We
have all gotten used to the end of Daylight Savings Time by now. We are
getting up later without complaint, adjusting to the longer hours of
darkness, and are heading into the final month of our year ready to
celebrate, even as so much around us has changed in the past two years.
We are in December, and despite its longer hours of darkness, December
is for most people a time of joyous celebration.
There are so many celebrations from so many religious and ethnic
traditions taking place during this month that almost no week in his
month is free of holy ritual and observance somewhere in the world.
There is, of course, Christmas and the minor celebrations leading up to
and associated with it: Advent, the 12 Days of Christmas, Yule, and
others depending on your ethnicity and specific religious tradition.
There is also Hanukkah with its 8 days of oil-based food and dreidel
playing. There is Kwanzaa with its celebration of Pan-African culture
and values. And if you are Buddhist, Hopi, Hindu, West African Dogon,
traditional Persian, or Wiccan, there are celebrations for you this
month as well. In fact, what many of us think of as parts of traditional
Christmas celebrations- the Christmas tree and the story of the 3 Wise
Men- actually have
their roots in the pre- Christian Wiccan and Persian traditions. It is
December, winter is coming, and we are on the threshold of a very
“ritual-rich” time period.
What so many of our winter observances have in common is the prominence
of light. Candles, bonfires, logs, electric lights, tree lights-light
is the common element, metaphor and symbol seen world-wide at this time
of the year. And it
makes perfect sense; in much of the world this time of the year means
noticeable changes in the amount of daylight and darkness surrounding
us, and as humans, we have to
account for that. Humans look to nature to try to figure out what is
coming and what God or the gods have in store for us, and for most of
our history that has meant looking to the sky. The sun, the moon and
the stars have literally and figuratively been our guideposts. Humans
have known for centuries that the length of the days was changing at
this time of the year, and that what we call “the winter solstice” would
be here again. So
days leading up to or after the solstice became a time of deep
spiritual meaning for early humans. Ritual, symbol and myth are the
ways humans respond to nature, and this became celebrated in many different ways around the planet depending upon geography and culture.
Many of the stories, myths and traditions from different times and
places associate this time of the year with miraculous births,
enlightenment, miracles, and/or new beginnings. The Druid bonfires and
the Germanic and Norse Yule logs, for example, were metaphoric symbols
of cleansing, sacrifice, and the simultaneous death and rebirth of the
earth-from the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, to days of
more and more hours of sunlight. To the ancient Persians winter was the
time of the Yalda festival, and Mithras, the symbol of truth, strength,
goodness and light, emerged from a rock at this time of the year. His
birth was celebrated with flame and holy fires. Sol Invictus, the
all-powerful Roman sun god, was also celebrated in December with torches
and bonfires. It is a timeless and universal process; we humans knew
that we had to celebrate and meet this winter darkness with light. We
had to link our doings and our fates with the universe’s. We had to
acknowledge this darkness, so in our rituals fire-light-abounded.
New beginnings are also important in most religious traditions. Light
is a strong metaphor for that as well. Our language today reflects this.
We speak of, “seeing the light, or “coming into the light.” We look to
the “inner light and we “let our light shine.” Light as transformation
and rebirth are readily spoken of and alluded to in many of our
religious rituals and ceremonies at this time of the year. Hanukkah is
about rebirth and new beginnings as it celebrates the re-dedication of
the Temple in Jerusalem from its desecration when Antiochus made it into
a Greek temple. The candles symbolize, in part, the rebirth of the
religion. The candles in Kwanzaa symbolize a reawakened connection and
awareness of African values and traditions for people of African
descent. It is a rebirth of a connection. To Buddhists, Bodhi Day in December celebrates the Buddha becoming a Buddha-an enlightened
one who suddenly could see beyond illusion. To Christians, the Star of
Bethlehem led to a new beginning for humans, as it led the Wise Men to
the birthplace of Jesus. Light was symbolically leading us forward.
And light is as powerful today to us humans as it was when we first
figured out the solstice and what it could mean. Tradition has it that
Martin Luther saw stars one night as he was composing a sermon and tried
to capture their beauty by adding lighted candles to the Christmas tree
inside his house. Whether that is true or not, by the time the Germanic
tradition of the Christmas tree reached the US the idea of lights on
the trees were a fixture. We decorated the tree, and it took off from
there. Now there are lighted houses, yards, shops, malls and more. We
are awash in lights; there are even whole streets and neighborhoods that
collaborate to plan what their light scheme is going to be each holiday
season. Many families now have a tradition of driving to visit
different neighborhoods just to see the light displays. We need the
light.
So
our ancient connection to the rhythms and structures of the natural
world are still with us, even if we do not recognize them as such. As up
to date and modern as we are in this digital age, we are still human,
and that means we are still connected to our ancestors’ sense of the
universe in some important and primal ways. As we celebrate our various
religious rituals, traditions and personal rituals this season, I hope
you can spend some time outside looking up at the night sky and taking
some time to note, think about, and marvel at what is going on up there.
It is quite miraculous, and it still influences so much of what we do
down here. And its mystery and beauty link our present very directly to
our past. That is a wonderful and beautiful thing.
Do
have a safe, warm, happy, and joyous holiday season. I hope you find
it a time full of good spirits, good company and good food. And of
course, light.
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