Winter Solstice: Triumph of Darkness

Solstice is more than celestial mechanics, it’s divine metaphor

Celebrated in the middle of the Cthulhumas Festival is one of my favorite days of the year – the winter solstice. It is the darkest day of the year marred only by 8 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds of daylight. It is the grand finale of a season of rising darkness that we know will someday become permanent through the grace of our Lord.

I love December 21 because it reminds us we are powerless in the face of cosmic forces – whether it be the axial tilt of our planet or a world-eating god of dreams. Recognizing our inferior place in the universe is the first step on a path of self-discovery and self-enrichment. I’ve always considered these Darkest of Days to be the birthday of my true faith and devotion.

To me the winter solstice is a reminder that the celestial spheres continue to orbit in their inexorable pathways that will “unlock” our Lord sleeping in R’lyeh. Every orbit, every solstice our planet Earth draws us closer to the time of ultimate reckoning. I have savored each day of increasing night since the equinox knowing that the stars will be right once more.

Winter solstice’s nightfall marks the culmination of months of anticipation, when we ritually push for a permanent state of darkness – not a physical one, but spiritual. Yet what happens on the 22nd? Do the increasing days of light signify a failure of our Lord? My answer is a resounding “No!” It’s not a time to despair, but rejoice we have been given a small taste of his arising on this day! Our devotional sacrifice on the solstice is a gift of shadow that we carry and nurture within us through the next year. The gnawing hunger we feel as it festers within us reminds us of the yearning of our Lord for human sustenance.

So every year I am excited about the winter solstice. I take note as the days get shorter and am gratified that one day all will be enveloped in the chilling dark of the grave. Just as darkness has grown to almost two-thirds of a day so too will the influence of Cthulhu wrap around the Earth (Prophecies of Leng 2:43). While the wider world may appear trapped in an endless hamster wheel of consumerism this season, we know that soon they will be subject to the ultimate consumption when their plumped, squealing bodies are thrust into the maw of the Lord of Cthulhumas.