Ceremonies of Light and Dark

Some ceremonial Poetry for celebrating the Seasons

 

Ceremonies of Light and Dark

 

Summer Solstice

 

We mourn the passing of the light.

We herald the coming of the night.

Mark the passing of the longest day,

Observe the progress of Nature’s way:

Life’s cycles, seasons, stars in their courses,

Nature’s own reasons, opposing forces.

In light we see what seems,

But not always what it means.

In dark we do not see,

But imagine what might be.

The day has ruled the dark.

Now night begins, again, to make it’s mark.

Now name the names in balance

To remind us of impermanence:

Truth and Falsehood, Light and Dark,

Time and Mind, Shadow and Spark.

Some will speak of Yin and Yang

To remind themselves that life is change.

We mourn the passing of the day,

Progress on into night’s dark way.

 

Autumnal Equinox

 

Life is in circles, in Seasons.

Life is a Balancing of opposing forces:

Spirit and Matter,

Thought and Action,

Darkness and Light.

 

The light shows us all as it appears.

In the dark we do not see, but imagine what might be.

            Each holds its truths

            Each holds its own deception.

We desire Balance: The thin line, the fragile path

Between extremes:

Air and Earth,

Fire and Water,

Light and Dark.

 

Some deny the dark and grasp at the light,

And are consumed by the extreme, the dark, they ignore.

Still some deny the light,

And are also consumed.

 

Now it is the second Equinox, the later balance:

Half a day’s light

Half a day’s dark.

Soon the dark shall dominate.

Let us celebrate the fleeting balance –

Realize its impermanence.

            In all truth there is falsehood.

            In all light there is shadow.

 

We dispel the dark with our imperfect lights.

Feel now the cycles, leave clock time behind:

Do not quantify or qualify! Realize instead

All could be – All is!

Yesterday the light outshined the dark.

Tomorrow, the dark begins to rule.

Balance, true balance, is but a fleeting illusion.

All could be – All is!

 

Celebrate the four

Elements in opposition:

            Air is our spirit, our thought, our soul, unbounded, infinite!

Earth is our body, our flesh, our blood, the world of the senses.

            Fire is our passions, our lusts, our drives – reckless abandon!

Water is our unconscious, our dreams, our emotions, unbounded.

 

This is the opposition, the balance in each of us, these four:

            Earth binds the Air,

            Water stills the Fire,

            Air dries the Water,

Fire Burns the Earth.

Each completes the other as well:

            Water feeds the Earth,

Air fuels the Fire,

Fire warms the Air,

Earth cleanses the Water.

The whole is incomplete when any one is lacking.

 

The fifth?

This element is not one, but four-in-one:

            The fifth’s the four, in balance:

                                   

But even stars are transitory.

 

Winter Solstice

 

Like an unwelcome guest, night stays with us too long,

Arriving too early, leaving too late.

The cold comes. The World sleeps.

Darkness snaps down like a blanket over our heads.

We sleep, hibernate, huddle against the chill,

Feeling old, drained, empty in some way

(an extreme: we lose the light).

It will return.

There is a lesson in this day:

In greatest dark, there is still light.

In greatest light, still dark.

We swing between extremes

And sometimes balance in Equinox.

Winter’s Solstice is cold monster dark:

The night consumes,

Monster of darkness,

Blanket of Black,

Automatic Undercover,

Gentle Protector of

Thieves and Liars.

The world dies and falls under darkness,

Long nights grow longer, colder.

The chill beast devours the day!

Today is its triumph!

But victory passes quickly:

Tomorrow and each day after

Will find it reduced.

 

Celebrate the cycles!

Though dark now dominates,

Tomorrow begins its decline,

And the rise of the Light.

There is rebirth, and

This is the source of celebration –

The Birth of the light.

Light in darkness,

The beacons in the darkness

Light our Past.

Though ancient metaphors fade,

We still need acknowledge the cycles.

Hear in the darkness a call to growth…

When we cannot see without we must look within.

 

Vernal Equinox

 

Life is in circles, in Seasons.

Life is a Balancing of opposing forces:

Spirit and Matter,

Thought and Action,

Darkness and Light.

 

The light shows us all as it appears.

In the dark we do not see, but imagine what might be.

            Each holds its truths

            Each holds its own deception.

We desire Balance: The thin line, the fragile path

Between extremes:

Air and Earth,

Fire and Water,

Light and Dark.

 

Some deny the dark and grasp at the light,

And are consumed by the extreme, the dark, they ignore.

Still some deny the light,

And are also consumed.

 

Now it is the first Equinox, the early balance:

Half a day’s light

Half a day’s dark.

Soon the light shall illuminate.

Let us celebrate the fleeting balance –

Realize its impermanence.

            In all truth there is falsehood.

            In all light there is shadow.

 

We welcome the sun join our imperfect lights.

Feel now the cycles, leave clock time behind:

Do not quantify or qualify! Realize instead

All could be – All is!

Yesterday the dark denied the light.

Tomorrow, the light begins to rule.

Balance, true balance, is but a fleeting illusion.

All could be – All is!

 

Celebrate the four

Elements in opposition:

            Air is our spirit, our thought, our soul, unbounded, infinite!

Earth is our body, our flesh, our blood, the world of the senses.

            Fire is our passions, our lusts, our drives – reckless abandon!

Water is our unconscious, our dreams, our emotions, unbounded.

 

This is the opposition, the balance in each of us, these four:

            Earth binds the Air,

            Water stills the Fire,

            Air dries the Water,

Fire Burns the Earth.

Each completes the other as well:

            Water feeds the Earth,

Air fuels the Fire,

Fire warms the Air,

Earth cleanses the Water.

The whole is incomplete when any one is lacking.

 

The fifth?

This element is not one, but four-in-one:

            The fifth’s the four, in balance:

                                   

But, yes, even stars are transitory.