It came upon a Solstice morn,
that glorious song of old,
with angels bending near the earth,
to touch their harps of gold.
“Peace on the earth.
good will to all,”
from heaven’s all glorious realm.
The world in silent stillness waits,
to hear the angels sing.
I wake in the dark of Solstice morn.
Mountains shrouded in clouds,
cold wind blowing,
light dawns.
My mother heard
the angels sing,
on Solstice eve,
calling me to life,
her Christmas Carol.
Blessed Mother Always With Us.
Longing for my beloved,
on Solstice morn,
I heard Sappho sing:
Thank you, my dear
You came and you did
well to come: I needed
you. You have made
love blaze up in
my breast–bless you!
Bless you as often
as the hours have
been endless to me
when you were gone.
Cold tiles,
bare feet,
coffee brewing,
elderly dog stirring,
I open the garden door.
And there it is.
Solstice miracle.
Three purple irises.
blooming in the cold.
Life triumphing over death,
every time.
New words to the traditional carol “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear” by Carol P. Christ.
Sappho translated by Mary Barnard.
Thanks to Miriam Robbins Dexter for the digging iris bulbs from her garden for me to plant in mine.
My mother promised my father to name me Susan or Peter but when she heard carolers in the hospital, she changed her mind.
* * *
Carol’s new book written with Judith Plaskow, is Goddess and God in the World: Conversations in Embodied Theology.
FAR Press recently released A Serpentine Path: Mysteries of the Goddess.
Join Carol on the life-transforming and mind-blowing Goddess Pilgrimage to Crete. It could change your life! Spring tour filled, sign up now for Fall 2018.
Carol’s photo by Michael Honegger
feminismandreligion.com 
Thank you for this Carol! Wishing you a Blessed Season!
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This post a beautiful gift! Thank you!
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I love it when we can rewrite the old carols so they celebrate life itself and our Blessed Mother Goddess. Beautiful rewrite, my friend. Happy All Winter Holidays. To paraphrase Tiny Tim (I watch Dickens’ Christmas Carol every year), “May She bless us, every one.”
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Oh Carol it is these Blessings that are the greatest of all…. You saw blushing Iris… I heard owls.
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Your life is a carol to us all — thank you, and may your day be very happy.
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What beauty! So lovely to see the irises manifesting life from one country to another! Many blessings, Carol.
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Your new book sounds wonderful, Carol and I love this poem. I’ve been involved with Goddess work out here on the West Coast–Sebastopol, Ca.–for a long time–a small group of women that meets every new moon and a larger group–Diana’s Grove–that meets on the Solstices and Equinoxes for rituals open to all women. Hope I can raise some funds to come with you to Crete in the fall.
About 20 years ago Lilith came to me in a vision and told me to take her name. So I did–I am a wild woman!!
Lilith Rogers
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Lilith, we also have a no interest loan program for the Goddess Pilgrimage, hope to see you in the fall.
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Like the story of how you got your name, Carol. A song sung well.
Blessings to all during this holiday season of light. May we have sanity, peace and joy in the year ahead.
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A wonderful poem and a beautiful story of how you got your name. To me that is exactly what this season – however one celebrates it – is all about – life returning, light shining in the darkness, hope that all will be well if we wait long enough, work hard enough, and create beauty, like poems, songs, and flowers.
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Solstice blessing to you, Carol. I love how your mother came up with your name! I also love the poems, especially your rewrite of the Christmas classic. I sure wish I could see some iries now. Instead we were blanketed with a foot of snow today!
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It’s early in the morning on Boxing Day, so at last I’ve had time to read your post. Love it! The irises, the inclusiveness of the song at the beginning, the purple irises, and the poem by Sappho. My daughter’s name is Carol. She was named after my younger sister, whom I never knew because she was stillborn.
The Light returns, sisters!
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Oh, Carol. This is priceless. I’ve sent it to a friend as we gather in her home each Solstice to sing. We will sing this next year Thank you Sarah aka Macha I came from Saudi Arabia where I was working to come on one of your tours. I loved the experience.
Sent from my iPad
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