On the Winter Solstice

And the returning of the light

Lately, I’ve been feeling like The Grinch.

Honestly, that’s really unusual for me. I’ve always loved the Christmas season, and in fact I’m essentially my family’s version of Buddy the Elf. But this year I find myself irritable with the busy-ness and commercialism of it all. Buying, buying, buying while the world is burning feels like (and is) a huge disconnect.

More and more I’m finding my joy in the Wheel of the Year and now in the concept of Yule, the celebration of the returning of the light. It’s an ancient European event lasting for 3 days around the Winter Solstice, that was overwritten by a 10th century Norwegian King named Haakon. To force conversion to Christianity, he declared Yule to be replaced with an event to honor the birth of Christ, even though historically Jesus was known to have been born in the Spring. He wove in pagan traditions like feasting, drinking, evergreen decorations and the Yule log to make it an easier transition, but put the focus on Christ’s birth. Yule was effectlively outlawed, and that’s your history lesson for the day!

Centuries later, though, some people are still celebrating Yule. I think it’s even experiencing a revival. This brings me to Winter Solstice…the longest night of the year.

The word solstice translates to “sun stands still,” and that means twice a year we have this opportunity to call in stillness…to pause and reflect. Combined with this longest and darkest of nights, it means that now is a time for rest and contemplation, with an openness to growth that is slow and unforced. This is the time when the seeds of new life, new ideas and new projects are nurtured and nourished with the promise of real momentum as we approach Spring.

But wait…that isn’t how we normally spend this time here in the Western world, is it?

Right now we’re at the height of hustle and bustle, moving frantically from one thing to the next, making ‘resolutions’ for immediate change, and swearing to get gung ho on January 1st.🙄

It’s no wonder people burn out and the gyms are empty again by the end of February. We are depleted.

In other parts of the world, they’re better at remembering what our ancient ancestors knew and what our bodies FEEL: that this is a time for sacred rest and reflection.

The Native Americans knew this. The December full moon is named Manidoo Giizisoons by the Ojibwe, which translates to Little Spirit Moon. Manidoo means spirit, meaning this moon is infused with a sense of the ethereal and the sacred. During this time, the Ojibwe people embrace a quieter, more contemplative journey including sewing, crafting, sharing stories, and connecting with nature. To me, it sounds so much like the Scandinavian concept of hygge, which I adore and practice every year.

The word hygge is derived from a term meaning well-being, and embodies coziness, togetherness and celebrating the colder months in your everyday life. Candles, warm tea or cocoa under a thick blanket, warming and nourishing foods, twinkling lights, relaxing music, reading a good book and spending time in nature.

That might seem counterintuitive when it’s cold outside, but I promise you it’s just as important in this season as it is in others. If you’ve ever stood outside and looked up in wonder at the falling snow, stopped to marvel at the sparkling ice encasing the bark of a tree, bundled up on a chilly evening in front of a warm campfire, or stared up at the stars on a cold, crisp night, you know it sparks something inside you and makes you feel more alive.

And that’s what Yule, the Winter Solstice celebration, is all about…reigniting the spark inside you by honoring the returning of the light in Nature. Because believe it or not, every day from December 22nd on we’ll have a few more minutes of sunlight until the next Solstice and longest day of the year in June. While Daylight Savings Time has most of us here in the U.S. feeling like we’re being plunged into darkness for the next 3 months, the truth is that we’ve been experiencing more and more darkness since the beginning of Summer and that THIS is the turning point. This is when the Sun stands still for a moment, then sets us on a course of increasing illumination.✨

This year has been dark. We’ve felt it in our hearts and souls. What better time to focus on resting, wintering, learning, preparing and restoration? It begins with Yule and encompasses hygge, and we’re all craving it.

I have a few Winter Solstice rituals to share.

Every year on the Solstice, I take a long hike in nature and celebrate the unseen stirrings of new growth with the forest. I breathe deeply and imagine the quiet energy of renewal filling my body. It’s that in-between space of rest and renewal that completely rejuvenates me and reminds me that there’s so much beauty in the lovely bones of Winter…when everything is laid bare and preparing to start again.

I also meditate on my year beginning with January, and list all the things I’m proud of or that were meaningful to me. They don’t have to be huge “accomplishments.” For instance, this year I’m proud that I started greenhouse growing (even though it’s been far from perfect), that I’ve spent around 120 hours in the forest, and of the progress I’m making in my latest herbal course. I’m remembering special times my husband and I spent with our foster kids, our family trip to King’s Island, impactful books I read, meaningful talks with people I care about, seeing the auroras, and the little animals and insects I’ve befriended throughout the year.

There are things I’m grieving, too. I’ll write those down on a piece of paper and (safely) burn that paper with a candle set for just that intention - to honor it and let it go without judgment.

Then I’ll nourish myself with warming teas and root vegetables, and maybe curl up with a thick blanket and a beautiful book.

I need the pause. We all do.

Mama Earth is gracious in reminding us that there is always renewal…and always hope on even the darkest days. The closer I align myself with her, the more joy I feel.

We can be intentional with the opportunity we have on the Solstice and give ourselves permission to breathe, rest and reflect before we begin again. I hope you give yourself that permission.

✨Wishing the hyggiest of Winter Solstices✨,

Lori

Sweet Darkness by David Whyte

“When your eyes are tired the world is tired also.

When your vision has gone no part of the world can find you.

Time to go into the dark where the night has eyes to recognize its own.

There you can be sure you are not beyond love.

The dark will be your womb tonight.

The night will give you a horizon further than you can see.

You must learn one thing: the world was made to be free in.

Give up all the other worlds except the one to which you belong.

Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet confinement of your aloneness to learn

anything or anyone

that does not bring you alive is too small for you.”

(Art by Nat’s Enamel)