yule/ solstice/ midwinter

[timepiece]

I just wanted to share a passage from one of my favorite books that seems so appropriate for today. It's not pagan - it's from a religion in a fantasy novel - but certainly its roots are:

In darkness, in cold, in the midst of winter
where nothing walks the world but death and fear
let the brave rejoice: I call the light.

Out of darkness, light.
Out of silence, song.
Out of the sun's death, the birth of each year.

Out of cold, fire.
Out of death, life.
Out of fear, courage to see the day.

In darker night, brighter stars.
In greater fear, greater courage.
In the midst of winter, the world's birth.

In the book, the final line was "Praise to the High Lord," but I feel that I can substitute whatever feels appropriate. I don't know why many of my personal rituals come from books; I guess I just feel a real connection to the language, and it feels more powerful that anything I could write myself.

If this really appeals to anyone, it's from Elizabeth Moon's Deed of Paksenarrion trilogy - I think it's from the middle book.