A Solstice Missive – 2018
A Solstice Missive
21 December, 2018
Dear all,
Today marks the winter solstice. For many, this has been a difficult year, especially for those marginalized people who so often slip through the ever-widening cracks of justice. This year’s solstice lands in the month of Khrysopelexion, the month of the “Golden Helm.” For those living in the northern hemisphere this may seem at odds, as mid-winter is the time of greatest darkness, which is perhaps fitting for the summation of the year as we’ve experienced it. For many it has been dark indeed, and the winter solstice represents the dying of the light.
So, why the month of the “Golden Helm” for the darkest month of the year? Although tonight is the longest of the year, and so represents the symbolic death of the sun, it is immediately proceeded by a slightly shorter night and longer day. This light is reflected upon the Golden Helm of Apollon for all to see, because while the world about us creates, sometimes through wiles, sometimes through force, distinctions and privileges and disenfranchisements, the light of the sun, both physical and spiritual, shines upon everyone.
This is by no means intended as a replacement for the need of social justice. It is, rather, and with hope, meant to be a rallying point. The Divine Iamblichus tells us that the world, and its Soul, are images of higher divine realities, an idea brought to life by Plato’s Republic, which sees the soul and the perfect State, as reflections of one another. Where the below does not reflect the above, it is for us, theurgists and demiurgists and those who partake of the Mysteries in any way they can, to purify and elevate the world below to more closely resemble the world above. We are to raise those who, through no fault of their own, have been disenfranchised and marginalized, to a place of equality. For we know that light of the Sun shines upon us all equally.
These ideals are enshrined in the Ekklesia’s Statement of Principle, for we affirm that the nature of humanity is divine, having a divine and immortal soul. Further, we affirm and acknowledge that divine souls are present in all of humanity, brought forth, as it were, from the same mixing bowl. As such, there is a responsibility for the powerful to help the disenfranchised and those with voices to give voice to those who have been forced into silence. The human soul finds its place of eudemonia in justice, the summation of the virtues. As a reflection of the soul, our society will also find happiness when justice is made equal to all.
All of this is reflected in the idealism of the winter solstice. This is a time of darkness but also a time of hope for the year to come. As parts of the body of the World Soul, we can come together and reflect that hope, that light rebounding from the Golden Helm of Apollon, into the world, not just through our hopes and prayers, but through the activities of our daily lives.
Blessings of the Divine, and the solstice, to you all.
χDionysios β
Diadochos – Ekklesia Neoplatonismos Theourgia