Winter Solstice Prayer

| by Nasia Sarwar-Skuse |

I was a child of snow, born under a Wolf Moon,

Winter’s long nights held a fascination,

where delicious secrets unveiled themselves

beneath a luminous canvas of dreams.

A fledgling nestled between the Hindu Kush

and my mother’s breath,

the world spun on with festivals as old as time:

Shab-e Yalda, Shalako, Soyal, Toji.

My rituals were refined

in a creaky house atop a hill,

summers spent among stone circles, tracing ley lines,

evenings dancing beneath a Strawberry Moon.

As plants turned their faces to seed,

I wandered the woods, collecting fungi

and pickling food for winter’s embrace.

The wind surged through the house,

like a long note from an organ.

Now, in the hollowed bones of the night,

I sit in comfort with the gift of darkness,

planting bulbs,

watching winter unfold,

knowing light dazzles

only through its dance with shadows.

They live in symbiosis,

foxtrotting elegantly through the seasons

toward the longest of nights.

The Winter Solstice, a portal,

traced by the flight of silent nighthawks,

the rippling seas,

and the pulse that runs through everything.

Now allow yourself to take a breath,

pause.

Let this long night lull you into stillness;

listen to your heartbeat—

for that is where your truth lies.

Follow the thread of your ancestors,

rooting you back in time

to the embers of fires they built to keep warm.

Let the grief for this world

and longing for peace

ebb and flow with your inner alchemy.

Welcome shadows and fears,

hold close this moment,

acknowledge your burdens,

and then sow seeds for your future.

Light a candle; watch the flame dance

as dark and light waltz the night away.

Listen and you will hear Earth take a breath

before turning us

back to face the Sun.

As you enter the portal,

with the rhythm of your being,

feel the transition.

Greet the light,

but keep a space for the lingering dark.