Winter Solstice is the pagan holiday where the old and new meet. In the Northern Hemisphere, Winter Solstice is the shortest day and longest night of the year, while in the Southern Hemisphere, it is the Summer Solstice. Winter Solstice (also known as Yule) is one of the eight major sabbats in The Wheel of the Year. Winter Solstice marks the end of fall and the beginning of winter.
Darkness is our path from when we begin our lives and to when we end them. The Dark is intrinsically a part of us. During Winter Solstice, the veil hangs heavy. The first of the three dark harvests begins at Samhain when the veil is the thinnest; we visit with our ancestors and take stock of what we have harvested. Yule continues down this path as well, but it also brings with it the promise of brighter days ahead.
At winter solstice we are thick in the darkest part of the year, and the veil between our world and the shadow world is again at its thinnest. This longest night of the year is the holiday of the Ancient Crone aspect of the Goddess. It’s the holiday that celebrates the night, dreams, deep wisdom, ageing, death and rebirth. Pagan holidays are earth-centered, and celebrate the natural cycles of death and rebirth. These special days mark the time in the year when we take note of what is meaningful to us in the here and now. We take stock of time and place, marking the passage of time.
At Yule, we delve into the deep mystery found in life, death and rebirth. While Summer Solstice is seen as honoring the Gate of Life, Winter Solstice honors the Gate of Death when we make the shift from light to dark, and back again.
The darkness has arrived, and we are here to honor it by allowing ourselves to rest, renew, and reflect. This is a moment to recollect on the past year, to embrace new ways of thinking as well as to take into account what we are being called on to unlearn. This is a time for honoring the gifts in life as well as the grief we carry with us. The Winter Solstice aids us in celebrating the fact of our existence in the corporal world. Our ability to feel and experience is increased during this long, dark night of the soul, and that is what being alive is all about.
Below are some questions to spark off what burns brightest in you during the darkest time of year.
1 What have I achieved this year?
2 What do I continue to work on?
3 What is my focus for the coming year?
4 What about myself should I honor?
5 In which ways do my ancestors show up in my daily life?
6 As a future ancestor, what do I want to be remembered for?
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