Winter Solstice Series, Post 2: The Longest Night

In the first post in this series, The Cycles of Nature Within Us, I explored some of the reasons observing the turning points of the year is important for us. I pointed out that what happens in nature happens in us, because there is nothing that is not us. I led you through a series of modern day experiments that point very clearly to that new reality that has set old scientific paradigms on their ear.

So in this post, I want to home in on the Winter Solstice itself. First, for those who might be thinking, “But why should I care? I celebrate Christmas.” (Or Kwanzaa or Hanukah or any other holiday that falls in late December.) You should care because nature’s cycles were repeating long before man came along to create organized religions and set certain holidays at certain times. In fact, nature’s cycles are the reasons man chose to place certain holidays at certain times. Pre-Religion Man observed these cycles already, so when religion came along, it made sense to keep the old holidays, and just re-name them. The old feast days would keep their symbolism. They would keep their deep meaning. It would just be couched in a new story. This is why Jesus’ birthday is celebrated at Winter Solstice time. The Solstice was already being celebrated as the time when the sun died at sunset and was reborn the next dawn, when the days would once again begin to lengthen. Jesus was, scholars agree, probably born in October. But the