Dark
Midwinter
“Dark
days can mean dark moods. This natural turn of the seasons helps explain the
timing of Christmas. It is the festival of light, the return of the sun and longer
periods of daylight. It’s a time of renewal and hope, sentiments we feel as we
watch the skies and see faint signs of the sun returning.”
Thomas
Moore (The Soul of Christmas, p.5, Franciscan Media, 2016)
Here in
the deep South, as soon as Daylight Savings Time changes in the fall, we have
darkness by 4:30 p.m. and the sun is not fully up until almost 7 a.m. Long,
dark nights. The effect on human beings is surprising considering that the
change is by only one hour. It does explain, though, why we string lights and make
grand displays of electrified magic this time of year. Thirteen hours of
darkness everyday will produce that craving for light. Enter the Solstice, Hanukkah,
Kwanza, and Christmas—all festivals of light.
This
year seems to be one in which folks want to produce light displays more than
usual. Perhaps all the Covid-19 sickness and death has made those of us still
living more desperate than ever to increase the light around us. Being locked
down and sometimes isolated, is not good for the human spirit, and strings of
tiny lights bring a sense of hope and excitement. I, who usually do not
decorate much for the holidays, have three displays of clear crystal lights.
Somehow colored lights did not feel right. Thomas Moore, in The Soul of
Christmas, sites his age, 75 at the time of its writing, as being one
reason the natural rituals have increased potency. Perhaps that speaks for some of us.
Sometimes
our mood darkens along with the shorter days. When that is severe, we need to
increase our exposure to sunlight whenever possible—either through extended outside
time, or by using natural full-spectrum lights inside our house or by spending
short periods of time in tanning beds. Seasonal Affective Disorder is a problem
for many, especially those who live in areas where there are only a few hours
of daylight during the winter months.
The Winter
Solstice, December 21st, is the day the earth stands still. We have
equal hours of daylight and darkness, and then slowly, slowly, the earth begins
to tilt its norther hemisphere back in the direction of the sun. Ancient people
marked the day at places like Stonehenge, and Newgrange; both oriented to catch
the Solstice sunlight exactly so only one day out of the year. That way, they
knew when to celebrate the turning earth and the returning seasons of birth and
growth.
It is
not a coincidence that Christmas is timed by the Winter Solstice. We don’t know
exactly when Jesus of Nazareth was born, but since we call him the “light of
the world,” we associate his birth with the light’s return. We approach both
events--Solstice and Christmas--with excitement because they bring hope of survival, the return of warmth,
and anticipation of the growing season, all of which lift our spirits.
For
now, we must tolerate the darkness. We can do so because we know the light will
return—both to our hearts and to our world. For now, we incubate, we gestate,
we anticipate, we wait in hope.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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