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 By Laura Chandler
The winter solstice occurs on the day of the year when the earth’s
axial tilt is farthest from the sun. Simply put, it is the shortest day
of the year. It marks that point in time when the shortening of days
stops and they begin to lengthen until the summer solstice, June 21,
when they shorten again, like the waxing and waning of the moon.
Most
westerners are not aware of this phenomenon of the sun. In fact, we are
rarely attuned to the rhythm of the sky. Instead, we are focused on the
gathering speed brought by the holidays. Caught up in the rush of
holiday shopping, event planning, and travel, we move counter to the
rhythm of the natural world around us, and counter to our own internal
clocks. This can cause stress, anxiety, and restlessness. The event of
winter solstice has long been recognized with celebrations and rituals
throughout the world. There are even structures devoted to the solstice
dating back to the Neolithic Age that suggest ancient people understood
something about this time of year that we have clearly forgotten.
It is no coincidence that the winter solstice, on December 21, falls so
close to Christmas, on December 25. Rome chose this date for Christ’s
birth in the fourth century, after many centuries of date changes
ranging from January to April. And even now, some Orthodox churches
celebrate Christmas in January. The date chosen for Christmas coincided
with several winter festivals observed across the Roman Empire that
included winter solstice, Yule and Saturnalia. Different aspects of
these appear to have been absorbed into the Christian celebration of
Christmas. For example, Saturnalia was the Roman mid-winter holiday
that involved a great festival. People decorated the halls of their
homes with boughs of laurel (“deck the halls”) and evergreen trees,
which symbolized the continuity of life. In Scandinavia, the Yule
winter festival involved burning Yule logs, telling stories, and
drinking mead around bonfires. Mistletoe was cut and hung above
doorways for good luck. Mistletoe, it is interesting to note, was
considered sacred by the Druids. Winter solstice celebrations were not
limited to Europe. There are many accounts of observances of this sort
from Native American tribes, in North and South America, to China, and
even in Iran with the observance of Yalda.
Yet, these winter festivals are merely artifacts of even more ancient
rituals and traditions dating back to Neolithic times some 10,000 years
ago. All across the ancient world, megalithic structures from this time
period were built to align with the solstices and equinoxes. Some even
tracked other celestial bodies like the moon and Venus. There are sites
in Asia, Indonesia, North and South America, the Middle East, and
Africa. It has even been hypothesized that the early Christian
cathedrals contained solar observatories similar to those of the
ancients that were used to accurately set the date for Easter.
Stonehenge is one of the better known of these structures. It has been
shown to mark the summer and winter solstices. Newgrange, in Ireland,
and Maes Howe, in Scotland, are both large enclosed circular structures
with a long passageway, not unlike the birth canal attaching to the
womb. At noon on the winter solstice in both locations a shaft of light
travels down the canal and illuminates a point at the back of these
structures, which are marked by a spiral. There is no mistaking the
deliberateness of this construction indicating something very
significant about the sun at winter solstice.
We can only speculate about what it meant to the ancients. Certainly
there was a lot of long term planning and physical labor involved,
since these structures were built over hundreds of years. And we really
don’t know how these structures were used. They have long been
described as tombs, but more recent thought includes the idea that they
were places of ritual, perhaps a place where a simulation of death and
rebirth occurs, much like the sun appears to do each year as it drives
towards darkness and then miraculously reverses and brings more light
each day.
The idea of resurrection is a provocative one. It is not new, of
course, but still holds a significant place in our imaginations.
Surely, our holiday celebrations contain some of what is left of the
rituals of the ancients. Perhaps it is the outer shell of some greater
understanding, a mystery to contemplate. Whatever the case, it seems
that the very act of taking time out of our busy holiday schedules
simply to think of the ancient origins of the holiday is a beneficial
one. And if you find yourself with a little extra time on December 21,
consider meditating on your own resurrection cycle, what needs to be
let go of and what needs to be reborn, as the sun once again sends that
shaft of light down the long corridors of Newgrange and Maes Howe,
signaling the end of a cycle and the start of a new one. |
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