks your boat, the 21st is a great day with a hint of new life in
the air.
Neil Harris
(and I’m
still not stopping till I’m dropping)
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