The Winter Solstice: How Ancient Wisdom Welcomed the Return of the Light
Can you feel it? The Great Turning. As we approach the deepest point of the year, the days are short, the shadows long. But the Winter Solstice heralds the returning light.
Welcome to the shortest day of the year! The Winter Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere offers us the day with the least amount of daylight hours and the longest night. That day falls on or around December 21st every year.
For centuries — probably for as long as humans have gazed at the heavens and marked the seasons — people have gathered to celebrate the return of the Sun. The Winter Solstice highlights the end of decreasing daylight and rejoices in the anticipation of Spring.
Today, we live in a modern world lit by LEDs and screens, so we often forget that our bodies are still tuned to the ancient rhythm of the seasons. When the Sun dips low on the horizon and stays gone for hours and hours a day, something inside us calls on us to honor this time of year.
The Ancient Fear of Endless Night
For thousands of years, before electricity banished the dark, the approach of the Winter Solstice was a time of spiritual anxiety. Ancient peoples watched the Sun get weaker and weaker every day.
What if the light keeps fading and darkness wins?
Humanity held its breath. Would the Sun be Reborn?
When dawn broke the morning after the solstice, and the Sun stayed in the sky just a few seconds longer, it was cause for massive celebration in all corners and by all cultures. The Sun had turned the corner, and life would continue.
Because they understood the immense power of this transition, nearly every ancient culture on Earth developed rituals to honor the light. While rituals abound in different cultures across vast oceans and different centuries, humanity instinctively did the same things to fight the darkness:
Lighting Rituals mimic the Sun: Lighting fires, candles, or torches is meant to encourage the fading sun to grow strong again and to ward off the darkness of the “Great Night.”
Evergreens represent Life: Plants that stay green in winter represent the “spirit of life” that survives the cold and serves as a promise that Spring will return.
Keep Vigil: Before the shepherds kept vigil over the infant Christ, traditional peoples guarded the transition from the old year to the new, keeping watch for the moment that the Sun rises into a new solar year.
Celebrate Community: Sharing a massive feast represents community survival and a reminder of abundance in the face of winter’s scarcity.
Cleanse and Purify the Home and Body: Ritual cleaning of the home or body acts as a “reset” to sweep away the old year’s bad luck and make room for the returning light.
Gift-Giving and Charity: Sharing plenty becomes a gift of charity, because winter is the hardest time for the vulnerable. And the rituals of sharing food or small gifts ensure the entire tribe or community survives the winter together.
Our ancestors didn’t have blood tests or clinical studies. They didn’t know what a “vitamin” was. Yet they possessed a deep, intuitive knowing. They felt the drain that happened when the Sun went away. They knew, in a way that modern society has forgotten, that humans are solar-powered beings.
They realized that connection to the light wasn’t just a nice thing to have. No. It was an absolute requirement for survival. So they honored the Sun with rituals and joy.
How will you honor the next few days? Will you celebrate with family and friends when the Sun begins its climb in the sky? Enjoy the journey, and Have the Best Day Ever!
Watch the Winter Solstice at Stonehenge — view the livestream here:
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These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
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