Solstice Tradition

 

 

It's all to do with the annual orbit of the Earth around the Sun.

 

Because the Earth leans on a 23 degree angle, for 6 months the Southern Hemisphere is leaning towards the sun, then, for the next six months the Northern Hemisphere leans in.

 

We see this as the Sun appearing to rise further and further and further south, until, one day, it stops and starts going north again. That day is our Summer Solstice - December 21-22.

  

Then, when the Sun, 6 months later, reaches its furthermost north point, we in the southern hemisphere have our shortest day, or Winter Solstice - June 21-22. In the northern hemisphere, the June Solstice is, of course, their Summer Solstice.

  

Astrologically, the Solstice points are 0 degrees Cancer (June) and 0 degrees Capricorn (December). They are one of the foundations of Astrology and are recognised as powerful beginning points.

 

Traditionally they have been celebrated as highly charged points in the Time/Space: A time of honouring our connections with Earth and with the Cosmos.

 

Winter Solstice observances were held by virtually every culture in the world. Solstice rites were practiced among such diverse groups as Native South Americans, Celts, Persians, Orientals, and Africans. Solstice was known as Sacaea to the Mesopotamians, as the Festival of Kronos to the ancient Greeks, and as Saturnalia to the Romans.

Solstice rites are one of our oldest celebrations, dating back to the dawn of modern civilization some 30,000 years ago. For ancient peoples, the Winter Solstice was an awesome, mysterious, and powerful phenomenon.

 

Many different cultures the world over perform Solstice Ceremonies. At their root: an ancient fear that the failing light would never return unless humans intervened with anxious vigil or antic celebration.

 

Harsh winter conditions and scare food supplies made survival risky. Vegetation was dormant, migratory birds had long since disappeared to warmer climes, and many animals had vanished into hibernation. As the weeks drew closer to the solstice, it was a time of anxiety over ever-darkening days. What if the sun lost its vigor and never came back? Would light and warmth simply fade away forever? Would the earth be wrapped in eternal night and cold?

 

Early peoples, who were living at the mercy of a hostile environment, were also highly sensitive to natural phenomena and thus held supplicating rites to the forces of nature as a way of ensuring the return of longer, warmer days. To early cultures, the Winter Solstice represented the death of the old solar year and the birth of the new. Solstice festivities, accordingly, marked this planetary turning point away from darkness and the blessed return to light. And although the comforts of today's modern civilization now shield us from winter's harsh effects. We encourage you to return to the great outdoors & join us in honouring the Winter Solstice as this is an age old tradition.