The Winter Solstice: The Return of Light

Mar 11

December 21 marks the winter solstice. It is the longest night of the year. It is the moment when darkness reaches its peak and then almost imperceptibly loosens its grip.
From this day on, the light returns. Not dramatically. Not all at once. But faithfully.

What the winter solstice is

Astronomically, the winter solstice occurs when the Sun reaches its lowest arc in the sky. It rises late, sets early, and casts the longest shadows of the year. Symbolically, this is the hinge of the dark season.
The night does not win. It crests. For people who lived close to the land, this mattered. Survival depended on knowing that the return of light was inevitable.
The solstice was proof that cycles hold even when everything feels stalled.

Folklore and old beliefs

In folklore, the solstice was often a liminal night or a threshold. Spirits wandered and ancestors felt closer. Fires were lit not to banish darkness but to welcome the light back gently.
In Norse traditions, Yule fires burned through the longest night. In Celtic lore, the rebirth of the sun was tied to the Oak King returning to power.
In many European folk practices, this was a time for divination, vows, and quiet magic rather than loud ritual. The solstice was not about asking for more. It was about listening.

The ritual of thirteen intentions

One solstice practice that resonates is the ritual of thirteen intentions. You write them on separate pieces of paper. Not shallow wishes but truths about what you are ready to release, transform, or invite into your life.
Twelve of these papers will burn. In the twelve days before the solstice, you fold them and place them in a bowl. Each day you draw one paper, read it, acknowledge it, and burn it.
Twelve intentions handed over to forces larger than yourself. The universe, chance, time. Call it what you will.
The thirteenth paper is different. It stays with you. That final intention represents your purpose for the coming year. Not a goal but a direction, the one thing you agree to tend with your own hands.

The fire takes twelve. You take one.

A personal marker

This day is also my grandfather’s birthday. This makes the solstice feel less abstract and more intimate. It serves as a reminder that cycles are not just cosmic. T
hey are familial and personal. Lives arrive and leave within these turning points whether we notice or not.

A life beginning on the darkest day of the year carries its own quiet poetry.

What is happening in the sky

Around the solstice, planetary energy often feels heightened. Not because the planets are doing something extraordinary, but because our attention sharpens.
With the year closing, connections feel louder. Emotions surface. Conversations turn reflective.

Astrologically, this period tends to emphasize inner work over action and integration over expansion. It is a time when people feel more porous and more connected to memory, ancestry, and meaning.
Whether you read this as astrology or psychology hardly matters.

It’s the season to be jolly right? It’s a magical time in all its colours.

The return of light

The most important truth of the winter solstice is simple. From this moment on, the light increases. Slowly. Almost insultingly slowly. But it does.
The year does not need to be conquered. It needs to be lived with a little more awareness. The light is coming back. That has always been enough to begin again.