Splash Fire (Dreamscape), Minneapolis, Minnesota, November 2008, photo © 2008 by QuoinMonkey. All rights reserved.
Winter Solstice is peaking in the Great White North. The darkness of winter reflects off the cold blue snow. Yesterday we had blizzard conditions and the cottage sits behind a wall of white. I wanted to get up and write in the shadows, calling upon dreams I wish to bring into the light.
Mr. StripeyPants sits beside me on the couch, trying to keep warm. Kiev and Liz are still asleep. Chaco, bless his heart, is spending the weekend in an animal hospital. He declined quickly this week and, after two visits to our vet, we had to make the hard decision to put him in emergency care over the weekend.
The doctor called last night to say he is steadily improving. At 12 years old, he is experiencing the beginnings of kidney failure. We are not sure how long we’ll have with him. Quite a few tears were shed this week. Into the fire it all goes. I can release the grief and pain. I don’t have to carry the burden.
Winter Solstice in Minnesota hit her highpoint around 6 a.m CST. From that moment on, each day takes us more into the light. The Universal Time for Winter Solstice in 2008 is 12 21 12:03:34 UT. In the Midwest, we have to subtract 6 hours to arrive at the accurate time zone. (To learn more about Solstices and how to translate time for your part of the world visit the links and comments in Solstice Fire In Winter or Winter Solstice — Making Light Of The Dark.)
Around Noon we will head over to our friends’ home for a Winter Solstice celebration. They usually use the dried and cut Yule tree from last year’s season as kindling to start the fire. On the longest night of the year, we’ll draw on the cave-like energy of Bear, Spirit Guardian of the North.
Bear is feminine reflective energy. She is known across many cultures as a symbol for divinity and healing, and a powerful totem. According to the Animal Spirits cards, illustrated by Susan Seddon Boulet, the Ainu people of the northern islands of Japan believed the Bear was a mountain god. In India, bears are believed to prevent disease and the cave symbolizes the cave of Brahma. And among the Finno-Ugric peoples, the bear was the god of heaven.
Many Native American peoples regard Bear as a Spirit helper. Here is an excerpt from the Medicine Cards by Jamie Sams and David Carson:
The strength of Bear medicine is the power of introspection. It lies in the West on the great Medicine Wheel of Life. Bear seeks honey, or the sweetness of truth, within the hollow of an old tree. In the winter, when the Ice Queen reigns and the face of death is upon the Earth, Bear enters the womb-cave to hibernate, to digest the year’s experience. It is said that our goals reside in the West also. To accomplish the goals and dreams that we carry, the art of introspection is necessary.
To become like Bear and enter the safety of the womb-like cave, we must attune ourselves to the energies of the Eternal Mother, and receive nourishment from the placenta of the Great Void. The Great Void is the place where all solutions and answers live in harmony with the questions that fill our realities. If we choose to believe that there are many questions to life, we must also believe that the answers to these questions reside within us. Each and every being has the capacity to quiet the mind, enter the silence, and know.
-from the Medicine Cards by Jamie Sams & David Carson
Bear is the West, the intuitive side, the right brain. Bear invites us to calm the chatter and enter the silence. To hibernate, Bear travels to the Cave, seeks answers while dreaming, and is reborn in the Spring. In the Dream World, our Ancestors sit in council and advise us about alternative pathways leading to our goals. They open doors to inner-knowing where “the death of the illusion of physical reality overlays the expansiveness of Eternity.”
My Grandmother Elise’s birthday is on Winter Solstice. And I often think of her this time of year and call her Spirit into the Circle; I can feel her looking down on us. Solstice is a time of release, a time to consider what to leave behind in the dark, what seeds we wish to plant that may mature with the light of Spring.
Happy Winter Solstice to all. The dark New Moon signifies the beginning of a new cycle that will come to fruition at the next Full Moon. May you celebrate with open hearts. Merry meet, Merry part, and Merry meet again.
Bear Breathing Fire, Minneapolis, Minnesota, November 2008, photo © 2008 by QuoinMonkey. All rights reserved.
-posted on red Ravine, Winter Solstice, Sunday, December 21st, 2008
-related to posts: 8 Minutes, and 10 Things I Learned Last Weekend (Solstice x Number)
So relieved to hear that Chaco is getting better in the vet hospital, QM. But I’m also sorry to hear that it is kidney failure. I’m sending all of you positive thoughts for the challenges that lie ahead.
For some reason I feel lost as to how we got here, to the Winter Solstice so fast. It’s amazing to me. Maybe it was the travel and my head is stuck in other time zones (I have been sleeping late this weekend, which is unusual) and my body in other climates. It’s not that I don’t feel ready—what’s to feel ready for. It just is. But it is leaving me feeling like we’re in warped time.
I do welcome the quiet, the slowing down. I have two canvasses that I want to paint, and I need the quiet to get to them. I also feel like late summer and spring have been whirlwind. My head wants to stop spinning.
BTW, Jim shares a winter solstice birthday with your Grandmother and with a writing friend of ours, who had a lovely Winter Solstice party last night.
Happy Winter Solstice, QM and Liz.
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ybonesy, thanks. I don’t know how this year passed so quickly either. Also, I didn’t remember that Jim’s birthday was Solstice. A good time for a birthday. Also I bet a bit strange so close to Christmas.
We called about Chaco a few minutes ago and the vet said (and I quote): “He’s doing a lot better. He’s resting comfortably, eating his NF, and I think I even heard him swearing at the staff.”
We cracked up because Chaco doesn’t like vets. He comes from an abusive family and so is really sensitive to strangers. We gave him half a valium this week in order to relax him before the vet (she agreed it was a good idea). But later in the week, he was so sick that he couldn’t muster the energy to complain. So it’s good that he’s swearing a little at the vet staff. 8)
I’m glad you are going to be painting this week. What a great way to use that quiet time. I relish the quiet time I have to work. I got up early with the sun this morning. Now getting ready to head out in a few hours, over to celebrate Winter Solstice.
Happy Solstice, yb, to you and yours!
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Prayers for Chaco.
My granddaughter’s birthday is today also, a wonderful day for very special people.
BTW, how do you get you blogsite to “snow”? I have a wordpress blog and haven’t been able to find the snow, er, option…
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Happy Birthday to your granddaughter, Kim. And thanks for stopping by. The WordPress snow setting is under Appearance, then Extras. It’s a click box from there. Happy Solstice!
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ybonesy, heading out for Solstice gathering. It’s exactly 0 degrees where I am with a wind chill of -20. I guess it’s warmed up a bit since this morning but it’s going to be a cold one. Have a good Solstice. Back to check in after the fire tonight. 8)
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This is a beautiful post on this Solstice.
I appreciate the sharing of Bear Medicine.
Thank you.
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QM, I know too well the heartbreak of having an ill pet. My thoughts & prayers are with Chaco. Do you visit Chaco at the hospital? I know when Uno was in for 3 days that they welcomed us to visit. I went every day. If you recall, Uno is our one eyed cat who was abused by previous owners & after 12 years of her being with us, I accidently ran over her in our driveway. I was crushed. She is without a doubt the kindest & most loveable cat to ever have gaced our home.
As for Winter Solstice, enjoy! I am always thinking of you this time of year.
And a big Happy Birthday to Jim!
Thinking of you, Liz, & Chaco. Much love & lots of hugs! D
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QM, I should have added that Uno survived the run over & that was about 5 or six years ago. She is currently asleep on a blanket on the back of our loveseat. She is one old We have no idea her age when she she was brought to us, though the vet guessed that she was at least 3 to 5 years old at the time) & very tough kitty! We both know that miracles do happen. D
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QM, wish I had known of my Grandcat’s troubles, I would have been praying for him; but will begin now. No wonder I was feeling sad and uneasy…
T & T’s wedding anniversary is today, and they drove to the mineral hot springs in Thermopolis, about an hour away. Will stay at the Holiday Inn nearby and soak in the hot springs; it’s a very comforting, soothing experience.
Our temps. plunged Friday evening and haven’t gone above 0 degrees yet, so I was content to stay home. Warmed up my home with the fragrance of baking Scottish Shortbread, Molasses cookies and brownies.
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Merry meet, Merry part, and Merry meet again, QM.
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Thank you, leakelley. And to Robin. Happy Solstice to you both.
We had a wonderful gathering yesterday afternoon and into the evening. And, in fact, Bear made an amazing appearance in more ways than one. I hope to do a short post about it this week. But for now I’ll just say that I tasted bear meat for the first time ever yesterday.
It was donated by a woman who bow hunts each year and eats the meat over winter. This bear meat was from a bear in Wisconsin. So much gratitude to the Bear who gave its life for some of the food we enjoyed yesterday. It added so much to the ritual of Winter Solstice.
I took some photographs but have not had a chance to look at them yet. It was VERY COLD when we were out by the fire drumming yesterday at sunset. This morning we woke up to 12 below, and that’s without the wind. Winter is roaring in like a lion…or maybe an unhibernating Bear. 8)
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diddy, I can’t believe that story of Uno. Every time I hear it, I think, wow, that cat’s got more than 9 lives! Thank you for your prayers for Chaco. And Happy Solstice.
oliverowl, thank you, too. We just haven’t had a chance to call. Your Grandcat, Mr. Chaco, is doing a little better after two days at the emergency vet over the weekend. We got up early and picked him up at 7am, then took him over to our regular vet. She’s going to take a look at him later this afternoon.
He’s still hooked up to an IV and he had a 20 second seizure last night. They called us a little after 9pm. He had another mild one this morning, but otherwise is a little more stable. He’s got CRF, Chronic Renal Failure.
We hope to bring him home and care for him after today but we’ll keep you posted. We’ve had a few tears over this way. It’s hard to see him and know how badly he’s feeling. He’s not in a lot of pain though which is good. More as we know it. Thanks to all for your prayers.
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BTW, oliverowl, Happy Anniversary to T & T. The hot springs in Thermopolis sounds like heaven. Are they outside or enclosed? I know there are some of both around out West. Some even do the outside ones in Winter.
I also wanted to say that T. came up in conversation at Winter Solstice yesterday because we were talking the bow hunting of the Bear and about women who hunt. Liz told a story about one of T.’s last hunting events. So I wonder if her ears were buzzing. 8)
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The photo is stunning and quite warming here in the new-found tundra!
I found this post very soothing. The contemplative tone and introspection is very welcome this time of year.
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QuoinMonkey & Liz, Happy Solstice (a day late). My group spent Solstice Eve at a friend’s house sticking cloves into oranges. We made altar pieces. Ate gingerbread cookies and planted Amaryllis bulbs. We have seen the darkest hour. Light is returning to the Earth.
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Solstice swallows dark night and sorrow
new moon, new beginning
Winter begins, awaking the light
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