Celebrating Winter Solstice (Yule)

This is the holiday season.

Some celebrate Christmas, some celebrate Hanukkah, some celebrate Kwanzaa, and some simply celebrate the harmony of good will.

For me, this phase of year is the time to celebrate the winter solstice. A time to recognize the longest night of the year and commemorate the return of the light.

The solstice marks the point of the year when the Sun will grow stronger and stronger each day, until we reach the time of the longest day at the Summer Solstice.

It is darkest – a time of cold and scarcity when the sun gives brief light and little warmth. The abundance of life has retreated. The trees stand stripped and naked of their summer leaves, and the water is imprisoned in ice. The ground is hard and frozen.

But underneath it all, life is still present. Life waiting to be reborn when the world thaws.

The long nights are a perfect time to reflect on what needs germination in my life. Is there a wish I desire? Is there something I need to accomplish? Are there tasks that I need to complete? So just at the roots of the bare trees still absorb nourishment from the cold soil, I can cultivate these things during this darkness.

Even though the night is the longest this time of the year, we can appreciate the growing light. And it’s a perfect time to huddle in. These cold and dark days are the perfect time to spend all day in your pajamas reading by the fireplace or baking cookies – anticipating the days when light will overcome the dark.

It’s also a time to appreciate the cold. Bundle up and go for a hike in the snow or go ice skating on the pond.


I wish you all the greatest joy, love, and contentment this time of year – whether you’re celebrating the birth of the Son or the return on the Sun or promise of light or abundance of oil-light or none or all of these …

Blessed be!