Winter Solstice, New Year, and Evergreens

For millennia, plants and trees that remained green all year had a special meaning for people in winter. In the Northern hemisphere, the shortest day and longest night of the year occur about December 22, referred to as the Winter Solstice (sol-: sun; -stitium: stand still; when sun reaches its southernmost point.) Many ancient peoples considered the sun as the Supreme Being. In winter, as daylight became shorter and shorter, the people considered that the sun, or the Supreme Being, had become sick and weak. After the Winter solstice, daylight became longer and longer, meaning that the Supreme Being was getting well. So, the beginning of the recovery of the Supreme Being was considered worthy of celebrating. Evergreens, still around in winter, symbolized all other plants that needed warmth and long exposure to sun in order to turn green, and then provide food. So, the evergreens became a “tool” for the celebration of the Solstice.

The earliest documentation of celebration of the Winter Solstice with evergreens goes back to ancient Egyptians, probably during the New Kingdom period (~1300 BC). Throughout Ancient Egypt, the sun was considered to be a universal creator, symbolized by Ra, a hawk-headed image bearing the solar disk on his head (yes, the body was that of a human male). At the Winter Solstice, Ra was considered to have begun recovering from illness; to celebrate, the Egyptians filled their homes with green palm rushes, which symbolized for them the triumph of life over death. Full Story

Related: religion, wicca, pagan, Winter Solstice, New Year