The Queen’s Chronicles: THOUGHTS ON EARLY MORNING SOLSTICES

I've been getting a lot of calls from folks asking about when this year’s Winter Solstice is.

“It's this Sunday,” I tell them.

“Oh, great! Sunday!” they happily reply. (Meaning “Finally a day when I can actually come, because I don't have to work.”) Then they ask, “What time?”

“The ceremony starts at 6:30 AM,” I cheerfully inform them.

“Oh. Well, have a good time!” (Meaning, “I'll think of you out there in the freezing snow as I roll over for four more hours of sleep.”

Every soulstice for the past 34 years I have trekked out — no matter what time, what weather, what infirmity — to invite the sun back into our lives.

Every year, I think that I will be all alone in the dark-freezing-wind-rain-snow at some weird inconvenient hour. That no one else will get up out of their flannel sheets to drum and chant the sun back.

But every year, people do come. And you know what? The toughest, hardest, worst weather, worst-timed events are always everybody's favorite. They are the best memories!

And there is always something hard about the Winter Solstice!

“Remember when it was pouring and we fanned the flames of the fire with our umbrellas?”

“Remember the time the ritual bus broke down in Brooklyn? Broke down in Staten Island? On the Verrazano Bridge?”

“Remember when I wrapped the cast on my broken ankle in a garbage bag so I could walk on the sand of the Atlantic Ocean beach for the solstice fire?”

“Remember when we were all arrested? And ultimately vindicated?”

Oy! During the past 34 years I have learned that it is a very difficult thing, indeed, to bring back the sun. To encourage light and warmth in a cold, dark environment.

But it is so worth the effort!

The exact solstice moment is 7:04AM EST this Sunday morning. Adjust the time to your local zone.) You can celebrate wherever you are. Just get up and go outside, preferably somewhere green. And greet the sun. Align your energy with it. Pledge to be a light in the world. What better ritual could there be?

With bright soulstice blessings,

xxQMD

Mama Donna Henes, Urban Shaman

House Blessing with Mama Donna Henes

Stock Exchange Blessing with Mama Donna