Let me start by saying I am a summer baby, long days, green leaves and hot temperatures is when I am in my element for sure. Winter doesn’t suit me, a colorless cold, dark world just sends me hibernating with the bears. My brain and production levels slow down as soon as it’s dark, which makes the Christmas crazy time a real push for me. (Which may have been how I was susceptible to this nasty cold I still can’t shake) Even though most of winter still looms ahead, the solstice brings me peace of mind. The Christmas rush is over, and best of all, the light is coming! I have this app I like to look at after the solstice, called Daylight. It tells you the sunrise and sunset times for every day and every location. I love to watch the hours extend and the pie chart go back into balance.

Recently, I was working on a new version of my “Happy Solstice”ornament for myself. I am a big fan of ravens and I decided to include one in the branches of the tree.  Looking at it, I wondered if indeed the raven was connected to the solstice and curious as to what prompted me to include him. I started looking for stories about the two, and lo and behold it turns out that the Raven brings back the light. Check out this story I read on imaginativeworlds.com.

HOW RAVEN STOLE THE SUN
Once upon a time, a mean old chief hoarded the only light in the world. He did not want to share it. Raven decided that he could no longer tolerate this after growing tired of flying in the dark. He turned himself into a cedar leaf and fell into the chief’s dwelling.

Raven, as the cedar leaf, fluttered into a drink that the chief’s daughter was drinking. She unwittingly swallowed raven down with a gulp of her drink. She immediately became pregnant and gave birth. Her baby had hair as black as a raven’s, dark glowing eyes, and an awfully short temper. If the baby was bored, it would shriek. The chief ordered that the baby was to receive anything it wanted. One gift the baby got was a bag of shining stars. It liked the stars very much, until it accidentally threw them up through the smoke hole in the ceiling. The stars then scattered across the sky.

The baby grew bored yet again. It gave out more violent shrieks. It finally received a bag containing the Moon, and played with it happily. It remained pacified with the Moon until the Moon bounced out of the dwelling through the smoke hole.

The baby was angrier than it had ever been. Everyone searched desperately for anything to occupy the screaming child. All the gifts it received were rejected, as it pointed to the bag with the sun in it. The household finally gave the baby what it wanted, but did it reluctantly. But instead of opening the bag, the baby turned back into Raven, who flew through the smoke hole with the bag of light in his beak.. This was how Raven stole the Sun. Raven spread the light of the Sun throughout the world.

Happy Solstice everybody! Rejoice in the return of the light.