Winter Solstice XLIV A. S.

Today, the Northern Hemisphere marks the Winter Solstice, also known as Yule, but more often celebrated as its belated bastardization: Christmas. The ancients established it as a festival designed to welcome the newborn sun god. Today's primitives insist that it is actually about the birth of Jesus. Then there are the more secular, but nonetheless mindless traditions of spending too much money on obligatory gifts, sending out inane greeting cards, and putting up hideous Walmart "decorations."

I'm not a scrooge. I always celebrate the 25th of December with loved ones. It's a chance to catch up, feast, relax, and exchange a few meaningful gifts. I take advantage of that mainstream holiday for my personal enjoyment, but avoid the pressures and excesses that often make it such a stressful time for the herd.

The Winter Solstice, while also a time for merrymaking, is an ideal time for ritual as well. During this, the longest night of the year, Earth's pendulum swings back: the sun gradually restores its dominance as the days grow longer once again.

Winter Solstice symbolism revolves around fire, the element most fully embodied in our sun. The metaphorical implications of this holiday are similar to those of the waxing moon; it is a time of beginnings and growth — the first movement toward Spring, and thus toward Walpurgisnacht. Relevant symbols and metaphors can serve to augment the energies of celebrants, enhancing everything from magical workings to the sheer joy of profound awareness.

While all of this is relevant to the holiday, the Church of Satan's website offers more concise insight and inspiration in this statement: "The True Meaning of Yule."