Happy Holiday season! For this week’s post, I had planned to write about horses in Celtic folklore and mythology. Then I realized that next Saturday, December 21st, is the Winter Solstice—an important event and not just in Celtic culture. Next Saturday, the entire world will experience a solstice. In the northern hemisphere, the Winter Solstice will occur. The southern hemisphere will experience Summer Solstice.
These are not cultural holidays; they are astronomical events. They impact weather, the seasons, agriculture, and life itself. That’s not overstatement. It’s the reason ancient cultures including the Romans, the Greeks, the Egyptians, the Vikings, the Incas, as well as the Celts and many others held sacred rituals celebrating these days and built structures aligned to the rising sun on the morning of each solstice.
So, I feel it’s important to mark the occasion. Today’s post focuses on the Winter Solstice from a Celtic folklore perspective. For my readers in the southern hemisphere, please click here to read about the Summer Solstice.
Next Saturday will be the darkest day of the year. That’s not a prediction. The Winter Solstice is the shortest day (i.e. it has the fewest hours of sunlight) in any year. On the Gregorian calendar (by which most parts of the world mark time) it is the start of winter. And it’s the longest night. Now, all that seems pretty grim, but the Winter Solstice actually is a time of hope. Yep. You read that right.
See, the ancient Celts had it right. On the Celtic calendar, the Winter Solstice marks mid-winter, and modern science explains why. The earth’s axis in the northern hemisphere started turning away from the sun at Summer Solstice. By the Winter Solstice, it is tilted the farthest away it will be. So, after the Winter Solstice, it starts to turn back. Slowly, the amount of sunlight each day increases. and the days will eventually get warmer. Thus, Winter Solstice may be the darkest day but it’s a turning point that leads back to sunshine and warmth, making it a symbol of hope in the midst of a cold, dark winter.
The ancient Celts also took hope from evergreens which, at the Winter Solstice, they brought into the house. Because these plants stay green, fresh, and hearty throughout the winter while other plants and trees looked dead, the Celts believed they contained powerful magic. They brought the plants indoors in the hope that that magic would rub off on the people in the house, helping them survive the winter too.
These evergreens—holly, ivy, mistletoe, and pine trees—are now associated with Christmas, which takes place every year shortly after the Winter Solstice. The Christian holiday also is a about hope.
So, how did the Celts celebrate this solstice and why did they bring in those specific evergreens? Keep reading!
Winter Solstice: A Celtic Perspective
For the ancient Celts, winter solstice could be at once magical and frightening. They believed the sun stopped and feared that it might go away altogether. So, they developed rituals to appease the sun god and to encourage, through sympathetic magic, the return of the sun.
They lit bonfires and had a communal celebration. Prayers of petition were offered along with a blood sacrifice of cattle. Once the sacramental meat had been offered up to the gods, the community enjoyed a feast of the rest of the meat. These activities are similar to the way Celts celebrated any of their major holy days, such as Samhain or Beltane. But winter solstice had another ritual not practiced at any other festival. The Celts placed candles and star-like objects in pine trees. They hoped this would help to bring about the gradual return of the sun, its light, and its warmth.
Bringing in the Greenery
Putting lights in the pine trees is a type of sympathetic magic, a way of bringing something about by using an object similar to the thing you want to impact, for example using reddish herbs to help heal circulatory problems.
Around the time of the solstice, the Celts also used evergreens in another ritual of sympathetic magic. They hoped the powerful magic they believed these plants contained would keep the entire family safe too.
Ivy
The druids considered ivy sinister, nevertheless, in Celtic folklore, the plant became associated with protection and was one of the evergreens brought into the house at winter solstice. In the context of sympathetic magic, this makes sense. The plant is hard to destroy. Even if it is cut away, it will grow back. So, if you’re looking for a plant’s ability to survive to rub off on you, ivy’s a good choice. Modern science has discovered that ivy works as an air purifier. Perhaps families who brought it into their houses benefited from its effect on their environment.
Holly
Holly, as contrasted with ivy, was revered. The druids classified it as both royal and sacred. Cutting the tree down was against the law, but families could take a few branches to bring into their homes. In addition to the sympathetic magic mentioned above, holly was believed to provide protection from evil spirits and bad luck. Additionally, Celtic families brought holly branches into their homes to give faeries a warm place to shelter in during the winter. In return, they believed, the faeries would bless the family with good fortune.
Mistletoe
Today, we associate mistletoe with Christmas romance and stolen kisses, but the Celts held it in high esteem. Regarded as sacred, mistletoe could only be harvested during a ritual overseen by a druid. This ritual took place only once a year, on the first new moon of autumn. Celts hung mistletoe in their homes and stables as protection from evil and the mischief of faeries. They used it to treat various ailments, and they believed the presence of mistletoe would give them and their animals fertility and vitality. So, mistletoe was the perfect plant to protect them throughout the treacherous season of winter.
Hope and New Life
Winter is not as life-threatening for most of us as it was for the ancient Celts. Even so, it can be a difficult time. It’s wrought with illnesses from simple colds to flu, Covid, and RSV, as well as injuries from slipping on ice or car pileups.
The winter and its holidays can be painful for those dealing with the loss of a loved one or loss of a home from the summer hurricanes or floods. For some people, just the oppressive greyness of winter is enough to cause depression. This time of the year can seem very dark.
Adopting a Celtic attitude towards the darkest day—that it is a turning point that leads to return of light and warmth—can help us hold onto hope rather than give into despair. Spring—with its promise of new life—always follows the cold of winter. We are traveling towards the light.
I wish you blessings of health, hope, and healing.
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Slán go fóill
All artwork for this post (except for the Ukranian flag and the GIF) by Christine Dorman via Bing Image Creator.