The Winter Solstice is a solar celebration that marks the shortest day of the year. Astronomically, the Winter Solstice occurs when the Earth’s axis is tilted farthest away from the sun, generating the least illumination (on our half of the globe). This gives us the year’s shortest day, and also signifies that the light will begin returning. In a sense, the Winter Solstice is the “dark moon,” or “new moon” of the year. It represents a time for reflection, dreaming, planting seeds, gathering with loved ones, and exploring the hidden wildness and possibility within. When thinking of the Winter Solstice, we often think of sacred sites such as Newgrange (3200 CE) or Stonehenge (2500 CE). These are some of the earliest remaining examples of structures that were constructed to be illuminated by the sun during the Winter Solstice, demonstrating our ancient ancestors’ relationship with the stars and the cyclical nature of our planet. In those days, there was a more dependent relationship with agriculture and survival in a practical sense. The slow, but sure, stretching of daylight that followed, confirmed that the world had begun its return to spring and sustainable life. It’s important to remember that time was not measured by a clock designed to enhance labor or consumption. Time was mythic, alive. Cyclical points in time such as the solstice or Equinox offered relief from time’s numinosity, and anchored our ancestors back into its circular nature. It’s no coincidence that modern celebrations of Christmas, Hannakuh, and Kwanzaa all occur around the Winter Solstice, nor that they hold traditions of gift-giving, evergreen trees, lighting candles, and expressing gratitude with loved ones.
While Christmas is a vessel to celebrate the birth of Christ (considered an “eternal sun”), the Solstice time was most likely chosen to represent this particular holy day so it could merge with long-standing pagan celebrations, such as Yule and Saturnalia. “Yule” is the name given to the old Germanic and Norse celebration of the returning daylight (called “jul”). This was a time of singing, dancing, feasting, and – perhaps its strongest legacy – bringing evergreen trees and branches indoors to signify endurance through the darker months. There was also a ceremonial burning of the yule log, honoring our ability to create light (fire) to survive the winter. While evergreen trees are brought indoors as decoration, they are also used as firewood, hence the Yule log itself. We can’t talk about the solstice without acknowledging the magic and medicine the trees continue to share with us. The week-long Roman festival of Saturnalia has solstice roots. It was a time of wild, primal energy that celebrated illumination, liberation, and prosperity, all ecstatic elements of Saturn’s rule. Saturn is often placed in a very serious box of consequence, discipline, and time management in today’s pop astrology, when in actuality, Saturn is also a workhard, play-hard daddy who enthusiastically imbibes the milk and honey of the earth. Saturn’s legacy is still very present in solstice tradition, as the Winter Solstice marks the start of Capricorn season, the zodiac sign under Saturn’s rule. This archetype offers a poetic understanding of the medicine, magic, and mystery that seeps into our reality with the darkness of the Winter Solstice. Capricorn energy, as with Saturn, is often given an unnecessarily one-dimensional description that leaves out the secret ingredient, the je ne sais quoi of Capricorn’s collective magic and medicine: mysticism. Capricorn is represented by the seagoat, a mythical creature with the body of a goat and the tail of a fish. It is both aquatic and terrestrial, of the water and of the earth.
The element of water symbolizes the unseen, housing hidden depths, metaphysical origin, non-dualism, ancestral wisdom, inspiration, and dreams. The element of Earth represents the cycle of seed to sickle, devotion, resources, and embodiment. The seagoat represents a vital and ancient bridge between these two elements: a path of trust, gnosis, and actualization. This Winter Solstice, I invite you to find time to slow down. Light a candle, and listen to your heart. Go for a walk in your neighborhood and return home with some treasures. Host a potluck with your loved ones. Look up at the night sky. Smell the cold. Remember your body and your ancestors are made of stardust, earth, and dreams. Remember that you have agency in how your life unfolds. Remember that we live in a world that glows and spins with time and space, and that the Winter Solstice is an exquisite, cyclical reminder that we rest in the great shimmering possibility of it all. ••
Want help sifting through the energy of this year so you can best engage with the alchemy of the winter solstice? Book a “Solstice Session” with Beth to illuminate the magic and medicine here to support you at this threshold. Each session is intuitively guided and often includes tarot, spirit channeling, and mediumship. This and other reading sessions can be found at nearbethexperience.com.
