this was written for
a much beloved and
cherished friend for
the occasion of her birthday,
which usually falls on the solstice
( it was an AWESOME powerpoint)
the ancients used the trail
of the traveling sun to mark
the turn of the seasons
that made up the cycle of a year
this night is called the winter solstice by
the modern inhabitants of the northern hemisphere
sol sistere
sun to stand still
the hours of daylight are scant…
this year for winter solstice
we will have had 8 hours
and 18 minutes of light
nearly 2/3 of the day will
be spent in darkness...
the ancients saw the sun
moving further and further
away from their lives...
the anticipation of total abandonment
and certain death must have been
terrifying....
and yet.....
when it was the darkest
and despair literally loomed
on the benighted horizon....
hope in the return of the light
was rewarded with those first
enticing rays of a weak but unwavering
winter morning dawn....
and thus the cycle repeats
darkness has no real reign…
only a brief and succinct moment
of apparent conquest....
and then hope is rewarded
when the light returns....
( the mushy, private stuff
has been edited out....
For the first time, the 2007 Winter Solstice illumination at Newgrange in Ireland will be available live on the Internet, weather conditions permitting. See http://www.newgrange.com/ The passage and chamber at Newgrange will be illuminated by the rising sun on 2007-DEC-21 between 08:58 and 09:15 GMT.