SOLSTICE WISHES

Here at the gateway of the year,
                          may we strive to make good cheer.
                         In our revels shall joy abound
                          and sorrow be cast underground.

In my other journal, I have been posting a few entries about the Winter Solstice, the midwinter celebration that predates Christmas, and showing how many of our traditions during this season are inherited from the days of the nature religions.  The choice of the 25th of December as the birthday of the Christ Child is complex and arbitrary, many other dates were used in earlier times.  Long before the appearance of  "an obscure wonder-worker in Palestine, the celebration of the Midwinter sun held a central place in civilizations throughout the ancient world." (The Winter Solstice, John Matthews, pg. 13) 

In the modern world we barely notice  that during this week we have passed the mid point of the dark season, the shortest day;  that from this point on the days grow longer, the sun brighter, that nature has stepped over the border of the year, that we move toward the season of planting and growth, the season of life. 

But we have - and I wish any readers of this journal good tidings, may you have a holiday filled with peace, joy, rest and comfort, love and merriment.  Wassail!