Since moving to Canada, I’ve come to love the classic Christmas rituals even more than I did living in Sydney.
I love to decorate our house with greens and bright lights, to inspire us through the long dark nights of Winter solstice.
At heart, Christmas is a winter solstice or pagan celebration. This means many Christmas traditions, like bringing a green tree inside and stringing it with lights, represent an ancient desire to celebrate life and light at a time in the seasonal year when the quiet slumber of winter took over.
The December solstice, which for the majority of people, falls in Winter, is an ancient festival, where people from a variety of traditional cultures would stop their regular routines to feast, drink and make merry.
Some ancient celebrations include conscious chaos, where faux leaders would be inserted, and employees and the boss would trade places for a day. This is truly a witchy time, when life pauses and you get space to dream up new possibilities. Getting out of your routine and regular responsibilities is part of this, which makes a holiday at this time of year even more special and meaningful.
Celebrating the Light
I used to love the June Solstice in Sydney, which is midwinter there. It meant that even though the temperatures might stay low, the days were about to get longer. This in turn meant spring and my first swim of the season weren’t that far away. Now I mark the same solar turning point, but in December, as that’s mid winter in Canada.
What’s in store in your 2016?
Light is more than just brightness. It’s celebrated because it represents the absence of darkness. It’s also essential for growth, evolution and development, at both inner and outer levels. Light has come to represent goodness, and it acts as a guide. Thus, we celebrate the light as a way of celebrating our own goodness and potential.
Solstices, the Sun and Turning Points
If you’re in Sydney, like I will be this December, make merry in the great outdoors as you celebrate midsummer.
The two annual solstices are both important festivals, arguably the two most significant solar celebrations. One falls in Summer, the other in Winter and fittingly how you celebrate shifts depending on the season outside.
In midsummer, the Sun sits high in the heavens, at his maximum peak point. In mid winter, the Sun hangs low in the sky, about as low as he ever gets.
The Solstices mark the Sun’s turning points. They represent boundaries, and can be a time of changing focus or direction in your life too. If you’re born on or near a Solstice, your life may follow the path of the Sun, swinging between extremes of high and low.
Regardless of the season where you are, this time of year is about pausing, reflecting and then turning. You may be inspired by the Summer Sun to shine brightly, or by the Winter Sun to rest.
In 2015, the December Solstice is:
Sydney: December 22, 3.48pm
New York/Toronto: December 21, 11.48pm
London: December 22, 4.48am
In whatever season you greet the Solstice Sun, may its light inspire you as the old year becomes the new.
What are your plans and intentions for the year ahead?