The turning of the year

Today's daily dose: The Turning of the Year
---------------------------
Tomorrow we celebrate the turning of the year. For those in the Northern Hemisphere, the 21st December (give or take a bit in the astronomical calendar) is the shortest day of the year. The time when thepeople believed the sun would never return to the Earth and they would live in perpetual darkness. For those who wondered where the term Yule comes from - it marks the burning of the Yule log to symbolise the warmth generated by the Sun - in the hope that the sun would indeed return so they could plant their new crops and live another year.

Of course with the air conditioned air we breathe in, and the artificial light we use to lengthen our days it's hard to know what the natural world is really doing anymore. Few people in the developed world can see the night sky (light and other pollution prevent us), so we can't marvel at the heavens and what they are telling us. So is it any wonder few actually bother to mark the turning of the world through the seasons anymore. Of course the Pagans, the Heathens (those folk who are country dwellers and lived on "the heath") and the Druids will be marking this special day in their own way. If you get the chance tomorrow - pause for a moment and think how blessed we are with all the modern innovations that have enabled us to do so much more. No longer are we dependent on the seasons to grow our crops, we can grow things under glass and every day can be a feast day if we want it to be.

But if you can spare a thought in the run up to Christmas and the New Year - of how life would be if other people had not had the dreams and the ambitions to change their world and therefore ours. And we can be those kinds of people, if we choose to follow our dreams and our passions. You see I am of the opinion that the more we can help others, the more we can help ourselves. Don't hoard your skills and your knowledge, you are here to share, just as the people who invented the things we take for granted.

Of course for us in the Southern Hemisphere, we are going to now move towards the darkest part of the year. Hard to believe when we are just about to go into the heat of summer. But the days will be getting shorter and now is the time to capitalise on those "seeds" we had sewn during spring and will nurture during summer, so we have healthy crops to harvest for the autumn. Our plans and our ideas need time to nurture and grow, but we also need to tend these tender plants and don't get taken over by the weeds of "normal" living.