On The Longest Night

Synthesize: What Dark Secrets Our Mother Grumbles, Poems, Art & Other Spells for the Winter Solstice

Dec 22, 2025

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I meant to have a deep, profound piece for you tonight. Some well-spun wisdom. But it was enough to sit among others and feed the Well of Wisdom at the roots of The Tree of Life this morning with our stories and tears for our first monthly Sunday Release: Grief & Gratitude call.

It was enough. It rocked me, I cried, I felt purpose.

I then went for a brisk walk around the lake with my dear friend in the cold rain, and that too was just enough.

For the rest of the day, I allowed puttering, and mostly rest, cuddling under my blankets with my dear cat, Cinza.

And so for tonight, I’ll share my latest eco-doodle, some words that came with it, and some older pieces that arise from my dance with plants, iron, water and fire. This wee gift comes with a deep wish that you too might be listening to the dark secrets Mother Night is grumbling, and in so doing allow the dreaming earth to synthesize in her brilliant alchemy, the sorrows and joys of this past year.

The Year of the Horse

The Year of the Horse

Who knew he was waiting

Patiently below ground

Among Our Roots

In the Cocoon of Earth

Of unraveling and

Reforming

Where the crumble and rot

Of Auntie Leaf

Whispers with the

The Trickling Song

The Old Stones

And the Ancient Web

What energy and symbolism does Horse bring for you? Regardless of what the astrologers say, you have your own intuitive sense: memories, associations, sensations, dreams….

For me Horse is an elusive and grand care-giver. Dangerous in his mystery, at least to me. A deeply sensitive force of strength, movement, virility. He leads the chariots of the Sun, down into the underworld, and back with great trickster, Hermes. Persephone would neither have descended, nor returned above ground to her mother, nor seeded the great cycles of deepening dark and rising light that activate the grain!

This art, I call Eco Doodles are emergent, formed by a strange collaboration between my eye, pen, paintbrush, and quite possibly my mood and intuition, with the forms of leaves contact printed on paper, tracing their tannins and other dyes in a dance with iron, water, fire.

The little black horse was there, as was the auntie, strange bird, and deeply buried stones. This eco print was made some years ago with Willow, possibly Japanese Maple? Onion, Acorn… I pulled it out the other day to pay homage to the great Fallen Willows of a nearby park who surely held me and my children: wild aunties, uncles and elders they were!

I’ve been puttering at it over the past weeks. Just adding finishing touches as I sit outside in the sun facing a horse paddock out of use, and tending two young cats that belong to a young woman devoted to the healing medicine of horses.

And so it is, The Year of the Horse is on his way.

*Aunt Leaf is a reference to one of my favorite poems by Mary Oliver. I want to read it to you, but will let you wander that trail alone.

Blessings to the profound magic of unseen helpers, and the glorious ways leaves too leave their tannin tracks on the cold concrete lest we forget what art is for.

Here’s another for you.