Melodi
Disaster Cat
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And so we come to the shortest Day of the Year and the Longest Night; a time when for thousands and thousands of years people have marked and celebrated in various ways.
Ancient Circles, Marks and Monuments mark this day in places around the globe - and for those who follow various Pagan revival paths, Norse Heathens, Wicca or even the old European Agricultural Year his is a time of retreat, lighting candles and fires to stave off the darkness by feasting and celebrating indoors.
Many modern Winter/Christmas Traditions come directly from the Ancient Traditions of the Germans, Celts and even Romans (who feasted during these days, celebrating among other things the birth of the god Mithras and the Feast of Saturnalia on the 17th).
The early church and later during the conversion of the North Lands around 1000 AD allowed the adaptation of many of these traditions and the continuation of others. Christians will recognize many common Yule practices like lighting a Yule Log, decorating with Holly and Mistletoe, Yule Trees, Pork Roasts, Fruit sweets, Family Feasting, the Honoring of lost loved ones and the giving of presents; all predate the modern Holiday and continue to be practiced by both Christians and Pagans alike.
For much of Europe, The Yule Season always was just that a Season, starting around early December and going through sometime in early January. But the Winter Solstice was special, it was an astronomical event that earlier than most folks can imagine early people figured out how to chart, track and predict with reasonable accuracy.
After all, this was the night that was the longest; the day the shortest and who knew for certain if some year perhaps the darkness would simply keep getting longer until the sun totally went away?
Therefore rituals like Yule Logs, bonfires and candles became terribly important to encourage the sun to return and bring life back to the earth for the coming year. While many early cultures did not see the Winter Solstice as the start of a New Year, they did see it as the start of the new cycle of the Sun returning and Night retreating.
So, this thread is the place to mark the Winter Solstice for those of us in the North and the Summer Solstice for forum members in the South (the longest Day and shortest night there).
Happy Solstice Greetings to all and a Blessed Yule Season as well!
Melodi
