Winter Solstice: A Time for Light, Release and Transformation

There is a striking thread that runs through many of the winter holidays, whether celebrated in Jewish, Christian, pagan, or other traditions – that of light, the return of light, and an embrace of light, both within and without. The Winter Solstice is a major holiday for pagans, but can be enjoyed by anyone without stepping on the toes of other faiths. It is the shortest day of the year, the day when the sun shines the least – in ancient times it was literally called “sun standing still day.” After the solstice the days begin to get longer, our time under the sun increasing little by little.

Even if we don’t see a reason to celebrate this as a religious or spiritual event we can see how it might have significance psychologically. For a good example of our reliance on light, I need only look back a couple of weeks to when a big windstorm knocked out power for thousands of people in my area – including me and my family. Reading by candlelight had a certain homey appeal, but there was an awkwardness to brushing teeth or simply walking up the steep narrow stairs in the old farmhouse, by candle. Schedules and routines change – bedtimes tend to be earlier, the dark greeted differently when we have no control over it. If we can be so affected by a diminishment of light, imagine the ancients, who truly set their lives by the light of the sun.

Perhaps of greater meaning to us now is the symbolism of light, especially in a season of growing darkness. I believe many of us are in great need of this renewing return of light – enough events have been taking place in our culture that have thrown some of us into the dark. The loss of a job and one’s income, family members in the military or simply news of war, ugly politics and the threat of individual rights narrowing, personal anxieties and fears… Concurrent with days growing ever shorter (not to mention an increase in cold temps, keeping us indoors even more), our moods may be suffering. Through holidays such as Hanukkah, Christmas, and the pagan Yule, we have the invitation to accept and celebrate this return of light, and on the solstice we see the literal return of that light.

Also occurring on the solstice this year, will be a full lunar eclipse. In itself this is a relatively rare event, and one that astronomers are taking note of. Astrologers are also taking note of it, because the belief is that eclipses and solstices affect change… taking place as they will together, this combined event is expected to bring even bigger changes, on social as well as individual levels.

Major shifts are possible (some would say likely), and the general advice is to approach the day of this solstice with an openness to good things and joy, and from a place of acceptance and calm. If transformation is going to take place, embrace it and make it what you would like it to be – or at least to the extent that you can.

I am still a little on the fence about what I believe with regard to astrology. I tend to think who we are and become is not so governed by where the planets were when we were born, but I find myself making simple assumptions based on astrology more often than I’d like and have recognized some uncanny truths when doing deeper reading into it. I do find it exciting to think that a full moon eclipse on a winter solstice might usher in big change, new direction, and inner transformation, while also helping us release old fears or habits; hopefully all good of course! Experts are saying to check your natal charts for planets that fall between 27 and 1 degree in any sign, for those areas will be affected. I plan on going home tonight and pulling out my chart, to see just which houses might start experiencing some influence on Tuesday. I am just slightly nervous, knowing I have quite a few that fall in those degrees. I will also probably emphasize a practice of mindfulness on Tuesday, and perhaps do some simple meditation on opening to more love, joy, and yes, light.

~ nellie levine

photo, "Through Frosted Glass" is by Jude McConkey.  It's available in her Etsy Shop.

You may also enjoy:
Autumn Blessings and Balance
Messages from Nature 

Follow us on Facebook 

Book Review: The Pagan Mysteries of Halloween

The Pagan Mysteries of Halloween

By Jean Markale, published by Inner Traditions

It is early autumn and the days are cooler, the air crisp, and night arrives more quickly. I have pulled my sweaters out from the closet and am wearing long velvet skirts. The food I buy at the farm stand is round and orange or yellow, and satisfying in a very earthy way. It is harvest time, the fields will soon be bare and most creatures will be inside somewhere (house, barn, nest, den). We are entering the cold, dark half of the year.

It is this half of the year that Halloween welcomes in, and it is these aspects of it that inspired celebration among the Celts, hundreds of years ago. As a largely agricultural people, the Celts relied much on their farms and livestock. They prepared themselves every Samhain (the original name for Halloween) for the colder months, for dwindling food and slowing growth, and for a change in daily lifestyle. It made sense to them to also conduct business affairs on this holiday, because to them, one year was coming to an end (with the finality of harvest), and another one was being conceived in the dark womb of nature. Author Jean Markale explains:

“A shepherd people, raising cattle for milk products and meat, and raising pigs, a food favorable for procuring immortality – such are the Celts, or, at least, such are the Gaels of Ireland, the Celtic people who have most authentically preserved their original traditions. Under these conditions, one cannot help but comprehend the dating of this people’s principal holiday on the full moon closest to November 1. This is the end of summer, when it becomes important to protect the herds – of cattle or of pigs – that constitute not only the wealth but also the survival of the community. … There is, however, one fact for certain: within the framework of an essentially pastoral society, the holiday of Halloween, heir of the Celtic Samhain, is perfectly at home in the calendar at the end of the summer and the beginning of winter, in the specific neighborhood of November 1.”

In addition, it was a time of shifting thresholds. The interplay of day and night, light and dark, fertility and dying away brought with it a spiritual note. Lines could be crossed, from the seen to the unseen, and vice versa.

The Celtic holiday of Samhain, originally longer than the one night of modern Halloween, was a time of heady brews. One might get wildly drunk, but for the more serious purpose of rising spiritually higher. Deals were made, between partners, between the living and the dead, or the mortal and the immortal.

“Samhain thus concerns a complete festival, during which the religious element permeates all manifestations, even those that appear to be most profane, because everything paradoxically leads to a vision of the invisible world. In some way, the festival reduces death to the state of nothingness, even if usually there is a separation between the living and the dead. During the time of Samhain, humans see the dead who have temporarily lost their gift of invisibility. We find these beliefs again in the Christian All Saints’ Day and the carnival-like rituals of Halloween, although they deviate somewhat from their precursors owing to the slow but steady evolution of spirituality during the early days of the Celtic people’s conversion to Christianity.”

This fantastic holiday, like many other pagan traditions, influenced Christian practice as Christianity spread through Western Europe, especially Ireland. The symbols we have for Halloween today - the brightly sinister jack o'lantern; the gaudy, ghostly costumes; and laughing witches on brooms, are the result of a gradual evolution of this important, ancient festival.

Through Markale's book we can find the real legitimacy for Halloween as a holiday. It is not simply about children traipsing from door to door looking for candy (or else! Trick or Treat!). It is not simply about a reverence for ancestors, or a time to let go of all inhibition. There is a reality to it that gives it a deeper presence, and which beckons us to seek its true meaning, in addition to its true history.

Jean Markale's telling of many traditional stories illustrates this history vividly and causes us to reflect on the essential nature of the holiday. Identifying, through Markale's exploration, with our pagan ancestors, gives Halloween the serious reflection it deserves. We can look now at this black and orange night and see beneath the mischievous spectacle, a holiday of changes, of reverence, of comprehension and wisdom.

This book is not always an easy read. Translated from the French, some of the writing is dry and a little stiff.  It educates more than it entertains, and informs more than it inspires. There are no fun spells to be learned here, no spooky games, and no popular tales of hauntings – as there might be in other books on the holiday. But, it is a good thing to learn the original meaning and power of our holidays, I think. The Pagan Mysteries of Halloween shines a broader light on a very popular and generally lighthearted holiday, giving it more meaning and form than what we are accustomed to.

~ Nellie Levine 
http://northernskystudio.com/

http://fionnmara.com/

Follow us on FaceBook   

Autumn Blessings and Balance

I’m not sure what excites me about this time of year. On one hand, I feel a hesitative approach to fall, as the days grow colder and I know that soon I will need to order oil to heat the house, and (sigh) get the snow shovel out, and I almost wish I could slow the progress to the colder months of the year. But, on the other hand, my soul is stirred by the crispness of the air, the clearness of the sky, the urgency of the birds – I see more woodpeckers these days and hear more blue jays and crows in the trees. There is a wildness all about, as leaves begin to change their colors with sudden abandon, and are carried in circles by the wind, to the ground.

With the autumnal equinox (or Mabon, as many pagans call it), light begins to die, as the days become shorter and darkness grows. But with these shortening, cooling days, we are provided with sustenance and security. Pumpkins and apples, corn stalks and hay bales – these symbols of fall offer comfort, as do the rich fall hues of orange, gold, red, and brown, the delicious aromas of slowly baked and roasted foods, and the warmth of ovens and wood-fires. We are nourished with deep goodness, to face the dimming days, to accept and understand darker aspects of the natural cycle of birth, life, death, and rebirth.

The autumnal equinox is a harvest holiday in pagan traditions, and as such, is a wonderful time to put on a feast featuring locally grown foods, expressive of thanks for the abundance we have been given. It is also a great time to allow balance in one’s life – as day and night are equal on this day, so might we find equilibrium within.

If you are interested in reading more about the autumnal equinox as a holiday, you may enjoy these books:

Autumn Equinox: The Enchantment of Mabon by Ellen Dugan
Mabon: Celebrating the Autumn Equinox by Kristin Madden

~ Nellie Levine
Black Rabbit Jewelry on Etsy
Facebook