Winter Solstice — Happy Yule!

THE SHORTEST DAY

Copyright Susan Cooper 1974

So the shortest day came, and the year died,
And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world
Came people singing, dancing,
To drive the dark away.
They lighted candles in the winter trees;
They hung their homes with evergreen,
They burned beseeching fires all night long
To keep the year alive.
And when the new year's sunshine blazed awake
They shouted, revelling.
Through all the frosty ages you can hear them
Echoing, behind us — listen!
All the long echoes sing the same delight
This shortest day
As promise wakens in the sleeping land.
They carol, feast, give thanks,
And dearly love their friends, and hope for peace.
And so do we, here, now,
This year, and every year.
Welcome Yule!


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"Just think what it must have been like for our distant ancestors, long before the invention of electric lamps, yearning for the return of the light. Many an hour they would have spent gathered around the warmth of a welcoming hearth fire, sharing stories, telling tales, and singing songs to while away the long and chilly nights. Might not our tradition of gathering family and friends together at Yuletide be echoes of those past times?

"The key to all this, of course, lies in the fact that this is the time of year when we celebrate the rebirth of the light at the winter solstice, when the Northern Hemisphere is positioned furthest from the warming rays of the sun, and the nights are long and chilly. This is a significant moment, as the sun appears to stand still in the heavens before slowly, but inexorably, making its 'ascent into the light.'"

Ark Redwood, "The Simple Things," December 2012

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The Shortest Day
"And so the Shortest Day came and the year died
And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world
Came people singing, dancing,
To drive the dark away.
They lighted candles in the winter trees;
They hung their homes with evergreen;
They burned beseeching fires all night long
to keep the year alive.
And when the new year's sunshine blazed awake
They shouted, revelling.
Through all the frosty ages you can hear them
Echoing behind us - listen!
All the long echoes, sing the same delight,
This Shortest Day,
As promise wakens in the sleeping land:
They carol, feast, give thanks,
And dearly love their friends,
And hope for peace.
And now so do we, here, now,
This year and every year.”
                                            -- Susan Cooper
 

The Shortest Day

"And so the Shortest Day came and the year died
And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world
Came people singing, dancing,
To drive the dark away.
They lighted candles in the winter trees;
They hung their homes with evergreen;
They burned beseeching fires all night long
to keep the year alive.
And when the new year's sunshine blazed awake
They shouted, revelling.
Through all the frosty ages you can hear them
Echoing behind us - listen!
All the long echoes, sing the same delight,
This Shortest Day,
As promise wakens in the sleeping land:
They carol, feast, give thanks,
And dearly love their friends,
And hope for peace.
And now so do we, here, now,
This year and every year.”
                                            -- Susan Cooper

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