Winter Solstice: An Invitation to Remembering
Devang Punia
The Earth knows something we have forgotten: there is a rhythm to life, a turning and returning that asks us to slow down and remember our place in the great cycle of things. When we attune ourselves to the seasons, to the way nature breathes in and out, rests and rises, we remember that we are not separate from this wild, generative dance. The Solstices and Equinoxes are more than dates on a calendar. They are invitations to witness our own becoming, to see what we have shed and what is emerging, to reconnect with the land, our people, and the truth of who we are. These seasonal turnings show us where we have been and illuminate the path forward, if we are willing to pause long enough to look.
The Winter Solstice, the longest night and shortest day of the year, is a celebration of wholeness. It is nature's guide and mirror to our essence. We are both light and dark, joy and pain, death and rebirth. What a glorious truth to remember: darkness is an inevitable part of life's journey, yet it does not last forever. When we allow ourselves to face the darkness, to surrender to what is changing and dying, we create space for transformation. On the other side of that darkness, light awaits us.
The experience of darkness, whether literal or metaphorical, differs for each of us. For some, the Solstice might be a peaceful embrace of stillness and rest; for others, darkness may carry grief, uncertainty, or fear. Wherever you are in your journey, know that your experience is valid, and your path through the dark is uniquely your own. The Solstice reminds us that light, in all its forms, will return when we're ready to receive it.
Ancient Traditions and the Wisdom of Cycles
Our ancestors knew this deeply. Across cultures and spiritual traditions, they gathered in community and reverence, marking the Solstice as a sacred time of reflection, release, and renewal. When we orient ourselves to the cycles of nature and explore the deeper meaning behind these traditions, we uncover a common thread: there is more that connects us than separates us, and nature can guide us back to this understanding and connection.
Across the world, people have celebrated this turning point in diverse and beautiful ways:
Christmas (Christian Tradition)
Practices: Lighting candles, decorating evergreen trees, exchanging gifts.
Symbolism: Christ as the “Light of the World,” paralleling the return of the sun and the triumph of light over darkness.
Soyal (Hopi and Zuni Traditions)
Practices: Prayer sticks, storytelling, dances, and purification rituals.
Symbolism: The rebirth of the sun, purification, and setting intentions for the new cycle.
Festival of Lights
Hanukkah (Jewish Tradition): Lighting the menorah to celebrate resilience and the miracle of light.
Diwali (Hindu Tradition): Celebrating the victory of light over darkness and knowledge over ignorance.
Shab-e Yalda (Persian Tradition)
Practices: Staying up late, reading poetry, and eating pomegranates and nuts.
Symbolism: Protection against misfortune and the promise of increasing light.
Yule (Pagan, Wiccan, Norse Traditions)
Practices: Lighting the Yule log, decorating with evergreens, feasting, and storytelling.Symbolism: The rebirth of the sun and the cyclical nature of life.
Kemetic (Ancient Egyptian) Traditions
Practices: Honoring the sun god Ra, lighting lamps or torches.
Symbolism: The renewal of life and the eternal cycle of death and rebirth.
These ancient traditions remind us that the human spirit is resilient, wise, and connected. Our ancestors knew how to listen deeply to the Earth, to rest in stillness, and to gather in community. This wisdom sustained them, and it can sustain us.
In our modern lives, especially during this time of year, we are caught in a whirlwind of pressure, consumption, and disconnection. The air is thick with urgency: endless to-do lists, holiday spending, and the relentless pull of technology. We move chaotically, feeding systems that drain us rather than nourish us. We chase the next purchase, the next social media high, the next distraction, forgetting the true gifts of presence, connection, and simplicity.
What if, instead, we chose to reclaim the lessons of the Earth? What if we stepped away from the frenzy and turned toward the quiet wisdom of the season? Consider gathering with friends around a fire, sharing stories, or simply walking in nature. Let the stillness of the Solstice guide you back to what truly matters: slowing down, reconnecting with yourself, your community, and the land.
Winter Solstice Embodiment Practice: Awakening Sensuality in the Darkness
The Winter Solstice, a time when the Earth rests in deep darkness, reminds us of the beauty and power of stillness, reflection, and slow, deliberate presence. Just as the Earth holds the promise of light within the depths of winter, our bodies hold the promise of sensuality, pleasure, and healing within the stillness of this season.
In the quiet darkness of the Solstice, we are invited to slow down, to become aware of our senses, and to reconnect with the simple, embodied pleasures that ground us in the present moment. Like the gradual return of the sun's light, our sensuality awakens when we allow ourselves to feel deeply and fully. As you honor the Solstice, allow yourself to savor the sensual gifts of this season:
The Winter Solstice is a portal into the depths of your being, a chance to nurture the sensual wisdom of your body. In embracing your sensuality during this dark, fertile time, you reclaim a piece of your essence that modern life often overlooks. This sensual embodiment is an act of resistance, liberation, and transformation. It is a reminder that joy, pleasure, and presence are not luxuries, but essential pathways to wholeness and healing.
Just as the Earth turns slowly toward the light, let yourself turn inward, tend to your body's needs, and trust in the returning light of your own sensual aliveness. In this way, the Solstice becomes not just a celebration of light and dark, but a celebration of your body's capacity to feel, heal, and thrive.
Journal Prompts for the Longest Night
As you sit with the wisdom of this season, I invite you to explore these questions. Let them be gentle invitations rather than assignments, spaces for your own knowing to emerge.
What parts of my life are ready to be composted? What patterns, beliefs, or ways of being are asking to be released so that something new can be born in the returning light?
Where have I been caught in the whirlwind? Notice the ways consumption, urgency, and disconnection have pulled you away from what truly nourishes. What would it feel like to step back into presence and simplicity?
How can I honor my body's wisdom this season? What sensual experiences bring you back to yourself? The warmth of sunlight, the taste of good food, the feeling of softness against your skin, the scent of this season? How can savoring these moments become an act of reclamation?
What ancestral wisdom is available to me? Consider the traditions of your lineage or the spiritual paths that call to you. What do they teach about navigating darkness, honoring cycles, and trusting in the return of light?
Where is my inner light, even now? In the depth of this winter, what part of you remains unshaken? What summer lives inside you, waiting to be remembered?
How might I gather in ways that matter? Whether with friends, with the land, or with yourself, what simple ritual or practice could help you reconnect with what is true and essential?
Can I hold all of who I am? The Solstice teaches us that we are both light and dark, joy and pain, death and rebirth. How can you honor the fullness of your experience without rushing to fix or change any part of it?
The Winter Solstice offers us a chance to align with nature's cycles and reclaim what has been lost. It teaches us to slow down, gather with the land and each other, and be present in the here and now. In these moments of stillness and connection, we rediscover the true gift of life.
So, this Solstice, I invite you to pause. Honor the darkness and the light within you. Let nature guide you back to wholeness, transformation, and healing. Together, may we remember that our bodies, our spirits, and the Earth are interconnected, and in this remembering, may we find peace.
"In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer." ~Albert Camus
May this Winter Solstice be your invitation to that invincible summer within.
Joy Long is a mother, writer, healing artist, ecotherapist and prosperity guide devoted to remembering wholeness in a world shaped by fragmentation. She is the founder of Whole with Joy, a healing movement rooted in embodiment, Earth wisdom, and joy.
Joy’s journey has moved through community mental health, private practice, ecotherapy, movement, ritual, and creative expression. It has also been shaped by years of travel and learning across the African diaspora, the Americas, and other land-based cultures, where the wisdom of place, the centrality of rhythm and movement, and ancestral ways of knowing deepened her understanding of what it means to live in right relationship with self, community, and Earth. Motherhood, ancestral memory, and a lifelong relationship with nature continue to shape both her work and her way of being.
Rooted in earth-based spirituality, somatic healing, attachment healing, and Black feminist and eco-womanist traditions, Joy creates spaces for people to reconnect with themselves, each other, and the living world. Through individual prosperity work, organizational wellness consulting, and community healing offerings, her work invites a remembering: that prosperity is not something we earn, but something we embody when we return home to who we are together, with dignity, pleasure, and power.
References:
https://www.history.com/topics/christmas/history-of-christmas
https://www.history.com/topics/natural-disasters-and-environment/winter-solstice
https://thetwinpillars.com/f/the-winter-solstice-a-hymn-to-ra
https://www.britannica.com/list/7-winter-solstice-celebrations-from-around-the-world
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