Whether it's New Years, Hanukkah or Easter, our national holidays are still living traditions of originally pagan festivities, some of which are dating back into the cultures of the Stone Age and Paleolithic times, possibly even - to the peoples living before them. The solstice and equinox are annual reminders that we are still part of and connected with the cyclical nature of the cosmos.
The sun was regarded by many cultures as life-giver and considered to be the divine center of the cosmos, the “life of the world”. For example, the first cross symbols were a representation of the sun, predating Christianity’s oldest examples by 10,000 years. The cross symbolized the cosmic wheel, representing the four seasonal positions of the sun, the cosmic order and four seasons. It is the center where all forces come together.
Our ancestors perceived the presence of higher forces in many aspects of nature, - dark and light, death and rebirth, winter and summer. The solstice itself may have remained a special moment of the annual cycle of the year since neolithic times. This is attested by physical remains in the layouts of late Neolithic and Bronze Age archaeological sites like Stonehenge, Avebury and New Grange. The primary axes of these monuments seem to have been carefully aligned on a sight-line framing the winter solstice sunrise (New Grange) and the winter solstice sunset (Stonehenge). The winter solstice may have been immensely important because communities were not assured to live through the winter, and had to be prepared during the previous nine months. Starvation was common in the winter, also known as the famine months.
Gavrinis is an archeological site and megalithic temple dated around 4000 BCE. The inside of the temple is deeply carved with beautiful patterns of rhythm and radiance - undulating curves and arcs expressing the seasonal wax and wane of suns, moons, sunrises and sunsets.
The end chamber of the temple is carved with a radiant figure, from which all lines are flowing outward. When on the day of the solstice, the sunrise awakens and illuminates the figure on the back of the mound wall on December 21st, the days are getting longer again. The spiraling patterns represent the cosmos - seen in the trails of stars.
With the solstice, we are reminded of the cyclic nature of life, the past and the present. Looking back over our life and through experiences along our life's journey, we see life’s ebb and flow, waxing and waning, peaking, declining, dying and rebirthing.
Inspired by the ancient tradition and timeless metaphor, the sun represents not only a mysterious lifeforce or 'prana. The solstice is a symbol for our very consciousness as it emerges over the course of a lifetime, continuing a journey from darkness to light.
May your divine light and inner radiance shine ever more brightly!
Happy solstice,
Katja
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