Congratulations, we made it!  This past week was the winter solstice, marking the shortest day and longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere.  Technically, the solstice is a result of the earth’s tilt of 23.5 degrees on its vertical axis.  Due to this tilt, the Earth’s north and south do not receive equal amounts of sunlight as the Earth orbits around the sun.  The most direct sunlight shifts occur in the middle to higher latitudes, leading to what we experience as the change of seasons.  Discovered in early civilizations, the solstice is celebrated not only for the transition it represents, but for the emotional and even spiritual reaction it evokes.

The term “solstice” derives from the Latin word “solstitium”, meaning “sun standing still.”  On this day, the sun seems to stand still at the point of the Tropic of Capricorn, and then reverses its direction as it reaches its southernmost position as seen from the Earth.  This exact day has been marked with significance by many cultures.  Stonehenge, the prehistoric monument located in Wiltshire, is carefully aligned on a site-line for the solstice.  Archaeologists believe it was built from 3000 BC to 2000 BC.  People still gather at this site to mark the passing of the day and what would be the beginning of winter preparations.  In Ancient Rome, as far back as 217 BCE, the winter festival Saturnalia lasted for seven days during which banquets were held for the father of the gods, Saturn.  The Feast of Juul was a pre-Christian festival observed in Scandinavia.  People would light fires to symbolize the heat and light of the returning sun, and a Juul log (or Yule, yes that is where it comes from)  was brought in and dropped in the fire as a tribute to the Norse god Thor.  Iranians celebrate Yalda as the renewal of the sun and the victory of light over darkness. On the solstice, the sun was thought to be reborn, being saved from the claws of the devil, as seen as the darkness.  In Guatemala on this day, the ritual of Palo Volador, or the flying pole dance is completed.  Three men climb on the top of a 50 foot pole. One man plays a drum and flute while the other two men wind a rope attached to the pole around their foot.  They jump, and if they land on their feet, it is believed the sun god is pleased and the sun will triumph.

I feel a comfort in joining the generations of people celebrating the solstice.  I can almost feel a physical sense of relief as we arrive at the turning point and pivot to what feels like an awakening from winter slumber.  In the dark days I am tired, feeling that the world is closing down and I am along with it.  As the shift happens from the shortening to the lengthening of daylight, it reminds me that the return and renewal from darkness happens in small slow increments, minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day.   And that no matter how dark it seems to be, there will be, in good time,  a reliable and inevitable shift to returning brightness.  Every solstice I am reassured that our lives move in cycles and seasons.  There are dark times, but there will eventually be light.  It is also a comfort for me to realize that while it is the darkest and longest night for us right now, somewhere on the opposite side of our Earth it is the longest and brightest day of the year for others.  In the earth’s rotation, both the blessing of light and the burdens of darkness are shared;  we all have our times and our seasons.