Return of the Light

In the consumer frenzy leading up to Xmas, what gets almost entirely missed is the event that to me is the most significant in the whole year: The Winter Solstice. 

I want to say “Happy Solstice!” to friends and acquaintances, or “Happy New Year!” – and I mean it – but I think it would sound a bit odd to them. Yet I look forward to this significant moment after the shortening leaden days of November and  December. Apart from the annual media snapshot of a few pagans and hippies marking the moment at Stonehenge, few people give it a thought; most of us being too disconnected from the natural rhythms and cycles of the Earth.

My wife and I celebrate the Winter Solstice, and it has become one which we look forward to more than Xmas, and especially more than that arbitrary calendar date popularly known as New Year’s Eve. At the time of greatest darkness, the solstice represents the most profound of the Earth’s processes: rebirth. New life sprouts forth while old life dies in this cyclical turning.

 From this moment onwards, little by little, the daylight starts to increase and although the bitterest weather may still lie ahead, by February, suddenly you realise that we have evenings again; it’s not dark by 3.45 pm in the afternoon. And on milder February evenings, I hear the Spring song of the blackbird and song thrush, and the snowdrops are in full bloom. The return of the light is a real emotional event for me: this rebirth and miracle of life.

Since ancient times, and far back into the mists of prehistory, cultures have celebrated this important juncture of the solstice with festivals and various rites. In many cultures this was seen as the symbolic death and rebirth of the sun. The word solstice comes from the Latin sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still), because at the solstices, the Sun’s declination appears to “stand still”. It is the day with the least daylight and the longest night of the year, with the Sun at its lowest daily maximum elevation in the sky.

The great significance of the solstice to our ancestors is expressed by the fact that ancient megaliths such as Stonehenge or Newgrange, are constructed to be exactly aligned with the sunrise or sunset on the Winter Solstice.

Under the old Julian Calendar, (introduced by Julius Caesar in 45 BCE)  the winter solstice occurred on 25th December. With the introduction of the Gregorian calendar in the 16th century,  solstice  came on the 21st, but the Christian celebration of Jesus’s birth remained on 25th December. The ancient Greeks as well as the Anglo Saxons, celebrated New Year on the Winter Solstice.

I like reviving the old tradition of indoor decorations made from evergreen sprigs of ivy, holly, fir and bay with scented evergreen herbs such as rosemary and sage. These have long been held as symbols of everlasting life and we make a wreath of such evergreens at home. It helps ground us in the cosmic earth cycles. Yule is the ancient festival marking the solstice, and in old English, the likely Yuletide greeting was, “Glæd Geol;” literally, “Glad Yule!”

Ring out solstice bells

Ring out, ring out the solstice bells

Ring out, ring out the solstice bells

Praise be to the distant sister sun,

Joyful as the silver planets run

Seven maids move in seven time

Sing the song the bells call, loudly chiming

Ring out these bells

Ring out, ring solstice bells

Jethro Tull, song lyrics