Descending Into the In-between, the Solstice Sun Wheel Turns Eighteen

Join us! Join us! Join us! Starting next Sunday, Nov. 27. 2022!
Spread the love and the magic!

Welcome to all people who come in peace. Though your spirit may be troubled (perhaps especially if that is so), know you are in glad company here.

The Wheel of the Year turns, and that means that, as the longest night of the year approaches in the Northern Hemisphere, it’s almost time once more to meet together every Sunday through Yule (and/or Christmas) for our annual Advent Sun Wreath Circle, (or Yule Prayer-Spell, if you prefer).

If you have been a regular reader of mine, you know that starting in late November, I invite all my visitors, regardless of their spiritual path, to participate in a virtual prayer circle, or spell weaving.

Praises and Blessings! This year, we are celebrating our 18th year together!

This is an advent practice for all faiths, creeds, paths, beliefs, traditions, and allegiances. All seekers and people of good will are embraced here.

On every continent on our planet (except Antarctica — so far!), in every time zone, we gather each week in devotion and unity. Here, in this annual practice, our separations of time and geography melt away, and we become a living Circle of Love.

So, come all who wish to unite with us. And please spread the word!

Accompany us, if you will, on this journey into the velvety night of the year; then kindle with us the growing light that some know as the Child of Promise.

Origins and Roots

The word “advent” is from the Latin that means “to come.” So it is the coming of.. Christmas. Or Winter Solstice. Or Yule. Or Midwinter. Or Dong Zhi (Chinese). Or Shab-e Yalda (Iran). Or Shalako (Zuni Native American). Or Alban Arthan (Druid).

And countless other names and traditions, because the Winter Solstice is possibly the oldest and most universally recognized celebration of humanity.

The Advent Sun Wreath Circle ceremony was originally inspired by the founder of The Beltane Papers, the late Helen Farias, and then adapted by the late Waverly FitzGerald.

From my earliest days in the Goddess spirituality movement, I followed in their footsteps, for I found this annual ceremony to be a gentle, inclusive, yet very powerful tradition. Thus, I began sharing it on my first tiny website on The Well back in 2004 and have adapted and published it each year since, with an exponentially growing number of participants around the world.

Over the years, my readers have told me that it has become a very meaningful and beloved practice for them and their families, too. Some have also noted that it feels like we are doing “The Wave,” as you may see at sporting events, except that we are offering heartfelt, globe-circling prayers.

The Concept

It’s very simple. You only need a wreath (any kind you like) and five candles. Starting next weekend, on SUNDAY, Nov. 27, around dusk wherever you live, you’ll light one candle, spend time in quiet or prayerful observance, then extinguish the flame. The next week you will light the first candle, and then a second one.

And so on, each Sunday, until the final candle on Winter Solstice, or Christmas, or both.

That’s it. Super simple. (Although many people like to embellish by inviting family or friends to share poetry, special foods, songs and music, and various kinds of storytelling).

This ritual may remind you of the Christian tradition of lighting candles around an Advent wreath. That practice is probably descended from older Pagan Winter Solstice observances.

Some of the loveliest magic, besides the vital importance of making quiet time during this sacred season, is in the knowledge that across the globe there are many thousands of others participating with you, all from within their different time zones. Our Facebook group alone has over 1,300 people, and believe it or not, not everyone is on Facebook, or has found their way to the group!

I promise you an amazing realization once you tune into the love and power moving across the planet as we join together!

You can easily adapt this to be in harmony with your own dreams, desires, and beliefs. I encourage you to join the countless families and individuals throughout the world, Christians and non- , and to share it with your friends and beloveds. (I’ll post some specific suggestions for our first lighting in a few days).

So…A Few Words About 2022

After the horrific year we had back in 2021, I am sure we all felt that by now things would have gotten better. The pandemic would recede, and under new leadership, the U.S. would once again step up as a beacon of equity, justice, and freedom for all. While there have been a few hopeful stirrings, our democracy and the rule of impartial justice still hang by the most tenuous of threads.

And all throughout, the reality of global climate catastrophe is clearly taking its toll. We know from both astrology and from hard science that we are in a period of degeneration that always accompanies transformation.

And yet…

Every single year, the planet itself grows dark. The hours of daylight dwindle, and there are many places that only barely see the Sun before night cloaks all once again.

It would be easy to believe that the dark will just get worse and worse, and snuff out all life as it goes on forever. All the evidence points to it. Ever since June, one could truthfully argue, the sunlit hours have diminished, and now, they are so minuscule, there are lands in this world where the Sun no longer rises at all.

This Darkness Got to Give

But as our ancient ancestors long ago realized, that is the way of sacred, cyclical Nature. There is a moment when the decline pauses.. and a waiting.. and then..

A miracle! The diminishing of the light stops.

And then, a moment or two more daylight. And then a few more. And then more, adding up to hours, marching to the radiant climax in June again (all this in the Northern Hemisphere. Below the equator the same thing happens, only in the opposite timing).

It is a promise, a truth, a golden fact that we can count on, no matter what. This is the shining thread to weave into our purpose.

You and I Journeying Together

Thus, although our hearts may be weighted by the darkest of shadows, we stand at a crossroads of infinite potential. Looking within and to one another, we can recognize our commonality.

Despite the horrors we are witnessing in the death throes of the Old Ages, hold fast. For those whose vision sees beyond the mundane, let us take one another’s hands and recognize there is something more beautiful, more authentic, more brave and right unfolding at the same time.

And if your faith is shaky, and your spirit falters, lean in. Take our hands even more firmly. We are vast, and we will support you, exactly as you are. Light your candles anyway.

Make no mistake, my dear friends. There is no rescuer coming from elsewhere. You and I are the necessary, awaited ones who are birthing this vision.

Be Ready. The Birthing Is Near

So once again this year, coming together each week, let us in perfect faith and love spark and tend the flames of a rebirth that is just as sure as the promise of the coming Light, though cold and dark may be the days ahead.

From our homes all across the sweet body of our Grandmother Gaia, holding sacred space with one another, it is time to prepare. On Sunday, Nov. 27, we will join together to begin our final descent into the dark of the year. And in our re-emergence together, our vision will open to a new kind of light.

And as if in an extra blessing from Time and Cosmos, this year, we are all in sync: the countdowns to Solstice and Christmas begin on the same night. How divine!

As we consider what our stated intention may be for this most powerful global prayer spell, I welcome your thoughts and suggestions regarding your own magical objectives. And please stay tuned for additional information and updates.

Blessed be.

(The featured image at the top is a collage of Solstice Sun Wheel photos that some of you have sent me. Thank you for your beauty and for sharing. I look forward to lots more this year, as we celebrate together!)