Winter Solstice

December 21st marks the longest night and the shortest day of the year, also known as Winter Solstice. It signals the sun's slow return and the promise of longer days ahead. This day has themes of celebration, reflection, renewal, and had been celebrated in a variety of forms for over a millennia. 

In ancient Norse traditions, the Winter Solstice was celebrated as Yule, which is a twelve-night festival honoring the return of the light. Symbolism included fire and evergreen trees that represented resilience and decorated to celebrate life's endurance through its darkest days. 

In ancient Roman times, this season was known as Saturnalia and dedicated to the god of Saturn, who was in charge of time and agriculture. In those days, this period included revelry and gift-giving.

Celtic traditions marked this day as the day light won over darkness and the annual memory of myths around the Oak King (light and growth) versus the Holly King (death and winter).

Even today, the winter solstice holds a special place in our collective consciousness as a time of reflection and renewal. As the natural world appears to pause in the depths of winter, many people use this period to turn inward, contemplating the year that's passing while looking forward to the promise of lengthening days ahead. The solstice reminds us that even in the darkest moments, change is constant - just as the Sun begins its journey back toward summer's warmth, every ending contains within it the seeds of a new beginning.

How you can honor the winter solstice 

This season is a great time to reflect and decide on what you want to take into the new year. Spend some time thinking through what you want the next year to hold for you and what you want to release from this past year. Light a candle (I recommend our Winter Solstice candle!) and settle down with a journal or fresh sheet of paper. 

Number a sheet 1-12 and make 12 goals or actions you'd like to take in 2025. They can be simple things like "I want to try being meat-free" or "I want to wake up an hour earlier" to bigger goals like "I want to save 10% of my income" or "I want to get into a long term relationship".  

Once you're done, rip them up into twelve strips and fold them into smaller chunks of paper. Starting on the 22nd through the 31st, use your candle to burn one goal each night without looking at the goal you are burning. Then, on the 31st, open the last goal and look at it. That's the goal that you should focus your energy on in the coming year. Let the universe take care of the other eleven, after all, you can only focus on so much at once! Once you've settled with the goal, also let the flames take that one too. 

Yuletide 

The winter solstice is intrinsically woven into the ancient Germanic celebration of Yule, a twelve-day festival that became one of the deepest roots of many modern winter holiday traditions. During this time, which was known as Yuletide, Germanic peoples would honor the Wild Hunt, the god Odin, and the natural cycle of the sun's rebirth, marking the gradual return of longer days after the year's longest night.

The Yule celebration was rich with customs that still echo in today's winter festivities. The tradition of the Yule log, for instance, wasn't originally the chocolate cake we know today, but rather a specially chosen log that was meant to burn through all twelve days of the festival, with its ashes being saved to protect the home in the coming year. The practice of decorating with evergreen branches, which we now associate with Christmas trees, began as a Yuletide tradition representing eternal life and protection during the barren winter months.

Many of Yule's symbols carried profound meaning: the holly represented protection and masculine energy, while the ivy symbolized feminine energy and growth in darkness. The colors of red and green, which now dominate modern Christmas decorations, trace back to these Yuletide plants. Even Santa Claus bears some resemblance to ancient descriptions of Odin, who rode through the winter sky on his eight-legged horse Sleipnir during the Wild Hunt. Modern traditions where children leave treats for Santa parallel ancient Germanic customs of leaving offerings for Odin during this sacred time.