Sol Invictus…the TRUE reason for the season
December 25th (in the Julian calendar) marked the feast of the Winter Solstice. Originally known as the Feast of “Sol Invictus” (Latin for “The Unconquerable Sun”) it celebrated a deep and abiding faith that despite the darkest and longest night of the year, the light would triumph and return to its ascendency over the dark. The Winter Solstice marks one of the 4 major soli-lunar events of the year. This feast has been celebrated in almost every culture and historical period under one name or another. Yet the theme is always the same - hope and joy in the face of darkness.
The title, and the thematic centrality, of the feast was too great a temptation not to “baptize” it in the blood of Jesus and make it a central feast for the Christian faithful. Yet if you read the Scriptures closely you realize that the Jesus story has him born in the Springtime, the lambing season, when flocks in the grazing fields were watched over carefully by shepherds to prevent the vulnerable newborns from predation. (In the winter months sheep were not out in the fields at night due to the inclement weather.) Placing Jesus’ birth at lambing time also served the gospel writer Matthew’s theological purpose to have Jesus imaged as the newborn “Lamb of God” who would later escape the ravenous wolf, King Herod, in order to ultimately give his life at the time of the sacrificing of those very lambs on the primal feast of Passover.
So many of the Solstice customs and rituals have become part and parcel of the Christian celebration of Christmas. The tree with lights, holly and mistletoe, evergreen wreaths, red and green colors, gift-giving, special carols, etc. are but a small listing of the many symbols and customs appropriated from more ancient celebrations.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sol_Invictus
http://www.tryskelion.com/yule7.htm
http://www.religioustolerance.org/xmas_date.htm
Yet in the religious intolerance that seems to crown this season, the true origins of so many of our beloved traditions get covered over, as religious demagogues lament the expropriation of Christmas by the godless masses. Foaming at the mouth about keeping “Christ in Christmas” they spread intolerance, misinformation, and even fear and hatred of those who choose to believe differently.
Would it not be more in keeping with the nature of this feast to realize and celebrate its utterly diverse origins, customs, and traditions - as an abiding witness to the unity of humankind? as a shining witness to our central and common human need for a time to express our undying hope and joy, in the face of the seemingly unremitting horrors and darkness of this world (most often perpetrated and legitimated in the name of religious “truths”)? Surely a feast that unites so many cultures, falths, and epochs can serve as the basis of our coming together in a spirit of gentle tolerance, respect, and community… rather than a “my god is better (or more “real”) than your god” religious truimphalism and exclusivism.
I hope for all of you… amidst the darkness of fear and the “slaughter of the innocents” that Christian and Islamic and Jewish “terrorists” spill across Iraq, Palestine, and nations around the world… a time of hope and joy BIRTHED in the unquenchable human thirst for justice, peace, dignity, and love.
Let the Light return!