Winter Solstice

I don’t think I have looked forward to a holiday more in my life than the upcoming one. No, it is not Christmas, Hanukah, or Kwanzaa, but the celebration that I am fixated on this year is the Winter Solstice on December 21.

For us in the Northern Hemisphere, the Winter Solstice denotes the beginning of longer days and the progression to more light. This solstice celebrates the symbolic death and rebirth of the Sun. The seasonal significance of the Winter Solstice is the reversal of the gradual lengthening of nights and shortening of days. In cultures throughout history, Winter Solstice traditions have given people hope that sunny days lie ahead.

I’ve always been fascinated by the solstices and equinoxes. However, my most meaningful encounter with a solstice was the Winter Solstice Festival of the Sun observance I attended in Cusco, Peru, in 2014. I had the privilege of experiencing the Festival of the Sun held every year around June 24. Inti Raymi is the Peruvian name for the festival that has been observed for centuries by the Incas. It is a celebration and a sacrifice to the sun of God.

This Festival of the Sun is not just one day but several days of festivities. I spent two days in Cusco during the Festival. One day included endless parades of people walking around the city square wearing their native costumes and playing various musical instruments. The second day was a pageant in the hills near Cusco where the history of the Incas and their gratitude to the Sun for the harvest was portrayed.

Even though the festival occurred on the shortest day of the year, the ceremony celebrated the coming of new light and the new year that would bring more sun to the people. The pageant lasted for several hours with parades of people in bright costumes, plays performed to show history, and the continual aspects of appreciation displayed for what the earth had offered during the past year.

The spiritual meanings of the Winter Solstice for me is a time to reflect on the goodness and kindnesses of the past year. This year in particular, the Winter Solstice seems a powerful parallel reminder that in this darkness, I can connect with hope for the future and resonate with the promising light within me.

I am looking forward to the longer days and what they portend. The challenge to be grateful and hopeful is not always easy, but I welcome the opportunity to see more light coming into the world. This Winter Solstice will provide a time to pause and think about how the celestial cycles are symbolic of ever-present change.

Holidays of this season all have a relationship to darkness becoming light. On December 21, however, I will honor the sun and what it means to me. I will enjoy the sunrise and sunset and light a candle in the evening to reflect on the Winter Solstice as it represents the beginning of my new year.

PS Coincidentally December 21 is also the conjunction of Saturn with Jupiter in the SW skies–a once in every 800 years phenomenon. It escalates my appreciation for the 2020 Winter Solstice.