Locals Shed Light On Meaning of Solstice
The Palm Beach Post
By Lona O'Connor, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 21, 2002
At 8:14 tonight, the sun will crawl into its southernmost position relative to the Earth, ending the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere.
It's the winter solstice (Latin: "Sun stands still") -- with just 10 hours and 28 minutes of daylight -- and the first day of winter.
Astronomically speaking, it's an unremarkable moment. But the winter solstice is loaded with much more meaning, going back to ancient days.
Since humans first banded together for survival, the solstice became the natural time to ruminate on death and loss, from the last dried-up crops to the disappearance of light itself, as it seemed, on those long dark nights. The more darkness, the more fear.
"In the wintertime, things seem most dangerous. The winter solstice is associated with that," said Ben Lowe, an associate history professor at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton.
Even now, for a small number of people -- about 6 percent of the U.S. population -- diminished light actually triggers depression.
For some of them, light is the cure. In Florida's year-round bright sun, fewer people suffer from seasonal affective disorder.
The rest of us may feel unaccountably sluggish, out of sorts and melancholy as the days grow short. Daylight-saving time only makes it seem worse. The shorter days actually started creeping up on us in late September, but when the clocks "fell back" in October, it was suddenly dark and gloomy by 6 p.m.
Logically, the invention of electricity -- light that we can control -- should have dispelled the primitive dread of darkness.
"But there are definitely cultural holdovers," Lowe said. "There may be a vestige of that in us still."
To Margaret Lempo, it seems natural that the winter dread persists in spite of technology. Lempo owns the Crystal Garden, a gift shop and spiritual center in Boynton Beach. Born a Catholic, she describes her spiritual practice now as being affected by an eclectic blend of Buddhism, Native American practices and other earth-centered religious ideas.
"To me, it's obvious. We're still connected with the cycles of the sky above us and the earth below us. Feeling depression and darkness (in winter) is not a coincidence. We go into the dark night of the soul," Lempo said.
Lempo and a group of about 100 people gathered at her shop Thursday to celebrate the solstice. They lighted candles to symbolically dispel the sadness and darkness of the winter. Like Lempo and her friends, a variety of groups -- Wiccans, pagans and New Agers -- will gather tonight and tomorrow to mark the solstice the old-fashioned way, as some people have done for about 7,000 years.
Their ceremonies will include prayer, rituals, play-acting, dancing, drumming and, of course, eating. These ceremonies center not on darkness, but on relief, optimism and renewal.
"The symbolism is the overcoming of darkness," said Cheryl Richardson, a Miamian whose coven will be celebrating the solstice tonight. "We welcome the birth of the sun, the reclaiming of the world."
Richardson, a Wiccan high priestess in the Circle of Isis Rising coven, also is owner of the Mystical Amulet store in Miami.
Sophia LeTourneau, a member of a Fort Lauderdale pagan group, will celebrate the solstice Sunday night. Her group will designate one man to wear black, symbolizing the dying year, and another to wear white, for the new year. They will all then form a procession outside, pouring wassail (hot-spiced cider) on the ground, a gift to invite the blessings of the deities.
"The ritual is to encourage the sun to come back," LeTourneau said.
Those who practice or study the old customs say it's easy to connect ancient and modern holiday practices. Historians note that, although the birth of Jesus Christ was recognized by Christians, it didn't become an official Christian holiday until the Roman emperor Constantine I deliberately superimposed Christmas to coincide with existing pagan celebrations in the year 354 A.D.
Christmas transformed the solstice from the old pagan "birth of the sun" into the "birth of the Son," Jesus Christ. But even with imperial encouragement, it took a couple hundred years before Christmas caught on in a big way with the common folk.
Many ancient solstice traditions live on quietly in modern culture, though now, like the holly and the ivy, they are relegated mostly to lines in Christmas carols. The yule log was lighted in Britain and Scandinavia at the solstice to dispel darkness and drear. Its remnants were re-lighted each year as a gesture of continuity. There still is an occasional Yule log to be found, even here in Florida.
"Fire is the mainstay of people to live and survive. We save some of the burned log to keep the energy alive," Richardson said.
The Christmas tree could be a descendant of the yule log, illuminated by candles or electric lights for symbolic rather than actual burning.
Santa Claus, and even Old Man Time at New Year's, could be a manifestation of the pagan Oak King or Holly King, who presided over solstice parties, representing the male principle which dominated the winter months. Egyptians and Romans gave gifts to children at winter solstice.
The 12 days of Christmas may come from ancient solstice celebrations that lasted 12 days. There may even be a connection between the modern-day office party, where bosses and workers mingle. During Roman Saturnalia celebrations, masters and slaves traded places and partied as equals, at least for those 12 days.
Holly and ivy were powerful plants to Druids. The bayberry was thought to bring prosperity. And then there's the food. And why not party? The darkest night also means the worst is over. From now on, each day will be about 45 seconds longer, until on June 21, the summer solstice and the longest day of the year, when we will get 13 hours and 45 minutes of daylight.
The Crystal Garden Bookstore and Spiritual Center is located at 2610 N. Federal Highway, Boynton Beach, FL 33435 (561.369.2836) and offers books, classes and workshops.
The Mystical Amulet Network - an Occult Emporium, is at 7360 SW 24th St. (Coral Way) #17A, Miami, FL 33155, (305) 265-2228.