The Long Dark Winter S Night

Before Father Patrick Bergquist moved to Alaska, he imagined himself spending his free evenings wrapped in a warm quilt, reading novel after novel during the long arctic winters. Those idealized expectations were met with the unavoidable reality of winter's harshness, a pervasive darkness that made it neither realistic nor helpful to merely wait out the winter and hope for spring." And yet, says Bergquist, this is what we as a Catholic Church are tempted to do in the enduring darkness of the sexual abuse crisis. We want to wrap ourselves in the secure blanket of tradition and memory, thinking that this crisis too will pass-or worse still, that it has already passed. Bergquist admits he is "but a simple parish priest, no saint and surely no scholar." But it is precisely his perspective as a parish priest that gives rise to his poetic and prophetic voice. He speaks from his heart, soul, and experience in a way few others have done. He names and validates the pain and fear, the hopes and dreams that so many of us share. The Long Dark Winter's Night is both realistic and helpful. Patrick Bergquist was ordained in 1990. He is a diocesan priest of the Missionary Diocese of Northern Alaska and has been pastor of St. Raphael Catholic parish in Fairbanks since 1998. "

Drawing upon his vast knowledge of the Hindu Vedas and the Zoroastrian Avesta, Tilak makes a painstakingly detailed analysis of the texts and compares them with the geological, astronomical, and archaeological evidence to show the plausibility of the Arctic having been the primordial cradle of the Aryan race before changing conditions forced the Aryans southward into present-day Europe, Iran, and India.

Through time people have lived with darkness. Archaeology shows us that over the whole human journey people have sought out dark places, for burials, for votive deposition and sometimes for retreat or religious ritual away from the wider community. Thirteen papers explore Palaeolithic use of deep caves in Europe and the orientation of mortuary monuments in the Neolithic and Bronze Age. It examines how the senses are affected in caves and monuments that were used for ritual activities, from Bronze Age miners in Wales working in dangerous subterranean settings, to initiands in Italian caves, to a modern caver’s experience of spending time in the one of the world’s deepest caves in Russia. We see how darkness was and is viewed at northern latitudes where parts of the year are spent in eternal night, and in Easter Island where darkness provided communal refuge from the pervasive sun. We know that spending extended periods in darkness and silence can affect one physically, emotionally and spiritually. How did interactions between people and darkness affect individuals in the past and how were regarded by their communities? And how did this interaction transform places in the landscape? As the ever-increasing electrification of the planet steadily minimizes the amount of darkness in our lives, curiously, darkness is coming more into focus. This first collection of papers on the subject begins a conversation about the role of darkness in human experience through time.

In this beautifully illustrated book, a young boy’s journey mirrors the emotional challenges that many face, offering hope to anyone who has experienced doubt, anxiety, or depression. In Out of a Dark Winter’s Night, illustrator and author Flora McDonnell tells the story of a young child whose spirit of adventure is dampened when the day ends and gives way to night. Taking their wheelbarrow, they set out on a mission to stop the sun from setting again, joined along the way by a charming collection of animal friends. But when darkness falls again and worst comes to worst, it is hope that eventually carries them home, where they sees the dawn breaking again. A response to calls for books that help children and families understand mental health issues, Out of a Dark Winter’s Night is a gentle expression of McDonnell’s firsthand experience with anxiety and depression that is empathetic and poetic, allowing room for multiple interpretations and responses. McDonnell has said of the book, “This is my autobiography. A journey since childhood to harness the sun and stop the darkness of the night, which has to be abandoned. With a helping hand, I have learnt to turn around and see the sun rise. . . . The book is intended to give courage to any child or adult who feels they are stuck in the darkness of a winter’s night.”