The Winter Solstice is a time of birth—or re-birth—the longest night of the year, when we wait, breathless in hope and anticipation, for the rebirth of the sun and the return of the light to the world. This dawn of a new beginning represents our Awakening into the Queer Mysteries, stepping from a world of shadow and darkness into a new light of awareness, not unlike the process of being born.
We all experience those moments of “otherness” where we feel different, isolated, set apart. For queer people that sense of difference often comes young and lasts untilwe can recognize and name it. For some, dawn comes in a bright and blinding flash of illumination and understanding. There are others for whom this is a process as slow and sometimes painful as birth can be, and necessitates leaving behind a safe and comfortable space for the wonders and challenges of the wider world.
Like all awakenings, the awareness of otherness, the sense of what we in the Temple call the Queer Spirit, cannot ever really be undone or forgotten. Once awakened to the experience, we are forever changed by it and cannot simply go back to sleep. Some may refuse to acknowledge it, but this new awareness cannot be denied. Although the process may take some time—for some a lifetime—we must learn to see by the light of this new dawn and to understand what it is showing us about ourselves.