COLUMNIST: W.R. Valentine–Coming Home
The Winter Solstice and the Spiritual Harvest
I was thinking about Santa and Satan having the same letters and that St. Nick and Old Nick seem too close for comfort when Islamic weirdoes hijacked my company website in Saudi Arabia the other day. That got the boys and girls in Homeland Security jumping up and down. My wife was worried some Sgt. Friday character might suddenly appear on the answering machine, requesting an interview. Connecting to the almighty server, (who art in cyberspace), I logged in under ultra-secret-webmaster protocols (known as “prayers” in the business) and left a little present for the next time the delegation from the Middle Ages comes web-crawling.
WITH ANY LUCK, it should turn their unholy hard drives into high-speed data blenders and turn their personal identification information into a digital nightmare. All this may never come to pass unless the future has a galactic memory and I learn how to surf the digital divide. The winter solstice is upon us and an orgy of electricity is blazing all over the snow-covered vistas of the Sunrise Side.
The solstice has been with us so long it has become a part of our genetic memory. It is written in stone in Africa, painted in the caves of Asia, and drawn on the skies over Athens. It is the celebration of the spirit, that spark of life, that scent of love. The journey beyond the yard’s edge, a brief glimpse of God in heaven.
FIRE IS an important symbol of this season. Hanging stockings on the mantle, lighting candles in the window, these are age-old ways it has been celebrated. Fire was discovered by man while woman was pointing at the sun. There is a reason why we call this place Mother Earth. Fire symbolizes the sun, providing light and warmth. After the solstice, the sun becomes stronger as the days grow longer. To put a candle in the window on the darkest days of the year is a custom that is older than language but only a child of thought. To some people this season marks the birth of the sun again after winter. To others, it is a birth that brought forth the son of man.
DURING THE latter days of the Roman Empire (400 A.D.), Constantine decreed Christ Mass should be observed on the same days as the pagan rites of solstice, proclaiming, “While the heathen are enchanted with their profane rites, the Christian may perform holy ones in peace.” That made sense to a lot of people, in fact, most of the people who have ever lived have had an instinctive proclivity for faith and the solstice. The winter solstice has long been celebrated as the birth of the sun, of light, of life itself.
Ancient Persians added bonfires to bring good luck on this day. They sent birds aloft bearing torches of dried grass to deliver the sun. The Romans celebrated the birth of Sol Invictus, the Unconquered Sun, on December 25. No one really knows the date of birth for Jesus of Nazareth. They didn’t have very good computers in the year zero. The fact is, people on earth have always gotten together this time of the year and remembered things that make them think about the fruits of the soul.
OUR WORD soul comes from the Latin, sol, meaning the sun. The word solstice also comes from Latin, sol stetit, meaning, “The sun stood still.” This is because the sun rises and sets further south on the horizon as winter solstice approaches but then it starts to go the other way, giving the appearance that it is standing still for about a week. The ancient Romans celebrated the solstice with a festival in honor of their god of agricult
Electric lights on our homes at this time of year reflect an ancient Celtic reverence for the candle as a symbol of light during the darkest time of the year. The harvest of the spirit is joy, love, faith, peace, fidelity, patience, goodness, gentleness, and self-control. As St. Paul said, “Against such things there shall be no law.”
W.R. Valentine can be reached on-line at valentine@gypsywriter.com