MidWinter Vigils

Rigantona rides through winding paths in forests of Annwn
far away, yet Rhiannon’s shadow haunts the empty woodlands here;

Epona retreats to the deeps of the worlds as the Sun sinks low in her arms;

There is mystery in identity and these are propositions that shift
in the darkness of Midwinter;

Here, in the Nemeton, the meaning is clear
as questions dissolve in her presence:

The image of her riding,
The sense of her dwelling,
The gathering dark as a candle flame flickers,
The hope that is held in the glimmering light,
that it will be re-born;


Brigid guards the hearth-fire
to release the ice-locks
from her silver streams
on a bright day
beyond this silent night.

YULETIDE

epona-beasts

Eponalia: 18 Dec. in the Roman  Calendar
Epona on the shadow paths as dwindling daylight
fades to longest nights before and after Solstice.
These are the paths of transformation, of renewal
Solstice =
‘Still Sun’

as light shifts slowly from the stillness;
Epona opens the way along the paths
to another cycle of time, another year
Day length hardly moves at solstices, for light to grow, for green leaves to burst
from buds on every bough, from seeds
yet to break through sodden soil and spring

but changes quickly at equinoxes. brightly into life again –
Bidden out of the dark below
by the light of the risen sun.