Darkness: Ritual for The Winter Solstice

Winter Solstice Ritual Drawing, 2023.  Charcoal on paper.

This is a ritual to be enacted alone or with others on the eve of the Winter Solstice. It uses charcoal, a rubber, paper, candles. It offers the opportunity to connect with the inmost darkness and with the gentle return of fragile light.

Three days before the Winter Solstice
Cover the entire surface of a piece of paper with charcoal marks.

Two days before the Winter Solstice
With your non-dominant hand remove some of the charcoal with a rubber so that you reveal the paper beneath. You can draw back in with charcoal and erase with your rubber as many times as you choose.

On the eve of the Winter Solstice
At dusk, sit with your charcoal drawing until the inky blue skies become the deepest black. Allow yourself and your drawing to be embraced by this fertile darkness. Enjoy the deepness, stillness and quietness of the darkness. When you are ready, light a candle to welcome the return of light.