At the time of this writing, there are just one week left until this year’s Winter Solstice. It has been and is a time of Darkness, but also a time of waiting for the Return of the King. After December 21, 2021, the Sun is reborn again and the days slowly but surely become longer and the nights shorter. This is not something new or surprising. It has always been, and will always remain so. At least for an eternity or two.
It is perfectly normal and addictive to look forward to the new year, brighter times, warmer days. We humans are often afraid of or dislike the darkness, the cold and the silence. This year’s Winter Solstice Oration will, however, be about just this darkness, this cold and this silence. There are 7 days left before everything ”starts” again, 7 days that can be valuable. I want to invite all of you who have found and read this post to use these days for something special, something maybe different than what you usually do. I would like to suggest that you take advantage of the darkness and the silence that is around you instead of just longing for brighter and more vibrant days. In the light and the active life (which of course is fantastic) we are given many opportunities but less often time to reflect on what is within us, displaced in favor of all activity. Rarely can we hear what our inner being is trying to tell us as its voice is often overpowered by all other sounds and activity..
Use these last days of darkness to try to listen to your inner self and above all try to listen to the sides of yourself that you may not really want or have had ”time” to listen to. Find out how you feel and what parts of yourself that you no longer want to affect your life in a destructive direction. Find out and clarify for yourself which of your behaviors, habits and attitudes that you have and that you do not want to carry with you when the time comes for the King’s (Sun) rebirth. Change, refine or burn them and something new will emerge from the ashes. Also find out what hopes and desires you have and want to realize when the Sun will once again take its throne. And when the time comes for the Winter Solstice, light a candle and remember the hopes you have for the new year.
With these words, I wish you readers a nice Winter Solstice!
Hermetiska Orden av Den Gryende Morgonrodnaden 
Ping: Contemplation on the Summer Solstice 2022 | Hermetiska Orden av Den Gryende Morgonrodnaden