#539 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Wednesday December 21)
Good morning,
Happy Winter Solstice!
The solstice has been observed for over 10,000 years of human history. Since the late Stone Age, humans have looked to the stars and the horizon for signs of meaning and omens for the future—whether the weather or the afterlife or man’s purpose. The Winter Solstice, representing the date at which the sun is in the northernmost sky, was perceived as evil by some. Pagan rituals abounded. The shortest day of the year (and the coldest time of the year) in the Northern Hemisphere, instead of being feared (or perhaps in response of fears) became a focus of celebration. To the Romans, this was the celebration of Saturnalia, a time of excess and hedonism.
In some sense, we are the product of these pagan rituals. It is not an accident, I suspect, that Christianity fixed the date of Christ’s birth in the depths of Winter. Christianity was an upstart religion that wanted to supplant other pagan festivals with celebrations of their own. Nor is it a surprise that Judaism reserved the time of solstice for the celebration of Hanukkah, the “festival of lights.” The celebration of the darkest time of year is reflected in holidays in China, Iran, and elsewhere. I, for one, may grab a Kachina doll and celebrate with our Native American friends.
In the meantime, let’s celebrate that, beginning tomorrow, we are going to experience longer days, shorter nights, and happy times in the new year. But not before celebrating the holidays and a great ski season…
Some inspiration for the holidays:
“In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual.” ― Galileo Galilei
“Nothing can bring you peace but yourself.” –Ralph Waldo Emerson
“A man is a product of all the people that he ever loved.” –Jason Isbell, If It Takes a Lifetime
“With the drawing of this Love and the voice of this Calling
We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.”
–T. S. Eliot, Four Quartets
Have a great day,
Glenn
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