by Sally O'Quinn

Created on: June 14, 2008   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

I grew up in a farming family, so the phases of the moon and the patterns of the sun were important to us. Planting and harvesting were scheduled around these cycles to insure abundant crops each season. I didn't realize until I was grown that this was an ancient tradition which had been used since mankind first began tilling the soil and observing the skies.

The solstice is usually around June 21st, and is the longest day of the year, meaning the sun is visible for more hours than at any other time. The hours of darkness are shorter than at any other time of year. Of course, to a farmer, more sunshine means more growth of fruits and vegetables, and is usually when harvesting begins, at least in the South where I grew up. Many of my June days were spent in a field of black-eyed peas, corn, squash and okra, gathering the ripest of each to take up to the house. Some would be prepared for the evening meal and the rest would go into the freezer to be enjoyed throughout the winter months, an advantage the ancient farmers did not have!

As I became older, a pattern of depression began to follow the cycle of the sun, and I noticed myself becoming increasingly sad as the long summer days flowed into the shorter, darker days of winter. After reading an article in the newspaper about SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder), I began seeing a psychiatrist and taking an anti-depressant to control these mood swings. Over time, I have managed to balance these fluctuations and now the passing of the summer solstice does not bring me down as it once did. In fact, I now look at the declining sunlight as giving me a break on my air-conditioning bill each month!

In my forties, I began reading about pagan religions and their holidays. I learned that many, if not most, of the ancient pagan holidays have been modified to become part of the Christian holiday calendar. Just as St. John the Baptist's birthday is celebrated on June 24th, right after the summer solstice, the birth date of Jesus Christ became fixed on December 25th, right after the winter solstice. These dates were chosen to help popularize a new religion with populations who were already used to celebrating around these times of year. This is when I also became aware that the astronomical cycles my mainstream Christian family followed were much older than Christianity itself.

I must say that it feels good to be part of something so old and central to mankind's history. I still have my flower gardens at full bloom around the summer solstice, and I now feel the significance of the sun-god at the height of his powers. Sunlight is essential to the life of all living things, and we must remember what a joyful time this would have been to people who had spent a long, dark and cold winter in caves and huts around the world.

However, I now look forward to December 21st as well. While my early religious training placed women and their contributions so far below men as to make them almost nonexistent, the pagan beliefs have given me a broader view. Instead of the winter solstice making me sad, it has now become a time when I honor the Goddess in all her feminine aspects, as she goes underground to seek her mate and bring the sun back to the world. I am now fully part of the cycle of life.

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