Celebrate the Winter Solstice by Honoring Our Earth

The Shortest Day of the Year

On Saturday, December 21, 2024, indigenous people and others who practice nature based spiritual paths celebrate the Winter Solstice.  Winter Solstice has been observed as a holy day for millennia, since before humans kept records, because it marks the shortest day of the year and the return of the sun to warm the Earth for the growing season ahead.  Historians have found that ancient stone circles, pyramids, and other prehistoric stone constructions are oriented to observe the winter and summer solstices each year.  Some of those monuments can be dated by determining when the rising sun on the solstices lined up precisely with certain markers on the monuments.  This shows us that some constructions date to over 12,000 years ago.

Ancient humans, indigenous peoples, and celebrants of the Celtic revivalist traditions observe the ‘Wheel of the Year’ to mark the movements of the sun.  Winter Solstice marks the shortest day, in terms of the hours and minutes of daylight, while the Summer Solstice marks the longest day of the year.  The equinoxes, observed in March and September, are those days when the days are equally divided between day and night.

The sun will rise at 7:17 AM on the Winter Solstice in the Williamsburg area, and will set at 4:53 PM.  This shortest day, and longest night, will provide only nine hours and thirty-five minutes of daylight.  While this is the length of the day from December 18 through the 23^rd, the seconds counted leave the 21^st as the shortest of these six days.  December 24 is ten seconds longer than the 23^rd, but that is enough to bring its length to nine hours and thirty-six minutes.  It marks the actual return of the sun, with every day after lengthening by a few seconds throughout the rest of December and until the Equinox on March 20, 2025, and then until the Summer Solstice on June 20^th when there will be nearly fifteen hours of daylight.  The solstices are reversed for those living in the Southern Hemisphere, but they are still observed south of the equator.

 

History and Mythology

It often feels like the Winter Solstice is the most emotionally charged period of the year for those of us living in the Northern Hemisphere.  Its roots run deeply into our history, into our religious practices, and deeply into our psyches.  Students of history know that the roots and meaning of the Christian feast day of Christmas are millennia older and run far deeper than the Christian traditions dictate.

Modern Christmas

Our modern American Christmas is a very rich and diverse holiday, with many layers of customs and meaning.  The date chosen for Christmas, December 25, had served as the birthday celebration for Mithra, associated with the “Unconquerable Sun,” in the once very popular Roman mystery religion known as Mithraism.  Pope Julius I designated this date for the Feast of the Nativity of Jesus around 330 CE, perhaps to encourage Romans to celebrate the occasion in a Christian context.  The Canonical Gospels don’t mention the date that Jesus was born.

Mithraism, popular with the Roman military, had its roots in ancient Persia, and deeper still in the more ancient Mesopotamian and Egyptian cultures.  The Egyptians celebrated the re-birth of Osiris each year on December 25 through January 1.  The Greek god Dionysus was also said to have been born on December 25, along with several other gods in antiquity.  These ancient cultures  recognized the Sun as the source of life and all goodness and it was a potent symbol associated with their religious practices.

December 25, a few days past the long, dark night of Winter Solstice, has been celebrated as the “birthday of the sun” for as many years as we have histories to remember.  This is why evergreen branches, red berries, circular wreathes, candles and lamps are all such important parts of our celebrations.  Wreathes symbolize eternal life, red berries symbolize the sun, and evergreen plants remind us that life goes on even through the winter when so many plants are dormant and animals are hibernating. Candle flames comfort us through the dark nights and remind us that life goes on, even through difficult times.  These symbols all celebrate the annual return of the sun after the solstice and the promise of continuity from one year to the next.

 

 

Our customs around the celebration of this winter festival run deep into human history. They include traditions from the Middle East and from parts of Europe north and west of Rome. Our modern Christmas and Hanukah celebrations are a mix of secular and sacred, ‘indigenous,’ ‘pagan,’ ‘Jewish,’ and ‘Christian.’  It is confusing to explain oftentimes, and tricky to tease the tangled threads of meaning one from another.

 

Shamans and Santa

Much of our popular secular Christmas mythology and iconography originated in Northern Europe and Asia; at a time when shamans guided and healed their tribal people in those centuries before Christianity spread to these areas. This is where we find the origins of our much-loved Santa Claus, who traveled by moonlight and starlight to bring gifts to all the people.

 

In those days, the people envisioned their world as situated in the middle portion of the World Tree, or Yggdrasil.  The roots of the tree, traditionally an ash tree, reached down into the Earth, and its branches reached up into the heavenly realms around the North Star.  The indigenous shamans could travel up the World Tree into the heavenly realms to confer with the heavenly beings after ingesting particular plant and fungi medicines.  The shaman could also travel down through the roots of the Yggdrasil, to the underworld, on his or her spirit quests.  Evergreen Christmas trees, covered in lights, stars, and ornaments, are an echo of the World Tree, or Yggdrasil, celebrated since ancient times.

 

 

For a shaman, nature comes alive in ways we normally can’t perceive.  The energies of nature take form, become visible, and can communicate, sometimes in the guise of elemental beings.  They help the shaman solve problems, lead, and heal the people.   That is why Christmas stories so often include elves, fairies, and other magical beings, like our Santa Claus, who can travel around the entire planet in a single night.  These stories and traditions have their roots in shamanic cultures.

 

 

Gifts and Giving

There really is no easy way to separate the secular from the spiritual in our Christmas traditions.  Indigenous shamans gave gifts to their people at the Winter Solstice, sometimes even the fungi or plant substances that allowed the people to also ‘see’ the spirit world and to share in these enlightening experiences. The gift of Communion is given on Christmas Eve in most Christian churches today, as has been the custom for many centuries. The historical Saint Nicholas, 270-343 CE,  was a Christian Bishop, in an area of present day Turkey, when Christians were still oppressed.  He is remembered for his kindness and for giving gifts to the needy.  Many miracles have been attributed to him since his passing.  The Feast of St. Nicholas is celebrated on December 6 in Western churches each year, and on December 19 in Eastern Orthodox churches.   In our era, families often exchange gifts on Christmas Eve, before finding the gifts left by Santa, Father Christmas, Pere-Noel,  St. Nicholas, or Kris Kringle on Christmas morning.

 

 

In Great Britain, gifts are most often given on Boxing Day, December 26.  This custom dates back to the Roman festival of Saturnalia, celebrated during the Winter Solstice from December 17th to the 23^rd.  During Saturnalia, amidst much partying, gifts were given to servants and children and the alms boxes were opened and distributed to the poor.  It has been customary for employers to give gift boxes to servants, employees, and tradesmen in appreciation for good service throughout the year.  Today, December 26^th is a major shopping day in many countries.

When gifts are given on Twelfth Night, January 6, it is done in commemoration of “Three Kings Day,” when the three kings or Magi from the East gave their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to the baby Jesus.  Gifts are given on January 6 in Spain and Latin America.  The Eastern Orthodox Christian churches celebrate the Feast of the Nativity on January 6.

 

A Universal Festival of Light

When have we seen such agreement among so many different nations and cultures across millennia of history, as we see in the matter of celebrating the Winter Solstice?  Whatever we may call it; we mark it with gifts and gatherings, remembrance, spiritual renewal, and great joy.  It is a festival of light, and keeping it well illuminates the rest of the year with love and good feeling.

 

Honoring the Nature Spirits

Indigenous and Earth based spiritual traditions also honor the Earth itself, and the animals, birds, trees, and other plants, with gifts just as we offer gifts to our family and friends.  The one creative spirit lives in everything it creates and sustains, including animals, plants, and people.  This spiritual, living essence within every living thing is acknowledged, honored, and cared for.  It is a common practice for a neo-Druid, Wiccan, or an indigenous tribal shaman to make offerings of tobacco, incense, pure water, a strong beverage, candy, music,  crystals, or other items during their work with the land, its trees and its creatures.  Much of this work is to heal and restore damaged areas of the environment.

 

 

Climate Anxiety Leads to Positive Action

Today, during this time of global warming, climate chaos, environmental destruction, and the extinction of so many animal, insect, and plant species; some people are drawn to those indigenous and neo-pagan organizations that work together to help heal and restore our damaged ecosystem.  Ecological restoration, conservation, and tree planting are key activities of members of the Ancient Order of Druids in America (AODA), which is based in eastern North America. Others may join educational and service groups like the Master Gardeners and the Master Naturalists, the Native Plant Society, the Coastal Virginia Wildlife Observatory, or the Arbor Day Foundation.  We can work with the Clean County Commission, or similar groups, in our city or county to reduce litter and pollution.  Each of these groups helps people form partnerships with others of like mind to accomplish important goals.

More people each year experience ‘climate anxiety.’  We see the destructiveness of storms, the problems associated with heat and drought, and the many unforeseen changes to our environment. Many feel like we want to do something, anything, to help restore balance to our environment.

Each of us can honor our environment and create positive changes through specific restoration practices to heal the Earth.  We can help our own environment to become more fertile; to support more life.  Some things we may already do routinely.  But there is always something more we can do, and often easily and with little expense.  Environmental restoration is a gift we can give to our planet in every season, but particularly at the Winter Solstice.

 

Here are some things we can do at the Winter Solstice to help the Earth during this time of natural rest and dormancy:

1. Build and enrich the soil.  Chop leaves and spread them under shrubs and on planting beds.  Renew pine tag or ground bark mulch around woody plants and perennials.  Add finished compost when planting new plants.

2. Compost yard and kitchen waste. Establish a vermiculture bin to quickly convert plant-based waste into enriched soil.

3. Collect, save, and sow the seeds of native plants.  Sow seeds directly or use them to make seed balls to sow in the spring.

4. Prune woody plants strategically to remove damaged or diseased wood, open them up to more sunlight, and to make them more productive when growth begins again in the spring.

5. Plant bulbs, trees, shrubs, and perennials to increase the biodiversity in your own yard and to clean the air. Evergreen species, and those that sequester nitrogen as well as carbon dioxide will have an even greater impact.  Consider how a plant functions in its environment and pay more attention to the ecological services it provides than to its appearance or provenance.

 

 

6.  Honor the birds and insects overwintering in your yard by waiting to cut back stems from last year’s growth where eggs or larvae may be sheltering during winter. Once cut back, don’t throw this material away, particularly if it still holds dried seeds.  Find an out of the way place where it can be stacked until the insects emerge in spring.

7. Feed and provide fresh water for birds and small mammals during the winter.

8.  Grow winter blooming plants to support hungry pollinators when they emerge on warm days.

 

 

9.  Imagine ways to slow the flow of storm water on your property so more soaks into the soil, and so that erosion is reduced or prevented. Winter is a good time to improve the infrastructure of a yard to make it more functional.

10. Identify ways to conserve energy and reduce the waste and pollution your family generates. Implement at least one new habit that you can sustain through the coming year.

11.  Carry a bag for trash collection when you go for walks, and make it a practice to clean up trash, when possible and practical, in areas you visit.

12.  Spend time quietly outside and away from screens and other media.  Listen, watch, and learn.  Notice improvements you can make in your own yard, or things that need to be done before spring.  Learn what you can about the plants and animals in your area.

13.  Choose an environmental cause or wildlife conservation group to support.  If you don’t have land to plant trees and garden, contribute to a non-profit that plants trees to restore damaged lands.  Educate yourself so you can participate fully.

 

 

Much can be accomplished during the quiet of winter, from Winter Solstice until the first stirrings of spring.   Let’s open our hearts and participate as fully as we can in the restoration and rejuvenation of our planet, accepting its wildlife and vegetation as gifts given to us to safeguard and to use wisely, for the greater good of all.

 

 

Photos by E. L. McCoy, Master Gardener and Tree Steward

Learn More:

Arvay, Clemens G., Marc Bekoff Ph.D, and Victoria Goodrich Graham. The Biophilia Effect: A Scientific and Spiritual Exploration of the Healing Bond Between Humans and Nature.

Bloom, Jessi, Dave Bloehnleim, and Paul Kearsley.  Practical Permaculture: for Home Landscapes, Your Community, and the Whole Earth. Timber Press. 2016.

O’Driscoll, Dana. Land Healing: Physical, Metaphysical, and Ritual Practices for Healing the Earth. REDFeather. 2024.

Ohlson, Eric.  The Ecological Landscape Professional : Core Concepts for Integrating the Best Practices of Permaculture, Landscape Design, and Environmental Restoration into Professional Practice. 2019.

Orion, Tao.  Beyond the War on Invasive Species: A Permaculture Approach to Ecosystem Restoration. Chelsea Green Publishing. 2015.

Ohlson, Eric.  The Regenerative Landscaper: Design and Build Landscapes That Repair the Environment.  Synergetic Press. 2023.