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| The Sacred Tree |
Winter
Solstice: Ancient Origins of the Season's Icons
by Jade Wah'oo Grigori
by Jade Wah'oo Grigori
Winter Solstice is the shortest day of the year, the longest night. In the
northern hemisphere this occurs December 20, 21, 22 or even the 23rd,
varying from year to year, dependent upon the elliptical path of the Earth
around our Sun. Throughout the cultures of the northern world the Winter
Solstice is recognized as a powerful time, a time that commands the respect of
acknowledgment and celebration. Christmas is, of course, one such holiday. Yule
and Saturnalia provide historic origins for the motifs integrated in the
celebration of the season in the form of the Yule Log and decking the halls
with boughs of holly, feasting and family gatherings. Mithraic rites of the
birth of the Year-God recognize December 25th as the holy day of
renewal. It is also the birthday of Osiris, Dionysus and Horus. There is
nothing new, or particularly Christian, in the celebration of Christmas and
other similar celebrations at or near the Winter Solstice in the northern
hemisphere. The roots of this seasonal celebration run deep in antiquity,
emanating from the Shamanic rites of the Neolithic era.
The underlying aspects of the various cultural Winter Solstice celebrations
lies rooted deep in Shamanic origins. Amongst the Saami (Laplanders) and
Siberians, Buryats and Altaic tribes, all of the far northern climes, there was
and is a very common motif in the Shamanic practices surrounding the Winter
Solstice ceremonies. There, the people would present the Shaman with gifts of
value, according to the nature of each their own culture to officiate the
request, be it food, furs or firewood, coin, caregiving or copper.
A Sacred Tree, or Pole of Ascension, the Axis Mundi, was erected in the center
of the Shaman's house or in the common house. This officiated the Shaman being
called upon by the people to undergo a Shaman's Little-Death. In this
Little-Death the Shaman moves into an intentional near death experience,
enabling the Shaman's Spirit to go free of the body and then to travel into the
realms and domains accessible to one in that state. Utilizing the means available,
dependent upon the cultural methodology, the Shaman would enter into a deep
trance that would allow his/her spirit to fly free. Amongst the northern
Asiatic peoples I have mentioned, the method of slipping into the catatonic
state of a Shaman's Death was to eat the potent entheogenic mushroom we know as
Amanita muscaria. The Amanita is bright red with white spots covering its flesh
(like Santa Claus' suit). Both the Shaman and the reindeer of these nomadic
herders partake of this mushroom. The strong psychotropic effect the mushroom
has upon the Shaman enables the Shaman's spirit to be loosed from his/her body.
Shamanic drumming is another method of achieving the prerequisite state of
altered consciousness that allows the Shaman to ascend in spiritual ecstasy, or
Spirit Flight. The motif of Santa Claus riding the magic sleigh pulled by his
flying reindeer is borne from this ancient rite. The Shaman is then able to
follow the Spirit Path, represented by the Sacred Tree, that guides him/her to
the North Star and from there into the Cosmic Realms.
The Journey Out of Darkness
The Journey Out of Darkness
The purpose of having the Shaman undertake this journey was many fold. A basic
understanding of some mytho-cosmology will be helpful. At the time of the
Winter Solstice the days have descended into the depths of darkness. It is at
this moment, however, that the Sun begins to return, and with it, the days
begin to lengthen. As the days become longer more light radiates into the
world. This natural rhythm of the dance of Earth and Sun is a trigger within
our psyche. As all the things that have remained hidden in the darkness begin
to be revealed in the greater light of day, so do all the things that we tend
to hide in our own Inner Darkness begin to be brought forth into activity as
the days lengthen, just as seeds left in the darkness beneath the soil begin to
sprout and grow in response to the emerging light. Generations upon generations
of experiencing this cycle of our own Soul's dynamic led the people of ancient
cultures to utilize the very same patterns of nature to deal effectively with
their burdens of pain and suffering, of anguish and trauma that had laid hidden
within the Inner Darkness of their own Soul.
A Time of Forgiveness of Debts
One of the greatest burdens we carry with us is the unconscious begrudging of
having been wronged or a debt owed us that has been unpaid. To forgive the
grudges of having been slighted, to forgive the debts owed us, brings a
liberation out of suffering and into ease. Therefore, at this time of the New
Year, as measured by the return of the Sun and light into our lives, a chance
to start afresh is symbolically relevant. This opportunity was availed by our
ancestors, and still is amongst those of us who continue with the wisdom of the
ancestors, through Winter Solstice Ceremonies to release the burdens of the
year past, that we may step into the new year free of the burdensomeness of
clinging to how we want things to have been, rather than accepting how things
are.
Another value of participating in the Shamanic engagement of the Winter
Solstice's natural rhythm expressed in our lives is to receive the gift of
blessings. As these are made manifest in our lives, a renewed spark is awoken.
This spark of consciousness is then tended into a glowing ember from which the
fire of our passion may blaze forth.
The Call, the Journey, the Gifting
The people call upon the Shaman to go forth, upon their behalf, through the
Realms of Darkness - that of the Longest Night, representing the Darkness of
their own Souls. The Shaman is engaged to carry the burdens of the Soul - the
Soul Essence - of each person and is furthermore charged with the return of a
blessing for each. It is to the North Star that we, as Shamans, go. The North
Star we refer to as the 'Heart of the Eagle', or the 'Compassionate Heart of
Purification'. Emerging from atop the Sacred Tree we come into the presence of
the Star that sits above the Tree (sound familiar?). Into the heart of the
Eagle we go, carrying with us the burdens of each of our peoples. Releasing the
Soul Essence of each into the Compassionate Heart of Purification, each burden
is purified, burned free of its turmoil. It is the release of the life force
that had been locked up, constrained, within each Soul Essence that then
propels us Shamans from out of the Heart of the Eagle and into the Celestial
Realms, along the starry path of the Milky Way, which, Shamanically, we refer
to as the Cosmic
Road
There the Shaman receives, on behalf of each person, the gift - which shows
itself as a symbol - awaiting them. The Shaman then brings this gift-symbol
back to the Heart of the Eagle, where the person's Soul Essence awaits, and
sings the gift into the Soul Essence of the person for whom it is intended.
Upon completion of this sojourn the Shaman then brings the newly regenerated
Soul Essence back to the Earth, gifting it as a blessing to the person to whom
it belongs. The Tree of Life then sparkles and shines with the light of each
Spirit reawakened. The Tree is a'shimmer with lights, and the gifts at the base
of the Tree, symbolizing the gifts of Spirit, are received by each clan/family
member.
The ceremonies performed at the Winter Solstice are powerful in their
transformative effect. They are empowering of each participant in the awakening
of each to their own inherent spiritual gifts. They are ceremonies of
compassion and liberation, ceremonies of blessing, well-being and abundance in
the year to come.
At the approach of the Winter Solstice
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