The Light of the World

In the Northern Hemisphere we are at the shortest day (the Longest Night as William Horwood calls it) and already the sunset each day is later by a minute; the evenings are drawing out.

The pagan festival of Yule was created at this time to welcome the sun’s return to longer days and new growth.  In the old Julian calendar (which existed until the middle of the 18^th century) the shortest day was 13^th December and was St Lucy’s Day.  Her name means ‘Light’ and she was pictured wearing a crown of lighted candles.  She is also the patron saint of sight which reminds us we need light in order to be able to see – both physically and spiritually.

Almost all life, comprehension and enlightenment, is born out of darkness.  Scientific discoveries, intellectual and philosophical understanding, artistic creativity, revelations and so on, arise from the darkness of not-knowing into a dawn of insight or intuition.  ‘As though a light had been switched on …’ 

At the winter solstice the pagan tradition tells us that the Holly King gives way to the Oak King. The Holly is revered because it is an evergreen, a symbol of eternal rebirth and renewal.  It symbolises the energy of life itself.   We know that as a flower remedy its positive quality is love, it “embodies the principle of divine, all-encompassing love, the love that maintains this world.” (Mechthild Scheffer)  No wonder Holly is brought indoors to celebrate the birth of Christ, when ‘love came down at Christmas.’ 

This year we have seen a great need for Holly, with all the separativeness, hatred, malice and other negative emotions which are the antithesis of love.  “Holly protects us from everything that is not Universal Love.  Holly opens the heart and unites us with Divine Love.” (Dr Bach)

If Holly stands for the evergreen source of love, the love that understands everything, Oak stands for resilience, strength and willpower, the ability to stand fast against life’s arrows of outrageous fortune, and recover to its former ease.  Oak is also considered to be a holy tree, one that just keeps on giving, and we see that in the Oak flower remedy too.  It is Hercules, never giving up, or losing courage, even in the face of overwhelming odds.  No wonder many of us are needing Oak at this time.

Light is coming back into the world, and as it does, plants produce their flowers in response to the sun.  The flower remedies too were born from the sun and come to us with the power of sunlight.  On our darkest days, they let in the light.