We experience seasons on earth because as our planet revolves around our star it is tilted on its axis. Because of this tilt, at different times of the year the rays of the sun strike the earth at different angles. Throughout the Summer & Fall the northern hemisphere tilts increasingly away from the sun & the days get shorter & shorter. Throughout the Winter & Spring, the northern hemisphere tilts increasingly toward the sun & the days get longer & longer. The winter solstice is the shortest day (& longest night) of the year, and it marks the start of astronomical winter. In 2021 the solstice falls on Tuesday, December 21… at 15:59 UTC (7:59 A.M. PST) to be exact. At that moment the north pole tilts furthest from the sun, the south pole tilts closest to the sun, the sun is directly above the Tropic of Capricorn, every point north of the arctic circle experiences 24 hours of night, and every point south of the Antarctic circle experiences 24 hours of daylight. This astrological movement is the physical basis that undergirds our celebration of the survival of the old and the beginning of the new year. At least since the Stone Age we humans have memorialized the winter solstice. Neolithic monuments, such as Newgrange in Ireland & Maeshowe in Scotland, are aligned with sunrise on the winter solstice. Some archaeologists have theorized that these tomb-like structures served a religious purpose in which Stone Age people held rituals to capture the sun on the year’s shortest day. Famously, Stonehenge also orients toward the winter solstice sunset & is believed to have served as a place of December rituals for their people. From time immemorial all over the globe people like us have gathered at this time of year to celebrate the (re)birth of the sun, the triumph of light over darkness. They gathered around fires, decorated, sang songs & recited passages, gave gifts, shared feasts, put old things to rest & celebrated the hope of new beginnings. In our family we strive to ground our seasonal celebrations in the science of celestial movements, our vital connection to the natural world, the traditions passed down by our ancestors & the beauty, richness & poignance of our rich global heritage. Each year we try to learn about a new solstice-time tradition & to incorporate elements of it into our own celebrations. It may be a song or a symbol, a ritual or a costume, a passage or a dish, a craft or a game. Some of our favorite wellsprings are the ancient Roman Saturnalia festival, the Nordic folklore of the Deer Mother, the ancient Norse Yule feast & tradition of wassailing, the ancient Celtic midwinter, the East Asian celebration of Dōngzhì, the ancient Persian Shab-e Yalda, the Punjabi Lohri, the Hopi Soyal, & the Scandinavian celebration of St. Lucia’s Day.
It is important to us to cultivate traditions that fit our lifestyle & reflect our values & to share them with the people we care about most. As the solstice approaches, we Doerfels make a special journey to hand-select & hand-fell a noble fir tree which we take home, set up & decorate with unique ornaments, some of which are gifts, many of which we hand-crafted ourselves. This year on solstice we will light a fire at sundown, a fire the men will tend until we retire. We will tell stories of the past year & share hopes for the future. We will play games & read passages, munch on finger food from a smörgåsbord of local seasonal delicacies & we will drink naturally fermented beverages. In the week leading up to solstice & the week after we will spend time frolicking in the snow, listen to seasonal music performed live by local artists. We will attend local festivities—like Snowflake Lane—and we will look at displays of festive lights—like Garden D’lights. We will attend performances by local artists & we will feast on seasonal foods prepared by local chefs. On December 24 we will share a special family dinner. On December 25 we will open gifts around our familial tree. On December 31 we usually get together with friends & neighbors to ring in the New Year. This year it will be extra “special” because Xina, will be 37 weeks pregnant. How will you celebrate this season this year? What solstice-time traditions do you find most powerful? Most meaningful? Most fun? We would love to hear about them. We are always looking for ways to add cultural depth & richness & beauty to our family celebrations. We run a family business, a local business, a business that invests in our community. The best gift you can give in any season is to choose local businesses, especially businesses which specialize in locations, places where you put down your roots, live, work, gather, play & celebrate the seasons on our tilted planet. James Doerfel | (425) 221-5111 | James@PrimeRealty.io | JamesDoerfel.com