Maybe it’s the “sole” syllable in “Winter Solstice” that makes it sound like a lonely holiday. It is, after all, the shortest night of the year. One pictures the creeping twilight, the cold moon, a solitary celebrant lighting candles in the dark.
Happily, the reality is way brighter. Asheville families who celebrate this ancient Pagan holiday report feasting, present-exchanging and much merrymaking. Because, after all, the Winter Solstice (Dec. 22 this year) marks the return of the sun—the point from which the days imperceptibly begin to lengthen.
Accordingly, local mom Pamela B. Tiger and her 6-year-old son Rio decorate their Yule tree with cutouts of suns.
“We have yellow construction-paper ones that we made, with glitter,” she describes. “We also cut slices of citrus fruits, and dry them in the oven all day long, and hang them on the tree and around the house.” The largest paper sun, black on one side and yellow on the other, is hung on the doorknob.
“On Solstice morning, we turn it yellow side out in honor of the Sun’s return,” says Tiger, who deifies our nearest star by using capital letters. “We get up before sunrise. When we see Him peeking over the horizon, we whoop and holler and dance and sing Sun songs, and toss the Sun bread that we made the day before up to the Sun as an offering.”
At Tabetha Hedrick’s house, the Solstice-celebrating family—including 2-year-old Ayla and 3-month-old Sophie—welcomes not Santa Claus but the Holly King.
“He brings the girls one present each and stuffs their stockings,” says Hedrick.
But the party starts much earlier.
“Our family puts up the Yule Tree on the first of the month, and, leading up to Yule, we spend a lot of time talking about the change of the seasons and the gifts we have received this year from the Great Mother.
Winter Solstice where the sun don’t shine
by Melanie McGee Bianchi
The small, treeless city of Barrow, pop. 4500, sits at the top tip of Alaska—and is therefore the United States’ northernmost point.
Although the whole state experiences extended daylight and darkness respectively in the summer and winter, the sun doesn’t shine in Barrow for almost two months straight—in this seaside town, cozily situated on the Arctic Ocean 340 miles north of the Arctic Circle, that bright star sets on Nov. 18 and doesn’t show its golden face again until Jan. 24.
The native Eskimos that populate Barrow are mostly Presbyterian and probably don’t celebrate the Solstice per se—but any visitors missing the light in late December would do well to gaze upward between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m., when the astounding Aurora Borealis are likely to be splashing about in the night sky. In fact, the Northern Lights are traditionally most brilliant around the week of the Solstice.
The Geophysical Institute Auroral Forecast Page (http://www.gedds.alaska.edu/AuroraForecast) confirms a promising display in Barrow around Solstice time this year, predicting a “moderate to active” showing “from Dec 16th through the 25th.”
“The majority of our [extended] family,” she adds, “is Christian, so we are used to their presents and cards coming on Christmas, and they all call on Christmas.” However, Hedrick says she and her husband Jeremy “are teaching our girls that the world is filled with different faiths, and people celebrate on different days and in different ways—but it all comes from the heart and love, all with joy, giving, and the spirit of rebirth.”
About that “giving” part, Hedrick explains that, for her clan, it’s not just about the exchanging of presents within the family.
“It is very important to us to find small ways of giving back to others, such as collecting blankets for the [Western Carolina] Rescue Mission, gathering baby clothes for Open Arms, or sponsoring a needy child.”
It seems the spirit of holiday activism recognizes no religious barriers. But other exercises of Yule can be difficult to accomplish in a Christmas-centric society.
“We observe the Solstice sort of in addition to Christmas,” admits Hedrick. And that’s partly because “Christmas is the day allowed off of work for most people and the Solstice isn’t.” She also points out that “the majority of Christmas traditions were simple remakes of the Solstice celebrations.” Think caroling, mistletoe and the very date we know as Christmas. According to a passage on http://www.essortment.com, “from the Biblical description, most historians believe that Christ’s birth probably occurred in September ... [but] in 350, Pope Julius I declared that Christ’s birth would be celebrated on December 25. There is little doubt that he was trying to make it as painless as possible for [Solstice-celebrating] pagan Romans ... to convert to Christianity.”
Pamela Tiger exhibits a rather more inclusive attitude than Julius by welcoming a certain Christmas stalwart into her family’s Solstice celebration.
“We do Santa,” she says. “Santa is a God, and a Spirit, and we honor Him at this time of year.”
And, naturalmente, the Earth’s animal inhabitants also get their due. “We make edible treats for wildlife and hang them on the trees outside,” says Tiger. “We also have sparkling cider, and offer libations to the Earth and the newborn Sun.
“Solstice,” she emphasizes, “is our religious holiday.” Pagans recognize eight such observances, which Tiger describes as “spaced pretty equally throughout the year. They are for celebrating and honoring the turning of the seasons, which many Pagans call ‘the Wheel of the Year.’”
Yule, she says, “is very important. But that doesn’t mean it’s somber. It’s very mirthful and merry.”
[Melanie McGee Bianchi is a stay-at-home mom who moonlights as a freelance writer. She would like to swim in the Arctic Ocean before she dies.]
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