On the 20th of this month of June, the winter season will begin, when the thermometers will mark lower temperatures (which may vary in each location). The Sun will reach the Southern Hemisphere for a shorter time, generating shorter days and longer nights. In addition to being the coldest time of the year, it is also a time for self-knowledge and inner maturation.
The beginning of winter is marked by the Winter Solstice, which will take place this year in the Southern Hemisphere on June 20th. The word “solstice” has its origin in the Latin “solstitium”, which means “point where the trajectory of the Sun appears not to move”. The Sun reaches the minimum position of distance from the Equator (and on the Summer Solstice it reaches the maximum position of distance), providing the shortest day of the year and, consequently, the longest night, which provided numerous celebrations for ancient peoples, such as the celebration of Yule in Celtic culture.
The rite of celebrating Yule (December 21 in the Northern Hemisphere and June 21 in the Southern Hemisphere) is the oldest known winter ritual. It served as the basis for the origin of other winter rituals in later religions. According to Celtic mythology, the Sun (god Belenus - deity of the Sun and Light) dies in winter, and a new Sun must rise. The Mother Goddess (Earth Goddess) gives birth to the new Sun, which occurs during the Yule ritual (which begins on December 21st and ends on January 1st): it is the rebirth of the Sun, a boy, who will have the mission to mature during the winter to become an adult next summer.
The Yule ritual is rich in detail. Celtic peoples used green, red and gold clothing to commemorate the date, as it was the beginning of the Celtic year and a time of rebirth, being the most important celebration of this people. They decorated the trees around their houses with candles (in order to make the streets brighter in the celebration due to the fact that the nights were longer), which provided a totally festive atmosphere. In addition, some trees were decorated with a pentagram made of twigs at the tip.
The festival was of great magnitude and importance, as it marked the beginning of the most difficult cycle of the year for the inhabitants of the ancient regions of Western Europe (where the Celtic peoples lived). The winter was very harsh, food was lacking due to the long period of snow, the plants did not bear fruit and the animals hibernated or hibernated; the peoples retreated to their houses and huts to strengthen themselves. Thus, the Yule ritual was the preparation for winter, the moment that strengthened the Celtic people to face that time.
The Yule ritual of Celtic culture is a celebration that makes us reflect on the cycles of life, victories and conquests in the midst of the difficulties faced, and teaches us about how we should collect ourselves in less favorable times (such as the quarantine due to Covid-19 pandemic), in order to better reflect on life and get to know ourselves. We must take advantage of winter to reanalyze our choices and attitudes towards life, focusing on maturing in all areas of life, mind, body and spirit, in order to better face the difficulties of everyday life and to live better, more evolved.
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Recollection should not only be physical, as this is a modality that is generally not possible, due to our daily tasks, such as work, studies, among others; however, inwardly, we must use winter to be like the young Sun of Celtic culture, seeking to mature and strengthen ourselves, in order to be internal and radiant adults after this period, prepared for another cycle of life.
(An interesting fact to note is how the Roman Christian culture adopted, to celebrate Christmas, numerous details and meanings of the celebration of Yule from Celtic culture: from the birth of the boy god - the Sun god, of Light, in Celtic culture, and Jesus, in the Christian culture (who is also recognized in the Christian religion as the “Bearer of Light”) – even the decorations of the houses, the trees with lights, the clothes colored with red, green and gold. Even in June we can use magic Christmas season to be reborn as a new and more evolved person.)
