BRJWinter23Web - Flipbook - Page 26
Woodlands
Honoring the Solstice
Winter is the deep, slow breath we all need after the frenzy of warmer months
By Sara Catherine Lichon
T
he mornings lately are quiet. Frost glistens on the ground.
The chilly air kisses your nose when you step outside. What
birds are still around are slowly hopping around in the leaves,
looking for bugs to nibble on. This is the darkest time of the year,
but the stars seem to shine their brightest. Everything in nature
has settled down, entering a gentler routine. Winter is here.
For centuries, nature9s cycles have been reflected in our lives
and customs. Nearly all of our ancestors, regardless of what cultural backgrounds we come from, lived their lives by the seasons
and celebrated each seasonal shift. Living seasonally was a matter
of survival for our ancestors, who used cues from the natural
world to know when to plant, grow, harvest, hunt, and forage their
food. Living by this seasonal calendar wasn9t just for survival,
though; it also created a stronger bond between people and nature. As such, the winter solstice has been celebrated throughout
history in many different ways by many different cultures. Many
of the late-December holidays we celebrate today have their roots
in these historic winter solstice celebrations.
26 blackriverjournal.com
l
Artwork by Lauren Theis
By honoring the winter solstice and observing the changes in
nature during this season, we can deepen our own connection to
the world around us. But how can we lean into this time of year,
and absorb the lessons winter has to teach us? To explore this
question, we met with Lauren Theiss, the Raritan Headwaters Association (RHA)9s Director of Education, and Chris Neff, the NJ
Audubon Society9s Director of Communications, at RHA9s nature
preserve, Fairview Farm.
Despite the winter solstice being the day with the least amount
of sunlight, this day has traditionally been celebrated as the sun9s
rebirth. This solstice signaled to our ancestors that spring was on
its way, and soon there would be food to grow and harvest. Since
the autumn equinox, each day leading up to this point has gotten
shorter. But, after the solstice, the sun is reborn and each day gets
lighter. We begin our march towards spring, and soon life will
awaken and return again. This turning point in the season is what
many cultures celebrated all across the world. Several ancient
structures that still stand today give us a glimpse into how impor-