A Solstice Story

THE SOLSTICE STORY

by Virginia Lore

ONCE UPON A TIME, there was only the Mother. And she was the Mother of Everything. She was the Mother of Up and of Down; She was the Mother of Here and of There; and She was the Mother of All Time.

Because she was the Mother, she was driven to Create. She created the Earth and the Animals and the Plants and the People. She made them interconnected and gave them everything they would need to live and thrive if they would only treat each other with the highest intentions.

To help them know how to treat each other, she gave them her daughter Moon, who was the Singer of Nightdreams and the Dancer of the Cycles. And she created also a Sun to help replenish life on the earth, and to work with the Moon and keep her company.

As a baby, the new Sun rose in the morning and set early in the day, but as he grew, he gathered strength. By Spring, he ruled the daytime with joy and laughter, from the earliest moments of dawn to the last twinkles of twilight. As a man, he ruled with strength, stretching his reach over the longest hours and bringing crops to fruition. As he grew in maturity and wisdom, however, he began to rule more gently. His Sister Moon danced longer hours as he watched over the earth for shorter periods of time.

On the longest night of the year, the Mother came to Him. She was heavy with child.

"You have given your all for the Earth," she said. "And now it is your time to rest." She brushed her hand over him, and he became a star in the Heavens, happy to join all the other Stars from All Time in their Eternal Dance.

And at that moment, she bore forth a new Sun, a young and baby Sun, to continue the cycle of giving life to the Earth, and the Animals, and the Plants, and the People.

And every year, on the longest night, we light a candle to thank the Old Sun and to welcome the New One.