Sunday, December 20, 2009

Winter Solstice
















Sometimes, usually on days that are very cold or when a storm is threatening, the birds and animals hide themselves, and the woods go very still. That’s when the spirits come out. They’re not bold. They reveal themselves in brief glimpses—a shadow that appears for a moment, or a fleeting image that forms on the ragged bark of a tree. When I was a little girl I used to pursue the spirits and try to capture them in my sight, but it never worked and I learned to let them be.

When I got a little older I began to fret about whether they were real or just something I imagined. Eventually I came to understand that my question was a mistake, the result of my training in how to chop the world into pieces. Growing up, for most of us, means forgetting how to see the world whole. My Yuletide wish is that we seek to remember.


Waldlandschaft im Winter, Conrad Alexander Müller-Kurzwelly (1855-1914)

7 comments:

stella p said...

Just very short: One of my grandmothers was sure that she had seen the "hulder" (a female under-the-ground- living creature - don´t have the proper English words now)
Its a very beautiful day here on this winter solstice day just below the arctic circle: The daylight so faint, and for such a short time.

Tommasina said...

Beautiful painting for a special day. It's hard to learn to let go the 'needing to know / see', isn't it?

Happy solstice to you, Maria.

chayaruchama said...

Blessed Solstice to you .

jmcleod76 said...

I enjoy the contents of your head (at least the ones you show here).

Happy Solstice!

Mary said...

Happy Yule, Maria!

BitterGrace said...

I looked up hulder--what a marvelous creature!

Tommasina, it is always nice to see you drop by.

I hope you all had a fine shortest day. Here's to the return of the light!

stella p said...

Bitter Grace: Did you see this? it is great!
http://wapedia.mobi/en/Huldra

In English:
a hulder - the hulder
Norwegian:
ei hulder - huldra

(in our language the definite article is a word ending, and we have three genders)