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Saint Lucy and the Solstice
For a while in my childhood I attended a Swedish Lutheran church and one of my favorite events was the Santa Lucia service on December 13. Traditionally on the feast of St. Lucia, an early Christian martyr, the oldest daughter, wearing a white gown and a crown with lighted candles wakes her parents at dawn with coffee and cardamom flavored Santa Lucia buns. Until I heard a story on the radio the other day, I did not realize that in the Julian calendar December 13 was the solstice.
Today, December 22, we have reached the winter solstice according to our own calendar and winter has begun. We have just passed through the longest night of the year; from now on the days will imperceptibly grow longer.
The winter solstice has been an important marker in the year, by whatever calendar, because in the northern hemisphere short days, long nights and bitter cold meant months of hardship. The solstice almost literally meant the light at the end of the tunnel..
We all know that festivals of light at this time of the year were celebrated by many of the ancients. In the third century of the Common Era (CE) the Roman Emperor Aurelian combined several of the pagan solstice celebrations of the birth of god/men like Apollo, Dionysus, Osiris and Theseus and others and named a single festival the Birthday of the Unconquered Sun on December 25.
It was not until the fourth century that Christianity became the official religion of the Roman empire, but it is not surprising that the birthday of Jesus, which was unknown, came to be celebrated on December 25. Jesus Christ was the Light of the World. It was appropriate that his birth coincide with the coming of the sun.
Of course, this date and this celebration were not immediately and universally accepted by all Christians. Many felt the December celebration was tainted by its association with Saturnalian and Bacchanalian revels. British Parliament abolished Christmas in 1647 and the Puritans who settled in our own country prohibited Christmas during the 17th century.
And yet according to legend it was the reformer Martin Luther who brought light to our Christmas celebration. The story is told that Luther was walking home through the woods one snowy night when he was overwhelmed by the beauty of the brilliant starry skies. When he got home to his wife and children he put little candles on an evergreen tree, a tree that had long been a symbol of everlasting life. Thus he created a reminder of the majesty of God, and the promise of the Light that was to give us everlasting life.
Queen Victoria’s husband Albert brought his German traditions of candle-lit Christmas trees to Britain and it was illustrations of the royal family celebrating around their bright Christmas tree that brought this tradition into broad popularity.
In 1856 Franklin Pierce, our 14th president, was the first to have a Christmas tree in the White House. I don’t know whether it had candles or not, but in 1882 Thomas Edison’s assistant Edward Johnson came up with the idea of electric tree lights.
By 1890 electric Christmas tree lights went into mass production and in 1923 President Coolidge began the national tradition of lighting a Christmas tree on the White House Lawn.
Light is a powerful reality on many levels. Many of us feel diminished and depressed during the dark days and suffer what has come to be called Seasonal Affect Disorder (SAD) which is treated with the application of light. This light is sometimes provided by sitting in front of a light box for a period of time every day. I have a friend who wears a funny little hat that holds a contraption that shines a special frequency of light directly into her eyes.
The notion that light is necessary for good health is not new. We all know how vital it is to get out in the sun, to get our vitamin D which will allow our bodies to metabolize and use the calcium in our food to strengthen our bones.
In fact we could not live without the powerful and warming sun. It supplies energy that makes plants grow and provide us with our very sustenance. It already provides electrical power in many places, and in the near future this use can be more efficient and more widespread.
Beyond the reality light has always been a powerful symbol – of power, of love, of warmth and welcome. When our daughter Betsy left for the Peace Corps in 1987 my mother quilted a beautiful four panel wall hanging depicting a candle in the window, a light shining through the dark night, guiding the traveler home to love and warmth and unfailing welcome. It hangs above her bed today.
Christmas lights are a pale imitation of the radiance and power of the sun, but in their brilliant sparkle and color they are a perfect symbol of the joyous welcome of light.
The Light of the World embodied love and compassion. At this time of the year I am reminded of the children’s hymn “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine”. Our light may be little, but at this season, and every season, let us be light. Let us shine.
December 22, 2007