The Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year, is an annual solar event taking place this year 2022 precisely at 4:47 p.m. Wednesday, December 21. This day marks the point at which the sun has attained its waning limit and the light we’re able to observe from the sun soon begins to increase once again.
In some cultures, the Winter Solstice has been called the moment of the sun’s death and inevitable rebirth. Most cultures, outside of those who observe the tenets of traditional Chinese medicine, view the Winter Solstice as the formal beginning of the Winter season.
Now darkness comes earlier than at any other time of year and the sun shines at its lowest point in the sky.
In ancient Egypt, this time of year marked the observance of the return of Ra, the sun god. It was celebrated as a way of thanking Ra for warming the land and blessing the people with abundant crops.
More than two thousand years ago, people noticing the changes of the position of the sun in the sky, believed the sun’s strength might not return. They feared it would banish their sustenance of plants and animals. So the people created a ritual and ceremony period of camaraderie, goodwill, forgiveness and love so that the sun would continue to be reborn. The Winter Solstice was the turning point of time and the moment of new beginnings. The Romans then believed their ceremonies and rituals had poised nature to step over the border of the year.
The stones of Stonehenge dating back approximately 2500 years were erected to frame the setting sun on the day of the Winter solstice where the last rays of sunlight gleamed through the special space between the stones.
The ancient Romans held a special week-long Winter solstice celebration in honor of the god Saturn, called Saturnalia. The festival revolved around the making of sacrifices, gift-giving and feasting. Masters served their servants and criminals were treated with honor and respect.
In their celebratory rituals, we see the seeds of our Christmas celebrations today: The Romans all gave each other presents. Roman businessmen gifted their customers with their wares and parents gave their children clay or wax dolls. Coins and tiny gifts were hidden in pudding and evergreen trees were brought into the home. Our Christmas tree today was the Saturnalia evergreen back then.
The Winter Solstice has also historically been called Yule, Yuletide or Yulefest. Traditional customs like burning the yule log, decorating the Christmas tree and wassailing(1) can be traced all the way back to the ancient Norse people who called this time the festival of Jul (prononouced just as we say ‘Yule’). The original celebrations of Yule have been linked to the Wild Hunt, the god Odin, and the pagan Anglo-Saxon Mothers’ Night(2).
Eventually, as the Christian church sought to absorb pagan customs and ‘christianize’ them, making them their own, Yule, on or around December 21, marked the start of the '12 days of Christmas.'
The Christmas carol, The Holly and the Ivy, derives from pre-Christian times when the Lord and Lady of the Greenwood were honored by the hanging of green garlands from the ridge poles of houses.
In exactly the same way as traditional Chinese medicine reminds us that the yin season of energetic Winter and the Water element is highly conducive to diving deep within ourselves, so, too does Winter Solstice December 21, 2002.
The Winter Solstice is auspicious since it’s the one solitary day in the year when we experience the shortest number of daytime hours and the longest number of nighttime hours.
Especially at this time of year, we can become more conscious of our spiritual world and embrace the wisdom of the Universe.
The Winter Solstice is an intense solar event which creates a profound even life-changing energy because it has the very real potential activate and heighten our spiritual senses if we will allow it.
To this end, become acutely aware of when the Winer Solstice is about to occur and pay close attention to slight or potent shifts in your psyche. To amplify or awaken your spiritual senses, in meditation on that day and on the days just before and after, open your being to the spiritual world of light and love.
(The entire Water element line of skincare by PHYTO5 is quantum energetic, meaning it’s very high in vibration. For this reason, it can assist you as you seek to elevate your Winter Solstice and Winter season spiritual and emotionally balancing experience, in particular, the essential oil rich Water Phyt’Ether serum.)
The Winter Solstice is the supreme hush moment in time calling on us to pause, rest and restore ourselves in preparation for more lively seasons ahead.
In this darkest period of the year, our days are quite short and with darkness falling on us early in the day, Nature is inviting us to slow down, visit with her, perhaps take in the fragrance of pine needles or the glow of the dark night Winter moons. Our very own souls respond in kind, asking us to put down what we’re doing, connect with loved ones and maybe enjoy a cup of warm tea together. Perhaps, in our Winter Solstice wisdom, we might choose to listen rather than speak.
All of these are winding down sort of actions that energetic Winter and the Water element support.
We must take our cues from nature. Seeds rest in suspended animation under the ground. Animals are now hibernating. Flora and fauna are gathering strength for the coming season of energetic Spring and renewal and we should, too.
Growth—whether it’s physical, mental, emotional or spiritual—actually happens in the resting time when we draw inward. Taking time out to daydream and to rest is a sign of strength of character and not laziness or non-productivity.
The Winter Solstice is a hallmark reminder of the need for change and the ability to accept it.
From the very definition of Winter Solstice, we understand profoundly the concepts of endings, new beginnings and change. As in Buddhism, nothing is permanent. This solar event reminds of this truth and calls on us to embrace life in flux and change.
As you meditate on the day and night of Winter Solstice, make the intention that you are well prepared for the coming changes in your life. Invite in the energy of the Solstice to assist you to accept and flow with inevitable upcoming changes in a resilient way.
The Winter Solstice demonstrates that our sorrows will return to joy. Our limitations will be cancelled out by abundance one day soon. And no negative thing in our lives will remain that way forever.
The Winter Solstice challenges us to be less dogmatic and set in our ways, habits, and mindsets.
Understanding this world, the swirl of incessant information, and peoples’ opinions and agendas is not an all black or all white thing. It would be easy if it were all mapped out this way but that just isn’t life. If it were all neat and tidy, we wouldn’t ever have to call on our own inner Voice within to determine if something is true or not. We would be more automaton than human.
The Winter Solstice energy, in fact, the energy of the Water element, calls on us to be Sages who are not rigid in our minds but open to truths we couldn’t embrace before. And then it calls on us to be not so shocked when we inevitably discover that some things we once believed to be true were lies.
The Winter Solstice is a pivotal solar event which reinforces the vitality and happiness we derive from cyclical living.
In our blog, “Cyclical Living Is the Key to a Vitality Filled Life and Our Producing the Frequency of Love,” we write:
Click through here to go to this blog.
The Winter Solstice event helps us to see that cycles and seasons are important in life. And the Solstice is a day that signals a proving period of patience. By understanding the passage of cycles as taught by traditional Chinese medicine, we are assisted to remain patient with life and to live more presently.
Living during the season of energetic Winter and the Water element is like living in the darkness of the womb. We must wait patiently to emerge into the light but until that time we remain quiet and allow the womb to nurture us.
The stillness, hush and energy of Winter has all the energetic ingredients we need to feel supported in our quest to know ourselves more, to rest, to dream and to reach the sublime heights of spirituality. This is almost a feat for many because we’ve become so accustomed to running all the time and if we’re not running, many of us may sit quietly, but we do so while constantly stimulated by pixel lit screens. This is not true rest.
Learning about how to live in harmony with the five element seasons according to traditional Chinese medicine helps keep us emotionally stable. We learn to understand the importance of each season and to embrace all the attributes each one has to offer us. It makes life more purposeful and even more exciting.
The Winter Solstice is an example of faith and trust that is intrinsic to the Water element of Winter according to traditional Chinese medicine. Just as the sun always returns to create the daylight, know now that your desires will indeed manifest.
Traditional Chinese medicine tells us that kidney is the yin energy organ of the Water element and kidney provides us with the energy we need to muster faith:
In our recent blog, “Energetic Winter and Transcending the Emotion of Fear: The Kidneys are the Root of Life, Regeneration and Vitality,” we write:
Click through to go to this referenced blog.
May your Winter Solstice day and night be filled with magic, awareness and deep insights. May you carry forward the gifts of this potent solar event into your future days for vitality and abundance on all levels of your life!
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Endnotes:
(1) wassailing: a) drinking plentiful amounts of alcohol and enjoying self with others in a noisy, lively way; b) going from house to house at Christmastime singing carols.
(2) Mōdraniht or Modranicht (pronounced [ˈmoːdrɑniçt]; Old English for "Night of the Mothers" was an event held at what is now Christmas Eve by the Anglo-Saxon pagans.