What I'll Be Doing This Solstice

To be a Pagan in these times, to hold a deep spiritual connection with the earth in an era when every life-support system on the planet is under assault, is to face enormous loss every day. Forty percent of the arctic ice has already melted, yet the world's nations have failed to implement even the modest goals of the Kyoto global warming treaty, in large part because the Clinton administration undermined the agreement. Seventy percent of the ocean's oxygen-making plankton are gone. In pursuit of more oil with which to overheat the planet, we are destroying the few traditional cultures and unspoiled habitats left.

This past month has marked an especially bitter loss: an ancient redwood tree called Luna. A year ago, we celebrated an agreement that saved Luna, the ancient redwood in which Julia Butterfly spent two years, from being logged. But over Thanksgiving, a spiteful and hateful person took a chainsaw and girdled her in such a way that it is doubtful if she can survive the winter's storms.

I can't respond to these events with perfect love and equanimity. I have to work my way back through volcanic rage, torrents of hexing and cursing, and the overwhelming urge to go out and smash something or someone.

This year, I'm ready for the Winter Solstice! I need the cleansing and turning that mark this time of year.

But I also know that I can't stay in a perpetual state of rage without burning out. I know that hatred and resentment are not good for me, or for the work I do to heal and protect the planet. As a Witch, it is my responsibility to choose my soul state. Magic and ritual give me some of the tools I need to help me transmute rage, grief, and despair into creativity and hope.

That's why this year, I'm ready for the Winter Solstice! I need the cleansing and turning that mark this time of year.

Starhawk is the author of numerous books, including "The Spiral Dance." She works with Reclaiming, an organization offering training in the goddess tradition. Visit her website.