… so I’m just sitting here,
sitting through the year’s dark night,
waiting, wondering, watching.
Is there anything I can do?
“Light a candle,” someone tells me,
“Cast a circle. Let the magic begin.”
So I light and cast and let.
And it’s still, and it’s dark,
and I’m wondering when the light will rise.
“Light your candle,” Someone murmurs,
“Cast the circle of your need,” She whispers,
“The magic is always in you,” She says.
Again I light, again I cast, and I let it be,
and — o wonders arise — I’m still here,
working, playing, being in the world.
Her candle — that’s always you and me,
Her circle — that’s our blessed dreamlit world,
Her magic — that’s you and me, community,
working, playing, being in the world …
— Barbara Ardinger, Ph. D.
Winter Solstice, 1999