And the Sun Stood Still

 A Winter Solstice Poem

© 2013 by Joyce Mason

All Rights Reserved

And the Sun stood still.

In a moment so magical

it happens only twice a year:

the Sun balanced light and dark
so perfectly
it stopped.

 It invited us

to do the same.

And the Sun stood still.

It turned down the lights
for the long soulful nights ahead.

And the Sun stood still.

Darkest Day

Herald of the Inner Time

your stark beauty

forces us to a window

to look out from inside.

Better to sit before a fire

contemplating our own

spark of the Divine.

And the Sun stood still

to remind us

 we’re each as unique

as a snowflake

yet together

we blanket the world

with beauty--

we are visible
even in the darkness.

And the Sun stood still

to get our attention

to ask us to be quiet
to return

to where all the answers lie

inside us

alone.

And the Sun stood still

so we can see, hear and feel

our heart connection

to every single person

in every carol and candle

and the truth

we already know

the glad tidings
we only have to get quiet enough 

to hear:

Peace on Earth.

Love.

~~~

Photo Credits: Snowflake/Sun:© Leonid Ikan - Fotolia.com 

 Heart Ornament: © soleg - Fotolia.com

Note:  In Latin,  solstice means  sun set still.



  

Chiron’s Key Word Corner: Teacher and Wounded Healer—and the Reason for Winter

©1994-2010 by Joyce Mason

The Chiron of myth was both a teacher and a wounded healer because our wound is our best teacher.

Few of us come to the quest for wholeness when everything is hunky dory. In the knot of our pain is everything we need to work through in order to feel at one with ourselves—and everyone else. Many of us—maybe most of us—would never have bothered to do any deep, inner work if it weren’t for emotional or physical agony.

Maybe coming to Earth where pain gets stuck in your body, and hurts like hell if you don’t do something with it, is only way to get us to deal with our stuff. I’ve heard it two ways. One of my teachers says they cry on the Other Side when someone has to come to Earth and rejoice when they die and “come home.” From another, I’ve heard that no matter how hard it is, souls are lined up to incarnate here. It has something to do with our planet’s unique attributes as a boot camp for emerging souls.

The holidays and winter often bring depression because it is a time of dying.

Like the trees and flowers, we have shed our leaves and feel barren inside. We must hibernate. This is as close as we come to feeling the separation again that we first experienced when we came to Earth—being literally wrenched from our mother and the disorientation of feeling alone in the world.

Winter is a Chironic time when we feel painfully misfit and unrelated. Yet, Chiron’s time in the cave—alone—is where he turned to his teacher within and gained enough wisdom to tutor future greats.

This winter, relish your cave time.

If you are in pain, wallow in it until you hear what it’s trying to teach you. The illusion of separation must be felt acutely so that, like Chiron, we will reach out to others and foster their greatness, just as we discover our own when we finally slow down enough to face ourselves.

That’s what winter is for.

~~~

This Key Word Corner was first published in Chironicles in December 1994.

Photo Credit: WINTER SCENE © 4dings Dreamstime.com

Celebrate Epiphany, Jan. 6th! The Coming of the Three Astrologers. Visit my post, Epiphanies, on Hot Flashbacks, Cool Insights, full of information about the Magi, their role as astrologers, and the deep symbolism of this holiday. Three astrologers were among the privileged few to witness the newborn Christ child.