Honoring the Magic of the Holiday Season:: Winter Solstice 2021
The magic of the holiday season has always been palpable for me, as I'm sure it is for so many others. Sensing more deeply beyond the commercialization of modern life into this mythical time of year invites a connection to its roots and a connection with all of those who've celebrated the traditions we still find meaning in today. All we have to do is look around at the decorations of light in and on people's homes when the Sun's radiance is scarce to find meaning that hearkens back to our ancestors and the practices they participated in during the transition into winter. These simple but potent rituals give us an ability to reach back through time, tapping into the essence of what this beautiful holiday season is about. We instill both the wisdom and the merry-making into our lives in a way that brings the magic that has been celebrated through the centuries to life even more fully in our hearts and beings.
The Romans celebrated their famous Saturnalia for a week at this time of year, playing raucously without holding back in the slightest, for they knew that the dark of winter was quickly on the heels of their festivities, so they'd better live fully NOW! They deemed the era of Saturn, father of Zeus, to have been a Golden Age, a time that sounds much like the Christian Garden of Eden, filled with innocence and abundance. As the ages continued on, each one getting a bit more bleak, the Romans felt the need to go all out during the week of the Winter Solstice, connecting with Saturn and his energy of the golden rein once again, that they might carry with them into the dark a bit of this brightness. What the practical Saturn of modern-day astrology knows is that if we work too hard and too much, our souls will become desolate and dreary, places where no light can shine at all. I often think of Ebenezer Scrooge as the shadow of Saturn, for one who never makes time for lightness and fun can easily turn into a figure like this. Yet when we remember the brilliance of the Sun that is returning, allowing this to warm our heads and hearts, we connect with the essence of our spirits, allowing them to glow more brightly as well. And the Romans, in their own way, knew a thing or two about this.
Celtic and Germanic cultures honored the darkest night of the year, and therefore the return of the light in the Northern Hemisphere, with much pomp and circumstance, though it was not formal in any sense of our understanding. As Michael Judge recounts in The Dance of Time, celebrants from these cultures likely went on a boar hunt, bringing the animal back for a large community feast that included a Yule log of their sacred oak, which symbolized the Sun's return. Again, Judge sees the connection of 'oel' a word that sounds like 'yule' and means 'potent ale', much of which was consumed during this time of year in German culture, as well as the word 'hiul,' meaning "wheel," as in the wheel of the year. We make our way back into the sun's warmth at this pivotal turning point, and this was indeed something to be celebrated! Mistletoe was hung for the reasons we still celebrate today, and balsam branches were strung about to bring their evergreen scents and beauty into a time when the green of nature was scarce. But what a way to remember Nature's constant abundance!
From the North, Odin the All-Seeing God came out on the eve of the Solstice to ward off all of the dark spirits lurking at this dimmest time of year, riding in the night sky on his 8-legged horse Sleipnir. He punished any and all wrong-doing he saw, and gave magical gifts like swords that would never rust and drinking horns that would never go dry to those who were upholding the good of life. This amazing tradition continues today with a jolly, bearded man called Saint Nick, named after the real Catholic saint Nicholas, who was likely a combination of Odin and the Roman Catholic priest. Yet even this tradition of gift-giving and magic has its roots way back in times that our ancestors were also celebrating, making the magic even more potent!
Of course, we cannot talk about this time of year without talking about the Christ consciousness born in the world during the Winter Solstice. The potency of the Sun's light is anthropomorphized here in the human Yeshua, or Jesus. A reminder that our innermost nature is pure and divine, and that the light inside will always shine brightly in the darkness, the story of the Christ child's birth is one of inspiration and joy. As the astrologers of the times read in the stars with the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn, a being was born who would bring the virtues of love, joy, and truth into the world, reminding humans of just what we're capable of when we live in alignment with our deepest, most abiding nature. And his spirit lives fully in our traditions today, with 'Christmas' as one of the most important and well-known holidays around the world.
And here we move to the Jewish Hanukkah, or "Festival of Lights," a tradition that's been celebrated for thousands of years! This ritual is a time of playing games, giving gifts, singing songs, and lighting the menorah, and it falls at about the same time of year as the Winter Solstice, though because the Jewish calendar is a lunar one, there is more variation seen with the timing of the holiday. Yet it, too, reminds us of the importance of honoring the sacred light that abides in all things, seen through a historical story of the Jewish people and the miracle of the holy lamp remaining bright even when its oil had run out.
What is it that all of these traditions and cultures have in common? Perhaps many things, like miracles and celebrations, joy and merry-making. Yet the light and its constancy are what this time of year is really about, seen through different lenses and understood in different ways. Awakening the Light of our own true nature and keeping it brightly lit is what those who are on any spirit path are endeavoring. We light candles and put up lights in varied ways as a gesture of the enduring, radiant awareness the lives in the depths of our Hearts. Regardless of what we've been conditioned to think or believe, the Truth of our innermost nature is eventually known and revealed, lighting up our lives and reminding others that this is a possibility, no matter how dark things get. When we wake up, we open ourselves to the Truth in everything, no matter how challenging it is to look at. We choose to see life for what it is, and not for what our minds or belief systems want it to be. We stop denial in all its shapes and forms, choosing instead to shine the light of our awareness everywhere: everywhere in ourselves and the patterns we've come in to heal; everywhere in our lives and the ways truth is being distorted; everywhere in all facets of reality so that we stop pretending. Waking up is seeing reality as it is, and being willing to look at ALL of it, even if there are parts of the truth that make our human selves uncomfortable. Yet this light of awareness is bright, inspiring, and enduring. And the more we choose it in ourselves and our lives, the more brightly we all become together.
May we celebrate the Light in all of the ways, choosing to live it in our hearts and lives to the fullest, on this day, and all of them.
And may your days be merry and bright, just like your brilliant spirit!
