Today is the shortest day, in the northern hemisphere at least. Every year I try and do something to celebrate the lowest point the sun reaches in the year and then celebrate that for the next 6 months the days become lighter, imperceptibly at first but soon by nearly 15 minutes a week. Today it was touch and go whether we'd be able to do anything as some serious rainstorms were scudding through the Wiltshire countryside. At times driving about it was like being in a power shower across the windscreen, and lets not go there with the flooding on the roads.
But by the afternoon the weather was beginning to clear so Julie and I headed up to Martinsell Hill (above) near Pewsey. Julie wanted to do an ending ceremony and so in the most astonishing gale she performed that ceremony. I hope those thoughts she let go into the gathering wind will bring her new beginnings. After that (and partly as it really was windy) we decided to head to another site to celebrate the actual solstice at 5.12pm. And as we drove to Milk Hill the sky began to clear rapidly almost as if the gathering solstice was there shining like a beacon just for us.
This was the view that greeted us at Milk Hill at 5pm. Is it me or does it feel lighter than in previous weeks? Other than a travellers campervan parked up for the night, we were alone in the car park on top of the hill just watching the sky gradually darken. At 5.12pm we had a candle lit and silently enjoyed that low zenith point in the year. There is something uplifting to know that we're up the up, or at least the sun is. An end of its stationary procession south, from this point all energy is pointing north.
Bring forth the light that illuminates our vision
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