Yearning for Yule

Once more, Yule is just around the corner.  I cannot recall a year when I looked so forward to the Yule festival. I am in dire need need of a reminder that things must sometimes be consumed in Darkness before the Light can be renewed.  I am thankful for the gentle reminder that the Mother, who will soon give birth to the light of a new year, gives only gifts to her children. Although I may not like how it was wrapped or delivered it was a gift none the less.  The world shifts, the wheel turns, and if I am not who or what I wish to be, now is the time to make it so.  The birth of the Old God as the Sun reminds me that each day is a gift and a blessing.  Each day is the chance to shuck off the past and create a new today and a new future.  Things in our lives, even beloved and cherished things, must die so that something greater can be reborn.  This year as the Light faded and the nights grew longer I came through my own dark night, and I now know with all my heart that the dawn is coming to light my life as I light the candles on the Yule altar with my family.  We are overwhelmed with blessings, and in their counting they make the dark spots of the past year a tiny price to pay for those blessings. Always remember, dreams are born in the dark.

H.W.