Blog o' Gnosis » winter solstice

From Samhain to Solstice

Anne — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 16:13:38 +0000

It feels like it’s time to take down the Day of the Dead altar. I am not aware of any hard and fast rule about this, but just last night as I added more wood to the fire and glanced up at the mantle, I had the distinct impression that things had to change. The [...]

If We Dismantle It, They Will Come

Anne — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 18:28:12 +0000

There we stood in a park in San Francisco, about fifteen of us circled around a large ceramic bowl on the ground in which we had written the things we wanted to see increase: more money for this, more power to that, healing for her, a better job for him. Interspersed among the slips of [...]

Getting Ready…

Anne — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 02:02:25 +0000

We’re all about holidays in this house: Solstice, birthdays, Christmas, Boxing Day, New Year’s Eve, and Hangover (New Year’s) Day. It’s all good, and all cause to light the house with shiny, colorful things. Yesterday we headed to Deborah Oak’s place in San Francisco to celebrate the Solstice with old friends and great food. John Sulak [...]

Oh, Life!

Anne — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 08:02:47 +0000

I have been having a wonderful holiday, with my daughters around me and the house full of colored lights. Last weekend we gathered with so many friends in San Francisco and celebrated the Solstice in style. Two days later Jojo turned 16, the next night my family came up for a lovely Christmas Eve dinner, [...]

Putting Names to Phases

Anne — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 06:33:10 +0000

Well, all our vigiling worked! The sun is now rising earlier and setting later, with no end in sight until next Summer Solstice. My only regret about life continuing for another year is having to live through the insanity of a national election, not to mention the insanity of more 2012 predictions. Haven't we had enough of the End of the World by now? I've still got pinto beans stockpiled from Y2K! In 2008 I think we should declare a moratorium on all wacky doomsday/super-evolution scenarios, especially those fueled by anything Daniel Pinchbeck says.

Anyway, that is not at all what I wanted to write about tonight. Instead, I would like to highlight a great new blog post by my friend Gus DiZerega. Bravely attending public Solstice rituals so you don't have to, Gus managed to turn what could have been an occasion for heavy drinking into a really thoughtful essay on Pagan ritual and theology.

A Poem for the End of the Year

Anne — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 18:41:42 +0000

Another year of losses, of big questions that elbow their way into the room and refuse to leave. A young man who grew up down the street and went to school with my kids was stabbed to death at a party this weekend. Two young men charged with his murder had a brother killed in Iraq at the beginning of the war.

What happens to kids? What makes one succumb while another one thrives? I don't understand it, and all my pat answers, fears and suspicions merely mask the fact that I simply don't know. I can't keep my kids safe now that they're grown, and the more beautifully they blossom the more I am aware of how fragile our hold is on this life we cherish.