Tridean Winter Solstice Story

Preface

In the beginning was the Goddess; being completely female, completely male, completely balanced, completely whole.

Unto her were born the land, the sea, and the sky; the heat of the flaming sun, and the bright shining orb of the moon among an ocean of stars.

She brought forth the plants and trees, the flying ones, the life of the waters, and all manner of breathing creature.

She gave birth to sons and daughters who were the children of Nature. In time they developed culture, and the ability to create as she creates.

She is all things, the source of all that lives, and unto her all things must return.

It is her lessons we have come to speak of. It is her lessons that are taught to us by the living force of Nature. And so through the cycles of Nature do we find worship of her.

Winter Solstice Story

The Winter Solstice is a time of completion; a time of ending and of a new beginning.

Since the Crone's journey at Samhain she has been waiting in the Otherworld with the Child of Light growing within her womb.

She has waited alone, sitting hearthside in contemplation of her life with only her memories to keep her company. Tonight, the longest night of the year, she is joined by her sisters and, like the Solstice wreath; the circle will soon be complete.

Within the chill of Midwinter the aging Goddess labors in childbed. Her cries are those of the Earth itself, frozen in the silence of winter's slumber.

She fights to bring her child into the world. Her sisters, the Maiden and the Mother, attend to her as midwives, speaking in soothing tones and wiping her forehead lovingly. They have all, in turn, carried this child. Only the Crone, with the help of her sisters, can bring the pregnancy to completion. They have come to be together for the first time all year to witness this special birth.

The Crone's wrinkled face contorts and she clenches her tired eyes in a final effort. Suddenly the laboring woman’s cries are quieted and a child enters the world.

Tears of joy spread like a wave. The child is the Goddess reborn, the culmination of a year's worth of work and the total sum of the three aspects in one.

With the birth of this child comes the birth of the Sun. The Light has returned to the Earth.

The Goddess is eternal, like the evergreen that's boughs show life in the depths of winter's darkness when all other trees appear lifeless. She changes but never truly dies.

At this season we give gifts to honor the Goddess in each of us, to recall that in all things the Goddess is complete.

We come together to sing back the Light and feast in friendship; to remember the promise of rebirth, and to know that joy is never beyond our reach.

A blessed Solstice to all people and to all of Creation.