Happy Holidays!
Call it Christmas, Hanukkah, Saturnalia, Donghazhi, Diwali – it is the time to celebrate the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, signalling the gradual return of sunlight! December 21.
Yes, the coincidence of many religious celebrations and feasting at this time of year is related to millennia of us human beings following the cycles of the planet. My own ancestors, the Nordic people called it the Yule or Yuletide, and it was a time to honour ancestors and worldly spirits.
Do you hang a wreath on your front door? It originally symbolized the ongoing cycles of the year and protected your house from evil. Do you put lights on your tree and decorate your house with coloured bulbs? Those once symbolized the importance of the return of sunlight. Lights are quintessential in celebrations of the solstice, which we could conceive of as light’s triumph over darkness. The Romans honoured Saturn at this time of the year, and held feasts, gave gifts, and had big parties (perhaps orgies, not sure, being Romans). Sounds like the holidays to me!
The Druids considered mistletoe a symbol of good luck, associated with peace and reconciliation, I guess, through kissing. I’m in! In my house, there always is mistletoe at this time of year!
I imagine the awe of new Canadians from southern latitudes experiencing our northern short, dark, winter days for the first time! It can be distressing! Many come from places south of the equator where the shortest day of the year falls on June 21, for us, the summer solstice. This may also be culturally marked as a celebration of light. For instance, in the Quechua tradition this is Inti Raymi, which falls around June 21 each year. It is a huge, colourful, fun ritual event in Cuzco, Peru, marking the imminent lengthening of the days south of the Tropic of Capricorn.
We sometimes get hung up on minutiae and the trivial details of things, don’t we? We might ponder: “Should I carefully remove Christian references like ‘Merry Christmas’ to not offend?”, a valid consideration. Only half of Canadians are Christians, after all. But now, think about the depth of this tradition. In essence, we all want to celebrate the same thing and in the same way: Parties, lights, feasts, gifts, joy, thankfulness, peace, and harmony: that is, the return of the light at the winter solstice! How you name it, and how it fits into your life and belief system is only part of the picture!
Celebrate! Be joyful, and the light will return as of December 22! Decorate your heart out! Make Montgomery glow! Happy Yuletide, friends and neighbours!
Denise Brown
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