Let there be light
Lately, on the last dog walk of the day, I’ve been a sky watcher. I’m pretty sure I glimpsed one falling star in the cold last week when the Geminid meteor showers were peaking.
It is supposed to be possible to view as many as 30 to 80 shooting stars per hour, depending on local sky conditions, but we’ve had a lot of cloud cover lately. In fact, there have been quite a few dark days and cloud-covered nights in December.
The winter solstice marking the shortest day of the year is coming up on Dec. 21. The sun comes up around 8 a.m. and disappears way too soon — before 4:30 p.m. We’re lucky to get nine hours of daylight. Some call the day Blue Christmas. A number of churches hold special services on the solstice to recognize the loss of loved ones during the previous year.
In England, hundreds of people, neo-pagans and Wiccans, will flock to Stonehenge to mark the day. The Chinese have a solstice-type festival as well to mark the extreme of winter. Scandinavians once celebrated Juul, or Yule, a multi-day feast marking the sun god’s return.
In Sweden, Dec. 13 is the day to honour the legend of St. Lucia. There are many stories about St. Lucia, but many Swedes believe that their version of the legend is primarily linked to the fact that Lucia comes from the root word ‘lux’, which means light.
The tradition of celebrating St. Lucia in Sweden did not really evolve until about 200 years ago. Many families dress their eldest daughter in a long white gown with a crown of fresh greens and lit candles on her head.
In Vancouver, the 24th annual Winter Solstice Lantern Festival will take place soon, with fire, drumming and dance. Residents are already making lanterns and volunteering during free performances and celebrations in four neighbourhoods throughout the city.
For the world’s more than two billion Christians, solstice has far less meaning than Christmas, but British historian David Gwynn thinks that the two events might be so close together for a reason.
Gwynn’s theory is that Dec. 25 was set as Christmas or Christ’s birthday to replace a Roman holiday. In the biblical book of John, we are told to hold the light for one another during the season of Advent.
All I know is that for some reason this year in particular, the drive to push the physical dark away makes sense to me. Our dining table is loaded with candles. There’s simply not enough sunshine lately.
It is interesting to note that Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a much more recognized reality in recent years. In fact, the Whole Building Design Group in Washington, DC, is recommending that more attention be paid to the quality of light and colour in employee workspaces. Cubicles without sunlight are not ideal.
Winter-related challenges are a mystery to many, even scientists working in the field. Some humans low on brain chemicals, vitamin D and with the wrong genetics could all be affected.
Despite the mystery of its cause, there is a general agreement about one form of treatment: let there be more light. We can also be glad that while the solstice might be the darkest day of the year, it is not the coldest.
After Dec. 21, the nights will begin to get shorter as the planet rotates toward the sun and the cycle of the seasons will begin again. Amen to that.