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Winter Solstice - Rebirth of the Sun

Mid-winter celebrations have been observed all over the world since ancient times. In Egypt, Osiris is said to have died and been reborn on Winter Solstice. In Greece, the winter solstice rites were called Lenaea, in which Dionysos was torn apart and then reborn. The Incas had their Festival of the Sun and the Pueblos and Hopis, as well as many other Native Americans, observed Winter Solstice with sun-centered rituals. The Romans had their Saturnalia and in fact there were so many different Sun deities connected with Winter Solstice that the Roman emperor Aurelian (@270 AD) officially rolled them all into one single festival and proclaimed December 25 "The Birthday of the Sun". Lighting fires to encourage the return of the sun on the longest night has been a universal tradition since prehistoric times.

The Celts had their winter feasts too, of course. Deuorius Ruiri (Great Holy Feast of Winter) is marked on the Coligny Calendar, the oldest record of Celtic festivals. In Irish, midwinter is "Mean Geimrech". At a megalithic site in County Meath, in the 5000 year old passage tomb known as Newgrange, the traditional winter solstice fire has faithfully rekindled each and every year since the most ancient of longest nights - by the sun itself.

Just east of the modern city of Drogheda, the River Boyne makes a southward curve. Cradled within the graceful arm of the famous Bend in the Boyne lies three great mounds. To the west is the Hill of Knowth and to the east is the Hill of Dowth. Both of these manmade hillocks contain passages and chambers. Between these hills and slightly to the south is one of the finest megalithic monuments in the world, Newgrange.

Newgrange has been carbon dated to @ 3200 BC, which makes it 600 years old than the Giza pyramids and 1000 years older than Stonehenge. It is an incredible structure, sitting high atop a hill, gleaming with a layer of white quartz and other stones that makes it shine even from miles away. It can be seen from Tara, 15 miles away, and anyone who lived within that distance during its construction could have seen it from afar. Huge stones inscribed with fascinating spiral patterns surround the building. The impressive corbelled roof has not leaked since it was made. No mortar or metal was used in building the structure, only stone or bone tools. As if that wasn't spectacular enough, the real beauty of Newgrange is hidden deep within. At dawn on Winter Solstice the chamber of this megalithic passage tomb fills with sunlight that enters at an exact point through a slot in the roof specifically designed to illuminate the room. This event last for 17 minutes each day from dawn on the 19th until the 23rd.

If you are thinking of attending this Midwinter party, you have to submit an application. Admission is obtained only by lottery. Last year around 20,000 applications were received. In early Oct. 50 names are drawn, 10 for each day the chamber is lit. Each lucky winner receives 2 passes for a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Newgrange is so called because is 1142 it was part of a farm owned by monks and in those days farms were known as granges. In Irish it is called Uaimh na Gréine, (Cave of the Sun), one of 3 sites in an area referred to as Bru na Bóinne which is a complex of more than 30 standing stones, barrows and enclosures.

Who built the Cave of the Sun and why? It must have taken a work force of at least 300 people perhaps 20 years to construct it. An amazingly sophisticated project for a neolithic farming community, Newgrange stands as evidence of intelligent, imaginative and remarkably dedicated people. Primarily this structure is a temple. The focus is clearly on the rebirth of the sun at winter solstice. It is heart-shaped and the concave middle of the front, around the entrance, was most like the center of ritual ceremonies. Crowds probably gathered in the large field just beyond the outlying stone circle, of which only a few markers survive today. On the Winter Solstice, the festivities may have begun there at the entrance and lasted for all of the longest night. Then at dawn, the focus would move into the building itself, down the 62 foot passageway into the large corbelled room. Here the special event occurs. Through a specially designed slit above the entrance, a ray of light from the rising sun lights up the spirals that are carved on the walls. This event only happens on Winter Solstice and for a day or two around that date.

Winter Solstice this year falls on DEC-21 @ 12:41. You can view images of Newgrange on previous solstices HERE. And for a slideshow that offers an artistic look at the site, visit Ireland, Body and Soul. No matter how you celebrate the Feasts of Midwinter, I wish you light on your path!

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Winter Solstice - Rebirth of the Sun

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