The Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year, is an annual solar event taking place between December 20 and 23. On this day the sun reaches its waning limit. By the next day, daytime hours increase once again. If you’re tuned in even a little, you can’t help but feel there’s a profound Winter Solstice spiritual meaning you can apply in your everyday life.
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The Winter Solstice spiritual meaning is evident throughout history and cultures.
Cultures have felt the depths of the Winter Solstice spiritual meaning for aeons. They all noticed darkness was falling earlier than at any other time of year. And the sun was shining at its lowest point in the sky.
They identified the Winter Solstice as moment of the sun’s death and inevitable rebirth. And they marked the Winter Solstice the formal beginning of the Winter season.
But the ancient Chinese and thus traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) placed the Winter Solstice smack in the middle of one of TCM’s five seasons—energetic Winter and the Water element. Like other cultures, the ancient Chinese viewed and TCM still does view Winter as an introspective hibernating time of year.
No matter the culture all have found Winter a time of deep inward searching giving dimension to the Winter Solstice spiritual meaning. The Winter Solstice signified the turning point of time and moment of new beginnings. The Winter Solstice spiritual meaning became metaphoric to life. It offered the people clues for harmonious cyclic living.
In ancient Egypt, the Winter Solstice spiritual meaning related to Ra, the sun god. The Egyptians saw it as the return of Ra.
The Egyptians had noticed changes in the position of the sun in the sky. This made them believe the sun’s warmth and strength might not return. And they feared they might not be able to grow food or sustain their animals.
So in keeping with the Winter Solstice spiritual meaning the people so deeply felt, they created a ritual and ceremony period. This was a time of camaraderie, goodwill, forgiveness and love so the sun would continue to be reborn. They celebrated the Winter Solstice to thank Ra for warming the land and blessing the people with abundant crops.
Almost nowhere else is the Winter Solstice spiritual meaning more dramatically outpictured than at Stonehenge in Southern England. People some 2500 years ago erected stones to frame the setting sun on the Winter Solstice. So vital to their spirituality was the sun they positioned the stones to allow the last rays of sunlight to gleam through a space between the stones.
The ancient Romans were no strangers to the Winter Solstice spiritual meaning either. They held a special week long Winter Solstice celebration to honor the god Saturnalia. The Romans intended their ceremonies and rituals to gracefully poise nature as it stepped over the border of the year.
The Saturnalia Winter Solstice festival revolved around sacrifice, gift-giving and feasting. In the spirit of the deepest Winter Solstice spiritual meaning—equality of all souls (at least temporarily)—Masters served their servants and citizens treated criminals with honor and respect.
The Winter Solstice spiritual meaning influences the Christmas celebration.
In the Romans’ celebratory rituals, we see the seeds of our Christmas celebrations today. The Romans all gave each other presents. Roman businessmen gifted their customers with their wares and parents gave their children clay or wax dolls. They hid coins and tiny gifts in pudding and brought evergreen trees into the home.
Our Christmas tree today was the Saturnalia evergreen back then.
We also see evidence of the Winter Solstice spiritual meaning in their Yule, Yuletide or Yulefest.
The Romans’ back then and our current burning of the yule log, decorating the evergreen tree and English wassailing(1) dates all the way back to the ancient Norse people. They called this time the festival of Jul (prononouced just as we say ‘Yule’).
Their lives revolved around the Winter Solstice spiritual meaning they held at heart.
Anonymous broadside in the public domain of the words of the carol "The Holly and the Ivy", published by H. Wadsworth, Birmingham, 1814-1818. Source here.
Original celebrations of Yule link also to the Wild Hunt, the god Odin, and the pagan Anglo-Saxon Mothers’ Night(2).
Eventually, the Christian church sought to co-opt the Winter Solstice spiritual meaning for itself. They absorbed and christianized pagan customs. Now the festival of yule, which happened on the Winter Solstice, would mark the start of the famous Twelve Days of Christmas.
The Christmas carol, The Holly and the Ivy, derives from pre-Christian times when the Lord and Lady of the Greenwood were honored by the hanging of green garlands from the ridge poles of houses.
The Winter Solstice spiritual meaning naturally reverberates from the intense solar event it is.
The Winter Solstice spiritual meaning emits a profound, even life-changing energy. It extends to you the very real potential to activate and heighten your spiritual senses if you’ll allow it.
The Winter Solstice spiritual meaning equates to a supreme hush moment in time. It calls on all of us to pause, rest and restore ourselves in preparation for more lively seasons ahead.
Be acutely aware of when the Winer Solstice is about to occur and pay close attention to slight or potent shifts in your psyche. When you do you get the very most out of the Winter Solstice spiritual meaning.
Amplify or awaken your spiritual senses in meditation on that day and on the days just before and after. Open your being to the spiritual world of light and love.
The Winter Solstice spiritual meaning follows nature’s cues.
In this darkest period of the year around the Winter Solstice, our days are short and darkness falls early in the day. Nature’s inviting you to slow down.
Visit with nature. Take in the fragrance of pine needles or the glow of the dark night Winter moons.
Your own soul will respond in kind, asking you to put down what you’re doing, connect with loved ones and maybe enjoy a cup of warm tea together. Perhaps, in the spirit of the Winter Solstice spiritual meaning, choose to listen rather than speak.
The Winter Solstice spiritual meaning reflects in the entire Winter season.
TCM always tells us to take our cues from nature so we can know how to live in harmony with any season. The same kind of winding down we feel on and around the Winter Solstice are the same we feel throughout TCM’s energetic Winter and the Water element.
During the dark of Winter, seeds rest in suspended animation under the ground. Animals hibernate. Flora and fauna gather strength for the coming season of energetic Spring and renewal and we should, too.
Growth—whether it’s physical, mental, emotional or spiritual—actually happens in the times when we draw inward and rest.
The Winter Solstice spiritual meaning reminds us we need to open to change and accept it.
The Winter Solstice spiritual meaning is all about change and new beginnings. As in Buddhism where nothing is permanent the Winter Solstice calls on us to embrace life in flux and change.
To amplify the Winter Solstice spiritual meaning for you make it a point to meditate on that day and night. Intend to be well prepared for coming changes. Invite in the energy of the Winter Solstice. It will assist you to accept and flow with inevitable upcoming changes in a resilient way.
The Winter Solstice spiritual meaning brings hope. It signifies your sorrows will indeed return to joy. Your limitations can be cancelled out by abundance one day soon. And no negative thing in your life will remain that way forever.
The Winter Solstice spiritual meaning begs us to let go of strict dogmas and rigid ways of being.
Understanding this world, the swirl of incessant information, and peoples’ opinions and agendas is not an all black or all white thing. It would be easy if it were all mapped out for us but that just isn’t life. If everything were neat and tidy, you wouldn’t ever have to call on your own inner voice to discern if something is true or not. You’d be more automaton than human.
TCM tells us that kidney is the yin energy organ of the Water element active during the Winter Solstice. Kidney provides us with the energy we need to be wise and in spiritual faith.
In our blog, “Energetic Winter and Transcending the Emotion of Fear: The Kidneys are the Root of Life, Regeneration and Vitality,” we wrote:
The Winter Solstice energy and the energy of the Water element call on you to be a Sage. The Winter Solstice spiritual meaning embraces wisdom, introspection and flow. Like the flow of water, it calls on you to be less rigid in thinking and open to certain truths you perhaps couldn’t embrace before.
Kidney is our spirit storehouse. It holds a reservoir of energy we can tap into for self-assurance, trust, and faith in surviving our challenges in life.
The Winter Solstice spiritual meaning derives from a pivotal solar event that reinforces the vitality and happiness we enjoy from cyclical living.
In our blog, “Cyclical Living Is the Key to a Vitality Filled Life and Our Producing the Frequency of Love,” we write:
“Not all that long ago, the people of Earth lived in concert with it. They had to. There were no technological inventions to “make life better” and to keep them occupied, busy, even distracted. Instead, they were forced to look up at the sky for their entertainment and wonder. Many of our ancient ancestors noticed the cycles not just of the Earth but of the heavens and they came to understand that living in harmony with these cycles was key to their vitality and happiness.”
The Winter Solstice spiritual meaning and the solar event itself help us see that cycles and seasons are important in life. The Solstice is a day that opens the door to a proving period of patience.
TCM teaches us all about the passage of cycles. It shows us how to live in harmony with this celebration day and season. It will help you remain patient with life and live in the present.
Living during the season of energetic Winter and the Water element is like living in the darkness of the womb. You must wait patiently to emerge into the light. But until then you remain quiet in the dark and allow the womb to nurture you increasing the Winter Solstice spiritual meaning deep within you.
The Winter Solstice spiritual meaning endures throughout the entire Winter season.
The stillness, hush and energy of Winter have all the energetic ingredients we need to feel supported in our quest to know ourselves.
These energetic and spiritual ingredients of Winter and the Winter Solstice spiritual meaning encourage you to rest and dream. Then you’re strengthened to reach the sublime heights of spirituality.
Still, this is almost a feat for many. We’re so accustomed to running all the time. And even when we’re not running, many of us may sit quietly but artificially stimulated by smartphones while we sit motionless.
This isn’t true rest and inward journeying. And it doesn’t increase our spiritual foundation either.
When you learn to live in harmony with the five element seasons according to TCM you can remain emotionally stable. You come to understand the importance of each season and solar event. It leads you to embrace the attributes each has to offer.
This makes life more purposeful and exciting.
The Winter Solstice spiritual meaning radiates the faith and trust intrinsic to TCM’s Water element of Winter.
Take the example of the sun at the time of the Winter Solstice to heart. It always returns to create the daylight. Know now that your desires will indeed manifest.
“The Holiday of the Winter Solstice celebrates the presence of Spirit and the power of faith and hope that our visions of the future will come into manifestation.”
May your Winter Solstice day and night be filled with magic, awareness and deep insights. And may you resonate with this solar event and the Winter Solstice spiritual meaning for vitality and abundance on all levels of your life.
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Endnotes:
(1) Wassailing: a) drinking plentiful amounts of alcohol and enjoying self with others in a noisy, lively way; b) going from house to house at Christmastime singing carols.
(2) Mōdraniht or Modranicht (pronounced [ˈmoːdrɑniçt]; Old English for "Night of the Mothers" was an event held at what is now Christmas Eve by the Anglo-Saxon pagans.