Solstice 2017

Oh, these dreary days, these long, long nights! We try to push back the darkness by covering our homes with lights and bringing trees inside. And apparently it works, because by this time next week, the daylight will be returning, slowly at first and then in great gobs.

I'm sure all of us would love to go to a henge and see this sight. It's not always possible, though. Well, as luck would have it, there is a way to orient yourself so that you absolutely face the rising sun over Solstice Stonehenge.

Some extremely intelligent individual (not unlike the readers of this blog) has come up with a worldwide map of every single street that aligns with the Stonehenge solstices! Imagine that! You can find the site here.

I used the site to locate my city in North America, and what did my wondering eyes behold? A series of aligned streets are clustered around my school! It's quite a coincidence, too. It's not like Camden's city founders said, "Hey, let's lay our streets out so that, if you face east on winter solstice, you'll line up with Stonehenge! There aren't very many streets in my metro area that fit the bill. What an absolute joy that the little residential streets around the Vo-Tech are among the chosen few!

Snobville has one aligned street, too. If a girl were to get up at 3:00 a.m. to go face east and commune with Stonehenge energy, that Snobville street is closest.

But day to day, while I'm working, what a joy to know that a street I can see from my classroom window aligns with Stonehenge! This boosts my spirits.

A blessed Solstice to you, whatever your path. I hope your street is on the Stonehenge alignment grid.

Of Male Druids and Mistletoe

Welcome to "The Gods Are Bored," sunshine in our souls since 2005! Have no fear, Solstice is here!

Yesterday was one of those days when it was just Sam Hill foolish to be out in a car driving around. We got a glaze of freezing rain that just made every surface stone cold perfect for a hockey game.

This can put quite a crimp in a Druid Grove ritual if your members are stretched out over a 70-mile radius.

I suppose it was last Friday that I suggested our Grove meet at my house pending the precipitation. (We usually meet in a gorgeous state park in Pennsylvania.) I live just a few miles east of Philadelphia.

Considering the elements, we had a nice turnout ... six brave gals who live in the general vicinity of Philly, or within the city limits itself.

Everyone was late, of course. This was one of those afternoons when you had to de-glaze the car before you could move it. But eventually we assembled, had lunch, and contemplated doing our ritual in a little swath of county park near my house. (Former home of the dread Tiki, now banished.)

Our group faced two stumbling points. For the first time we had no Male Druid to read the Male Druid lines. And we had no mistletoe. The Druid who planned to bring the mistletoe lives in Allentown, PA, where every kind of frozen thing the sky can dish out was falling in quantity.

Hmmm. Mistletoe is central to the Solstice ritual. What's to be done?

This is what I love about having a religion that has no written record dictating every little picky thing. It happened that I had a swag of silk mistletoe. I said, "Would the ancient Druids object to our using this? I think not." So we used it.

EXHIBIT A: SKIP COULDN'T MAKE IT

Male Druid. On this date we were an all-female company. So I went to Mr. Johnson's home office, where he sat hunched over his email.

"We need a Male Druid," I said.

He said, "I haven't washed."

"Doesn't matter," I said.

He said, "You are kidding, right?"

I said yes, of course, I long ago had enough of trying to push religion on family members who haven't washed. So he begged off.

I did the Male Druid part myself. Again, do I think this offended the bored gods sacred to the Celts? Of course not! They're thrilled that anyone would gather in a woods and pray for peace from the Four Quarters! They even showered our ritual with unexpected sunshine! When I turned to face West, that big old star just beamed right into my eager eyeballs.

If your religion is written in stone so you can't adapt to changing circumstances, perhaps you're in the wrong religion. There are many, many, many bored gods and goddesses out there with the big, broad, flexible outlook. Silk mistletoe? No prob, my dears. Gender imbalance? Who cares? Everyone's equal in the love of the bored gods.

Our operators are standing by to take your call.

Give me that Old Time Religion

Welcome to "The Gods Are Bored!" O come, all ye stressed church ladies. Lay down those lamb costumes and kiddie choir songs. Take thee to the woods, for what building made by the hands of humans can match the splendor of Mother Nature's creation?

I've just returned from my Druid Grove celebration of Yule. We always gather on the Sunday before the date of the holy day.

What a warm and wonderful invocation of peace and light we shared! We're getting to know each other and like each other, and some of us drive quite a distance to be there. Every time we have a ritual, we get two or three new people, and two or three people who came the time before don't return. Somehow we always have enough folks to take all the roles. Today I was Holly.

The ancient bored gods have jars of jam older than Christianity. Give me that old time religion ... it was good for the Stonehenge craftsmen, and it's good enough for me!

Looking at the distant winter sun, it is possible to believe that the light will return. Mourn the loss of this old year and accept a new dawn, whatever it brings. See the blazing Yule before us -- strike the harp and join the chorus.

Fa la la! We'll talk again on Friday! Please do drop by, I baked cookies.

FROM THE MERLIN OF BERKELEY SPRINGS