The Return of the Light: Welcome Solstice

Welcome, Winter Solstice! The day has finally come when seconds by seconds, the days grow longer. 

I have learned to appreciate December's darkness, and to anticipate the return of light, counting down almost as children count down for Christmas. There is comfort in knowing that come what may in our troubled world, Nature will continue on its circle through time, the planets will continue to move, the moon cruise along on her journey, and the earth's tilt will bring back longer days and eventually the sun's warmth. (There is a good, simple explanation of the phenomenon of Solstice and Equinox on this site.)

This year Larry has gone all out with lights, stringing them everywhere. I prefer the small white lights, but he is all about color, so what we have is a mix of both. Works for me. I think that putting up Christmas lights allows our inner child to come out to play. I love homes where it is obvious the man of the house has really gotten into it, exuberantly hanging lights and putting up displays all over the place. Men so seldom play in this artistic way, it seems. You can tell the homes where the woman has had to do the trimming too--usually (although not always!) the lights are limited to around doors and windows and on bushes, easy to get to places. When men do it, the whole house might be lit up! I know, I'm stereotyping but I think I'm pretty much on target. We have had to leave off of trimming around the roof as there comes a time, or an age, where that becomes not a good idea.

Not the best photo, but you get the idea. On the right, that blur is Larry redneck tree, with a Santa behind it who is apparently decorating the tree.

 Around the world there are many festivals celebrating light. We celebrate on Winter Solstice and throughout the Christmas season by hanging lights on our houses, lighting Christmas trees, placing candles in windows. Whole towns string lights and sponsor light shows during this, the darkest time of year. The Jewish Hanukkah, Diwali in India, Festival of Lights in Lyon France, China's Lantern Festival and many more all celebrate the importance in our lives.

In Ireland, people gather at the large burial tomb Newgrange to watch as the sun's first rays penetrate the passage into the tomb and light up the center. 

In early Germany, plays called Paradise Plays were staged and the stages were lit with wooden pyramid structures on which candles were mounted. These "trees" were called lichtstock. The play also called for a tree hung with fruit as the story of Adam and Eve was part of the play. So an evergreen hung with apples was used for this purpose, and these were called Paradise trees. While people in Germany and other parts of Europe traditionally brought an evergreen branch inside in winter for decoration, the branches were not lit, and they certainly were not full trees. Eventually the evergreens became incorporated into the lichtstock, and it is easy to see how the transition to an evergreen tree happened. So, if you have artificial tree and feel a little guilty about not having the real thing, rest easy--the original "Christmas tree" was a wood pyramid, and not a tree at all!

So, as I posted this morning on Facebook, "The Oak King will be triumphant, the Holly King in retreat, and the year will turn toward the light. The great wheel of life, Yule, rolls on. Light your Solstice fire tonight with your Yule log, burn the remains of last year's mistletoe, and hang the new year's bunch aloft. 

Kisses for all my friends!"

Green Man, Tewksbury Abbey, England, from Wikimedia Commons

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