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.