Usually December 22.
Aisha's Moonlit Walk
A fictional modern-day family celebrates eight pagan holidays over the course of a year.
Winter solstice is the shortest day and the longest night of the year. Traditionally, it is a time of both foreboding and expectancy, as the longest night leads to the return of the sun. “Solstice” in Latin means “the sun standing still.”
The Winter Solstice has become important to both humanists and pagans, who can find common ground in celebrating this occasion. Themes can include light amid darkness; the death of nature and the cycle of life; the darkness just before the dawn; the miracle of every birth.
Faith Without Borders
For everything there is a season—a time to die and a time to be born. With the arrival of winter’s low dark sky, communities around the world look to the miracle of light as a sign of rebirth and a source of hope. We celebrate the promise of new life and recommit ourselves to the protection of everyone’s right to his or her own radiant humanity.
Celebrating the winter holidays is an excellent opportunity for Unitarian Universalist congregations to express their commitment to our Sixth Principle: We covenant to affirm and promote the goal of world community with peace, liberty and justice for all. See Sixth Principle Resources for winter holidays.
From Tapestry of Faith Curricula
Unitarian Universalist Perspectives
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One of the Goddess’s best friends was a cardinal—a bright red bird who loved to play with the Goddess and the Sun.Story | By Christina Leone Tracy | December 16, 2022 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Animals, Change, Earth, Earth-Centered, Ending, Faith, Friendship, Goddess, Imagination, Letting Go, Nature, Paganism, Winter Solstice / Yule, WorshipWeb, Worship -
Once, many grey autumns ago, I came upon a tree. The tree, a poplar, had dropped all of its leaves but for one, just one. Exactly one leaf remained near the topmost part of the tree, fluttering in the breeze like a little reddish-brown flag....Meditation | By David M. Horst | January 25, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Autumnal Equinox, Connections, Contemplation, Despair, Direct Experience, Earth, Earth-Centered, Letting Go, Nature, Reverence, Samhain, Thanksgiving, Winter Solstice / Yule, WorshipWeb -
In between, liminal, that space where we wait. Between moments; events, results, action, no action. To stand on the threshold, waiting for something to end, And something new to arrive, a pause in the rumble of time. Awareness claims us, alert, a shadow of something different....Meditation | By Kate R. Walker | May 29, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Agnosticism, Bridging Ceremony, Change, Coming of Age, Humanism, Letting Go, New Year, Revelation, Summer Solstice, Transformation, Winter Solstice / Yule, WorshipWeb -
Waiting to be born, again, into the morning, onto the day, from dark warm comfort, of my bed full of sleep and blankets, back into bright spring-scented air with all its life and branches....Reading | By Tess Baumberger | January 25, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Advent, Birth, Christianity, Hope, Letting Go, Patience, Unitarian Universalism, Winter Solstice / Yule -
As the year winds down to its close And we are submerged once again In the seasonal darkness we have come to know so well, We have reason to think back upon the year that was, If only because it will soon be gone....Meditation | By Mark Stringer | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Forgiveness, Honesty, Letting Go, New Year, Winter, Winter Solstice / Yule -
Holy One, known by many names -- Creator, Sustainer, Redeemer -- you make your presence known to us in the sunshine of winter, in the dance of the flame, and in the lingering embrace of a trusted one. Fill us this day with your warmth, your power, your strength. Help us to see our lives with a...Prayer | By Marta Flanagan | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Advent, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Freedom, Gratitude, Letting Go, Purpose, Sacred, Winter Solstice / Yule
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We are in the midst of the season of celebration. Celebrations: Of the birth of new hope, Of the festival of lights, Of the triumph of freedom. The darkness of the year is lifting and the time of light grows longer. We have gathered with an anticipation of hope for peace on earth and in our homes.Meditation | By Elizabeth M Strong | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Awe, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Ending, Hanukkah, Hope, Letting Go, New Year, Searching, Unitarian Universalism, Winter Solstice / Yule