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Winter Solstice is the longest night and shortest day of the year. Solstice marks the start of winter. It is also known as the returning of light. After the shortest day the sun starts to return and slowly but surely with it, the return of warmth and light.
Winter Solstice is December 21st, when the sun moves into Capricorn. Solstice is celebrating the rebirth of the sun and a pivotal point on our seasonal cycle
Solstices are the extreme points as Earth’s axis tilts toward or away from the sun—when days and nights are longest or shortest. On equinoxes, days and nights are equal in all parts of the world. Four cross-quarter days roughly mark the midpoints in between solstices and equinoxes. We commemorate these natural turning points in the Earth’s cycle. Seasonal celebrations of most cultures cluster around these same natural turning points.
December 21 Solstice/Winter: returning of the light—Kwanzaa (African-American), Soyal (Hopi), Jul (Scandinavian), Cassave/Dreaming (Taino), Chanukah (Jewish), Christmas (Christian), Festival of Hummingbirds (Quecha). Goddess Festivals: Freya (Norse), Lucia (Italy, Sweden), Sarasvati (India).
"The longest night gifts us with time to enter the darkness, fully. We hold our breaths with nature, where life is suspended, waiting in extremis. The stillness behind action gathers as we empty and trust in our renewal. What will you give/lose to the night?"
Oak Chezar © Mother Tongue Ink 2019
Bridges © Kate Langlois 2018
They infuse our energy with joy and sublime gratitude, make our chosen actions more potent. They are how we open the weave, bring in all the tender ways of the sacred, give unbroken ancestral connection back to ourselves.
Half of the Earth's quest for regenerative healing takes place in dormancy and darkness. She needs our fallow with the land and trees as much as she needs our activism.
Dark holy days are where we restore our depth, "see" the most far-reaching solutions especially during our bodies' times of heightened consciousness which include menstrual bleeding, giving birth, menopause, Elder age and dying.
Today there is more darkness than light. The alchemy of our shadow work is concluding. Light a candle to bring closure to this descent and illuminate the path forward. The compost is full of ways of being that no longer serve and require transformation. Let the old ways die their best death and transmute into the fertile soil for our dream seeds. We are at the beginning of our ascent towards the horizon.
Protect your vitality and move from a space of deep care and discretion. Continue to unapologetically enforce your boundaries. This is the time to ponder the gifts we are choosing to bring forward into community in the new year. Invest your energy in kinfolk with shared values and ideas. Create rhythms of deeply nourishing and expansive soul care practices. Infuse yourself with rest, faith and activities that make your heart sing.
-by Karen L. Culpepper © Mother Tongue Ink 2023
from pg 170 in We'Moon 2024
Mushroom Magic ¤ Diane Norrie 2020
Rejoice! For the Light is birthed once more, and we discover anew that the body and divinity are made of the same things. There is the breath of the holy across every lip, the kiss of renewal on every brow, the new-birthed cry of awareness in every throat, the fresh taste of wonder on every tongue, the touch of joy beneath each fingertip, rebirthed this day.
There may be stripes of uncertainty and patches of pain, long gray stretches and bursts of color, but each of us contributes to the pattern of the World Soul.
Breathe easy. Keep your eyes on those irrepressible silver linings, and keep your hands open. There is much work yet to be done.
Molly Remer © Mother Tongue Ink 2022
from We'Moon 2023 pg 168
Maria Milagros © Carmen R. Sonnes 2008
For ages past, Winter Solstice was celebrated and rituals of fire and light lit up the world on the darkest day of the year.
Historical evidence suggests that Winter solstice has been celebrated as far back as the stone ages. Monuments dating back to 3200 B.C can be found that align with the sunrise on solstice.
In medieval times, Winter solstice was a time of feating and celebration. Many farm animals and cattle were slaughtered, as famine was prevalent in these times and feeding extra mouths was worrisome.
Ancient Romans celebrated Saturnalia, a week-long celebration held in ancient Rome dedicated to Saturn, seen as a ruler of agriculture. To this day, Winter Solstice is still celebrated all around the region!
Candles traditionally and used in many Winter Solstice rituals. The Yule candle represents prosperity and to welcome in the coming light of the sun. Bring this light into your house and hearth!
Choose a bright sun color, yellows, whites and oranges. This candle is warmth and promise in the cold dark months of winter. Keep the candle burning all night, or as long as it. Similar to the Yule Log, a log kept burning all night to keep the darkness at bay during the longest night. Let these candles fill your home with their light. Turn off any electric lights and enjoy the glow of the fire.
If having fire in your home isn't safe, LED candles work wonders!
While you light the candle, say out loud or in your mind what warms your heart. What do you want to give thanks to on this dark day? What have you learned in the darkness? What do you want to bring to light?
Close your eyes and hold your words in your mind eye and light the candle. Watch it catch and glow with your intentions as it's bright light is cast throughout the room.
Enjoy your night! This is a time for quiet and love. Take extra care of your body and your loved ones.
Gift giving is also a wonderful tradition of Winter Solstice! Let your community warm you and show your gratitude for those you love in your life.
Solstice gifts should be meaningful and intimate. They often have close ties with nature.
Sometimes the biggest gift of all is being able to gather and hug our loved ones.
Forest Guardian © Lindy Kehoe 2015
Wake up early this day to see the sun rise over the horizon after the longest night! You made it! The darkest night has passed! Take a hike to a peak and let the cold frost wake you up! Greet the coming sun with reverence and love!
Or if you wish to stay home and warm, you can invite the sun inside and watch it rise over Stonehenge. Every year the English Heritage Organization live streams the sunrise at Stonehenge or take a virtual tour of the site! Learn more at english-heritage.org.uk
Creating a spiral labyrinth helps symbolizes the spiraling nature of the seasons. Winter Solstice normally marks the center. We walk in through Autumn and spiral out through spring and summer.
Stones or string lights are often used to mark the borders of the spiral. Candles can be used as well but make sure you watch your clothing!
The spiral action also represents turning inward for winter. Many animals are hibernating and nature is quiet. This time of year is ripe for meditation and intention setting.
Walk into the spiral, with each step go deeper into your breathe and your mind. Let your thoughts spin quietly away. Let go of your to-do lists, the deadlines, and embrace the darkness of the night. Leave a small gift or light a candle in the center. A gift to the winter and to yourself.
Sit in the center of the labyrinth. Slow your breath in the quiet of the night.
As you ready yourself to move outward again, remember to give thanks and gratitude.
To close the ritual, extinguish the light and let the darkness surround you and wait for the sun to return!
Desert Magic © Christina Gage 2017
Kwanzza (African-American): Celebration of feasting, dancing and gift giving. Kwanzaa has seven core principles and symbols: Unity, Self-Determination, Collective Responsibility, Cooperative Economics, Purpose, Creativity, and Faith. The 7 symbols of Kwanzaa are; Fruits/Vegetables, Straw Mat, candle holders, maize, gifts, a communal cup, and 7 candles in red, green and black symbolizing the core principles. Each day of the week long celebration is dedicating to one of the principals.
Soyal (Hopi): A purification ceremony intended to call back the sun from its journey. Gifts are exchanged and a space is created with elaborate beautiful decorations and filled with community and plenty of space to dance!
Chanukah (Jewish): A celebration of light involving 8 candles, to be lit throughout the week. It revolves around the story of the Maccabees who fought off their Greek/Syrian oppressors during a revolt to save the second Temple in Jerusalem. It also celebrates a miracle of light, where just a day's supply of oil allowed the menorah in the rededicated Temple in Jerusalem to remain lit for eight days. Each day of this festival a second candle is let, and by the 8th day the entire Menorah is light up! Small gifts are exchanged, and lots of feasting with potato Lakes and dradeal games.
Yalda (Iranian): Yalda, celebrated on the 20th / 21st of December, marks the last day of the ninth month, and the first day of the tenth month in the Persian calendar. It is a celebration of light overcoming the darkness and is considered the birthday of the Sun god Mithra. Pomegranates, watermelon, dried fruits and nuts are often eaten at family gatherings and overnight vigils during which celebrants have been known to tell stories the whole night through, awaiting the rising sun.
Inti Raymi (Inca): A festival of the sun, Originally celebrated by the Incas before the Spanish conquistadors arrived and included feasting and often sacrifices. Banned by the conquistadors, it was revived in the 20th century and is still celebrated today and many people travel from around the world to celebrate in Cusco.
—excerpt © Sophia Rosenberg 2018
I Have Seen One World
I have traveled an earth with no borders.
a round place where women
never birth enemy face,*
and flowers can never be foreign.
In countries not my own, the trees
are clearly kin to trees everywhere.
Mountains and waving grains
from one land to another
differ only as close cousins.
In all the countries, water
is our same generous Mother.
Everywhere birds sing, goats
and sheep ring their bells.
I have seen one world,
an earth without maplines where
flowers belong where they bloom.
We are everywhere the same,
short-lived creatures, longing
for nourishment, love and beauty—
one world, oh so clearly, one world.
— © Susa Silvermarie 2019
*from Rites of Ancient Ripening by Meridel Le Sueur
HeartSong © Colleen Koziara 2014
Mama Gaia
She walks dark
earthen places,
Her light shines
in all faces
She's fierce
and fires burning
hurrah
She's tree fern
and fishes,
the source
of earthly blisses
She's kindness
in a rainbow
hurrah
Oh Mama Gaia
—excerpt © Akefa Azu 2015
A. Levemark (Tranas, Sweden) I'm a gardener & an illustrator, who is passionate about permaculture. My roots are in Scandinavia and Britain, and I'm drawn to the folklore of both places. ihox.deviantart.com levemark@protonmail.com
Diane Norrie (Coquitlam, BC) Visual artist and teacup reader. I live in the Fraser River Valley in Small Red Salmon, BC. I am strongly influenced by a spiritual connection. It makes my work constantly changing and evolving.
Carmen R. Sonnes (OR) creates paintings to bring beauty, healing and balance to our planet. By acknowledging culture, the feminine and spirit in each work, she fulfills her purpose.
Christina Gage (New Mexico) creates soulful fine art inspired by the sacred feminine. Each painting carries the transmission of love and luminosity, a non-verbal prayer: Experience her online art gallery at christinagage.com
Colleen Koziara (IL) I lived my most formative years immersed in nature and filled with wonder. I strive to make each of my works a doorway. I hope the viewer sees through that doorway, the deeper magic within the image being mirrored back within themselves.
Akefa Azu (Slocan, BC) is a mixed race, conscious visual and performing artist. She lives in the kootenays on her hobby farm with her husband, mother, and beast-friends. Join her on-line community @akefamusic.com to see her upcoming passion projects.
Kate Langlois (San Francisco, CA) In my creative practice, I bring beauty to shadows. Celebrating diversity through the many spaces of the feminine. I view ordinary lives as extraordinary. Through the fractures of experiences I strive to amplify wholeness.
Jakki Moore (Norway) is an artist, illustrator and storyteller currently living in three places: Norway, Ireland and Bulgaria.
Lindy Kehoe is the illustrator of Mother Tongue Ink’s children’s book The Last Wild Witch, among many other various works! Lindy creates with the intention of painting portals of lucid dreaming, healing, and wonder. May all beings be free.
Maeanna Welti (OR—unceded Chinook land) is a writer, astrologer and witch. She is the author of the Healing Wheel Samhain to Samhain workbook. Maeanna offers readings, coaching, support for ancestral and personal healing, and teaches astrology and the fundamentals of witchcraft.
Oak Chezar (Jamestown, CO) a radical dyke, performance artist, Women's Studies professor, psychotherapist, writer, & semi-retired barbarian. She lives in a straw bale, womyn-built house. She just published Trespassing, a memoir about Greenham Common Womyn's Peace Camp. Whilst working & playing towards the decimation of patriarchy & industrial civilization, she carries water. oakchezar@gmail.com
Sophia Rosenberg lives and works “off the grid” on a small island in the Georgia Strait. Or you can visit Sophia's Etsy site
Susa Silvermarie (Mexico) I live and create joyfully in Ajijic Mexico. In 2021 I turn 74, and every year it gets better, my purpose clearer, my heart lighter. A Spoken word artist, widely published and anthologized writer known for her original work that delights the senses while calling the spirit. Look for her e-book, Tales from My Teachers on the Alzheimer’s Unit.
The Moon changes signs every two or two and a half days, and passes through all 12 signs of the zodiac every 27 and 1/3 days. That's one Sidereal Month. So we have ample opportunity to experience how the sign that the moon is in affects ourselves and those around us.
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This article goes over all of the eclipses, both lunar and solar, for the year, their dates and times, and theri specific, unique affects.
The year 2020 has been a rocky road for the whole year. What can we expect for 2021? Heather Roan Robbins has written the astrological prediction for our upcoming edition of We'Moon , where we have the entire article. Here is an excerpted sneak peek.....
Highlights of our desk top date book include information for every day:
"Together let us move from a space of restoration to a place of connection, celebration and exploration. Now is the time to begin to flesh out our insights after a time of deep recuperation. We trust the knowing and divine intelligence of Mother Earth, and soon we will sync ourselves with the energy of initiation and reinvention. We must lean into the resilient practices of our ancestors to help us germinate our creative seeds..." Imbolc or Candlemas, February 2nd, is a celebration of light and the first spark of spring.
Spring Equinox 2024 is Tuesday, March 19th at 8:06 pm PDT! Celebrate the official arrival of Spring and the start of Aries Season! Explore Spring Equinox rituals and traditions, and get inspired for Spring!
In simpler times, communities gathered to jump over fires in the fields and participate in the great round of fertility. Listen to the voices of the universe saying YES—the Sun shines, the birds sing, the flowers bloom. The purpose of the universe is to celebrate the delight of its existence. May that inspiration hot-wire us into the living voltage of the Mother. Renew your life with others.
Sunset © Jakki Moore 2019
