December is awash with holidays, but this week marks several that are often over looked in the mad dash of Christmas. In fact, the real “reason for the season” is Winter Solstice, which takes place on Dec. 22. Marking the shortest day in the Northern Hemisphere, my husband refers to this as the first day of summer. Given that it’s close to the single digits where I live, as I write this, that’s a very welcome idea.
A historical review shows that Christmas grew out of Solstice traditions. In 46 BC, Julius Caesar, in his Julian calendar, established Dec. 25 as winter solstice for Europe. The Emperor Aurelian selected Dec. 25 as Sol Invictus or the birthday of the “Invincible Sun” in the third century as part of the Roman Winter Solstice celebrations, Saturnalia. Prior to Sol Invictus, Dec. 25 was the birthday of the Persian hero and sun god Mithra. In 273, the Christian Church adopted this same day to represent the birth of Christ. Interestingly, January 6, known as Epiphany or feast of the Magi (three kings), was originally an Egyptian date for the winter Solstice.
Some ideas for celebrating winter solstice can be found at the following links:
Celebrating Winter Solstice
Dream Catcher Native Flutes Ron Allen-6 Winter Solstice
Newgrange Winter Solstice in Ireland
Christmas, Yule and the Winter Solstice from Mysterious Britain & Ireland
Since this festival is all about the sun, make some sun ornaments to hang around your house or tree. You can make them out of clay; paper Mache or whatever strikes your fancy. Sun catchers are easy to make. Use a small ornament and hang it in your window so that it reflects the sun. It can be a simple piece of glass, such as a pendant from an old chandelier, or something more elaborate made of beads.
Dec. 20 is the first night of Chanukah. This eight-day festival of light begins on the eve of the 25th of the Jewish month Kislev. It commemorates the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BX. Learn more about this celebration.
December 23 is Festivus. Recently, I watched a snippet of the Seinfeld episode featuring George’s father Frank:
Frank Costanza: "Many Christmases ago, I went to buy a doll for my son. I reached for the last one they had, but so did another man. As I rained blows upon him, I realized there had to be another way."
Cosmo Kramer: "What happened to the doll?"
Frank Costanza: "It was destroyed. But out of that a new holiday was born: a Festivus for the rest of us!
It made me laugh out loud. So while this post is about celebrating lesser-honored December holidays, it’s also about doing something that makes you laugh and celebrate.
Not familiar with Festivus? "The Strike" episode of Seinfeld featured George’s Dad explaining how to celebrate the holiday season without commercialism and religious aspects. As celebrated by the Castanza family, Festivus includes such practices as the “Airing of Grievances” during the Festivus meal, whereby each person tells everyone else all the ways they have disappointed him or her over the past year. There is also the Festivus pole”-an aluminum pole unadorned, and “Feats of Strength.”
To learn more about Festivus and how it’s celebrated, start by watching clips of the Seinfeld Festivus episode, then check out some of the links below:
Festivus Song
Practical tools for Festivus: Feats of Strength Challenge Card and Airing of Grievances Worksheet
Festivus Web
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