The winter solstice is a minor holiday for me, placed as it is between two more important and involved holidays (Samhain and Oimelc) but it is one that I celebrate. Over the last half dozen years or so I’ve gotten into the habit of honoring Aine at the summer solstice and her sister Grain at the winter solstice, with each representing the sun at that time of year. I do also have specific practices related to Yule that my Kindred and I celebrate, but that’s a bit off topic for this blog, so I’ll stick just to my family practices here.
I got the idea of celebrating the winter solstice in honor of Grian based on scholars like McKillop and Monaghan. MacKillop, for example, suggests the two goddesses might represent the summer and winter suns respectively and some sources list them as sisters. There is some confusion in modern mythology where Áine is seen as an aspect of Anu or the Morrigan, and although I don’t believe this myself I’ll admit it adds appeal to honoring the sisters, since I do primarily honor the Morrigan and Macha in my own practice. Interestingly Grian is similarly seen as a possible aspect of Macha, probably due to a reference to Macha in the Metrical Dindesenchas that gives an epithet of Grian to her. I admit that I find it fascinating that Áine and Grian are strongly associated with each other and a possible division of the year, and each is also associated with the Morrigan and Macha respectively.
In my house we celebrate the winter solstice as a blend of traditions. We decorate with a variety of evergreens, including mistletoe and holly, which have blessing and protective qualities. We have a tree we decorate and a yule log, which in our case is a log that has been drilled to hold candles, since we don’t have a working fireplace. I grew up a secular agnostic so my childhood memories of this time of year center on movies; this is a tradition I want to pass on so in my family we watch holiday themed movies throughout the month, from black-and-white classics like Miracle on 34th Street (the original), to the modern Shrek the Halls.
On the night before the solstice we have a small ritual in honor of our female ancestral dead, the Idises, and we always leave out an offering for our house spirit. Santa does visit our home but he comes on the longest night* and when we wake up on the morning of the solstice the children open their gifts. At some point when my oldest daughter was young we got into the habit of baking a birthday cake for the sun, in this case represented by Grian, and we decorate that with sun symbols and then offer a piece to her, to the ancestors, and to the aos sí before enjoying some ourselves. That night we try to have a big dinner with a ham or pork roast, a plate of which is also shared with the spirits as an offering.
Since this time of year also tends to be when the most dangerous Fair Folk are most active I do a lot of general protective work. I’ll walk the bounds of my yard with fire blessing it and also mark it with salt, both around the outer edge of the yard and around the outside walls of the house. On the day of the solstice I burn juniper for cleansing (something I also do on every holy day, because really not a bad idea to it every few months anyway) and I collect the ash. There is a folk charm I had learned that used the ash from the yule fire, kept in a pouch and hung up to protect the home from lightning and fire during the year but since I don’t burn my yule log, as I mentioned, I use the ashes from the juniper I burn instead, and make this charm new each winter solstice.
Throw in watching a lot of holiday movies like Polar Express and that’s more or less my family’s winter solstice. It’s not a major religious holiday for us, but its the children’s favorite and probably one of the most fun. As we move into the coldest, harshest time of year in my area we do so in good spirits and with good cheer, knowing that the light is returning, a little each day.
* much to my oldest daughter’s glee, as she then gets to brag to all her friends who are still waiting for Santa’s later Christmas visit. (back)
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