A Blessed Solstice
Today is the Winter Solstice, the longest night and shortest day of the year.
This time of year is held sacred by many modern Pagan and Heathen traditions, and has a rich history in ancient pagan religion.
The solstice time was marked as special by pre-historic peoples in both Ireland and England. While there is scant evidence of specific celebrations, it is generally thought that the pagan Celts did mark the solstice time.
Germanic pagans and modern Heathens celebrate Yule at this time. During this holiday the god Freyr was honored. Several traditions we associate with Christmas (eating a ham, hanging holly, mistletoe) come from Yule.
The ancient pagan Romans celebrated Saturnalia which typically ran from December 17th through the 23rd. The festival honored the god Saturn and featured lavish parties and role-reversals. From Saturnalia we can see the traditions of exchanging gifts and decorating evergreen trees indoors that would be adopted as Christmas traditions. Following Saturnalia were the birth celebrations in honor of Sol Invictus (the unconquered sun) and Mithras both held on December 25th.
Many modern Pagans, including Wiccans, Witches, several Druidic traditions, and their many off-shoots hold this time as one of the eight Sabbats/holy days. Usually called Winter Solstice or Yule. It is a time when many of these traditions celebrate the re-birth of the god by the mother goddess.
Here are some recent press quotes on our winter observances.
“We don’t celebrate Christmas … it’s nothing to do with me (she laughs). People often make the mistake that a non-Christian celebration means a non-spiritual celebration, but all the nature festivals have a deep spiritual basis. We like to mark the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, which occurs today. That’s when you’d bring a yule log and evergreen tree into the house, to encourage spring to come.” – Esther, co-ordinator of the Pagan Federation in Northern Ireland, Belfast Telegraph
“Solstices and equinoxes are probably the most universally recognized holidays in the world. It’s a time of new beginnings. It’s also a time of endings, for reflecting.” – Daniel Foor, San Mateo County Times
“People around the Salt Lake Valley plan to welcome back the light this evening as they celebrate winter solstice. Celebrations of the shortest day of the year date back more than 5,000 years to Ireland’s Newgrange, a stone structure thought to be used to recognize the solstice.” – Sheena McFarland, The Salt Lake Tribune
“The “season” such as it is, was celebrated for millennia before Jesus was even a glimmer in theology’s eye. The reason for the season is, in fact, today. The winter solstice. The shortest day of the year and the longest night. The time during the year when folks prayed long and hard for the return of the light so that things would once again begin to come out of the darkness. (No small allegory there.) Rituals and monuments abound to mark and honor this day. Stonehenge is only one small example. It shows unerringly when the winter and summer solstice have arrived so that the proper rituals can be observed. Such structures and observances appear cross-culturally all over the world, from China to the Hopi and back again.” – Jamie Shane, Naples Daily News
“For some Spokane residents, it is more than just an astronomical occurrence – it is a time of religious celebration. “For me it’s really important to observe Yule because it’s looking back at what this time is really about and sort of escaping the craziness,” said Kevan Gardner, a self-identifying Wiccan and member of the Spokane Unitarian Universalist Church, which is holding its annual Yule celebration Thursday night. Gardner said that Yule is a time of hope, best expressed by a line from one of the songs sung during the season: ‘Even in the deepest dark, the light does shine.’ “We go through the dark, we go through the hard times, but there’s always hope ahead,” he said.” – Laura Onstot, The Spokesman Review
“The real reason for the season returns on Thursday, Dec. 21, at 7:22 p.m. The Winter Solstice, which marks the shortest day in the northern hemisphere and the first day of winter, will pass for most with little fanfare. Over the next few weeks, there will be some welcome hints of lengthening days. Thus the same primordial hopefulness which rose in the breasts of pagan Earth-worshippers may begin to warm the hearts of their modern-day counterparts. It’s the rebirth of the sun, not the birth of a son, that we should celebrate. Unlike the followers of xtian mythology, those awaiting signs of these physical realities can witness and experience them without the repeated disappointments of unrewarded faith.” – Bruce Wilkey, The Chattanoogan
“Dec. 21, is the Winter Solstice. As the Sun enters the earth sign of Capricorn our Earth begins turning its northern face toward the Sun. This is one of my favorite times of the year when the days begin getting longer and the Sun’s warmth is promised to return. This must have been the experience of our earliest ancestors, that in the midst of the coldest, darkest days they suddenly notice the Sun had begun ascending again. Yeah baby, now that’s cause for celebration!” – Wendy Crist, Mt Shasta News
No matter what your religion or tradition, may this year’s winter celebrations and observances bring you peace and joy!
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