Winter Solstice

The Winter Solstice comes in the later part of the month of December, it is at this time we take our ease together in happy celebration of the passing of mid-winter. In times past we came together in small groups to share what we had, and to acknowledge the fact that we had survived another span of the barren time. This is the longest night of the year.

Our ancestors believed that the Sun needed our help to return. To that end people would light great bonfires. This is a use of sympathetic magic, in its clearest form they were showing the Sun the way back to the earth. In later times this evolved into traditions of showing candles in windows and on trees. In modern times we have expanded this to include decorating the outsides of our buildings with lights as a symbol of those great fires that burnt in the night fields.

Hunting became harder in the winter so people looked to the things that were on their shelves and in the pantry to see them through this time of the year. Since people had some time on their hands they used it to create things that they could use in the household and that could be given as gifts.

This gifting is still done at this time of the year and it has translated into many cultures and many different types of traditions. The main focus of most Yuletide celebrations is the rebirth of the Sun, as this is when the Goddess gives birth to the Sun in many traditions. In addition to the theme of birth, we also have the theme of death, symbolized by the Yule log. The Yule log symbolizes the sacrificed god, since the druids believed that only the sacrifice of a Great Tree was strong enough to bring back the Sun.

In Rome, their Yule log was expected to burn during the entire 12 days of the Saturnalia, a mighty Tree indeed! Pieces of the Yule log were then kept to protect the home and family throughout the coming year, and also used to light the following years log. This is the last trace of the Perpetual Fire that was once kept in honor of many Gods and Goddesses. During the Saturnalia, slaves were allowed some freedom there was cross-dressing between the sexes and also between the classes. Inhibitions and prohibitions were mostly lifted. Wine was consumed in great quantities, and food was served in huge portions throughout the better quarters of the large cities.

This kind of revelry was associated with many of the traditions celebrated at the Winter Solstice and this carried through to the Middle Ages. To such a degree that the Puritans in England, and in the new-world forbade the practice of Christmas, saying that it was a Pagan Holiday, and would not allow it in their religion.

Christmas in America today is centered round the birth of Christ. It is a time of family gatherings, tree trimming, visiting friends and neighbors, and gifting, in this form it is less than 130 years old.

The pagan holiday that we celebrate today starts in the early morning on the day of the Solstice itself. Our houses are decorated with the colors of the season and we use pine boughs and cones to accent the altar. Candles made of bees wax and scented with bayberry are used around the house to bring light and warmth to the celebration. We invite our friends and family to meet and to feast in honor of the day. In some traditions every light in the house is put out including the fireplace and after a time of meditation the lights are lit again and we sing in honor of the day, and all that it means to us. In many houses trees are decorated and gifts are shared out as a part of the celebration of the longest day.

Many of us make the gifts that we give because it adds so much when part of the giving is also the hand-making of the item. It is not the size of the gifting but the love that was given in creating it that makes it all so worthwhile.

May you be blessed in what ever way you choose to celebrate this great day. Please, remember always the sacrifice that so many have made in order that we might celebrate together in common cause at this time in the world.

Blessed Be Always in the path of the Goddess Lady Arry’shanna-Selene

Bibliography: "West Country Wicca" by Rhiannon Ryall "Eight Sabbats for Witches" by Janet & Stewart Farrar