Usually December 22.
Aisha's Moonlit Walk
From Skinner House Books
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
Toggle to filter resultsAvailable filters:
Changing a filter will refresh results (and remaining options) immediately. Searching by keyword or changing the number of items per page requires use of the "Search" button.
Displaying 51 - 86 of 86
-
December eleventh, Charles Dickens’ "A Christmas Carol" (1843). Unitarian Charles Dickens impacted the way Christmas is celebrated today more than any other individual. "A Christmas Carol" has been credited with popularizing everything from turkey dinners and family gift exchanges to holiday...Image | By Ralph Yeager Roberts | November 23, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Advent, America, Arts & Music, Christmas Eve / Christmas, History, Redemption, Winter Solstice / Yule -
December tenth, Christmas Scenes in "Little Women" (1868). Unitarian Louisa May Alcott wrote over a dozen Christmas-themed stories and poems in addition to the Christmas scenes in "Little Women.” Her description of a holiday with the March family nurtured a growing sense of American nostalgia for...Image | By Ralph Yeager Roberts | November 23, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Advent, America, Arts & Music, Christmas Eve / Christmas, History, Secular, Unitarianism, Winter, Winter Solstice / Yule -
December ninth, "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" (1849). "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear” was written by Unitarian Minister Hamilton Sears while recovering from a nervous breakdown. The melancholy carol’s conspicuous omission of any reference to Jesus or his birth has drawn criticism from orthodox...Image | By Ralph Yeager Roberts | November 23, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Advent, America, Arts & Music, Christianity, Christmas Eve / Christmas, History, Unitarianism, Winter, Winter Solstice / Yule -
December eighth, first Christmas Tree in the White House Blue Room (1912). From the New York Times, December 26, 1912: "With the President and Mrs. Taft at Panama, their son and daughter established a new precedent at the White House in the way of a Christmas party to-night....Image | By Ralph Yeager Roberts | November 23, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Advent, America, Christmas Eve / Christmas, History, Winter, Winter Solstice / Yule -
December sixth, The Modern Look and Lore of Santa Claus (1863). Universalist Thomas Nast produced over seventy illustrations of Santa. It is from Nast that the world first learned of Santa's red suit, that he gives coal if you're naughty, and even that Santa, as a world citizen, belonging to no...Image | By Ralph Yeager Roberts | November 23, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Advent, America, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Playfulness, Secular, Winter, Winter Solstice / Yule -
December fifth, "Jingle Bells" (1857). First performed at a Thanksgiving event by the Sunday school children from the Unitarian Church in Savannah, GA who were led by the church music director and the song’s composer James Pierpont. “Jingle bells” was published in 1857, but only gained...Image | By Ralph Yeager Roberts | November 23, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Advent, America, Arts & Music, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Winter, Winter Solstice / Yule -
December fourth, the earmuff is invented (1873). Lifelong Unitarian Chester Greenwood received the Patent for the first earmuff when he was 15. His factory manufactured the new winter wear for over 60 years. However, Chester himself worked as a mechanic in a bike shop he opened using profits from...Image | By Ralph Yeager Roberts | November 23, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Advent, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Winter Solstice / Yule -
December first, "Over The River And Through The Woods" (1844). The song "Over the River and Through The Woods" is based on a poem by Unitarian author and human rights champion Lydia Maria Child. Inspiration for the poem came from her own childhood memories of Thanksgiving at her grandparents’...Image | By Ralph Yeager Roberts | November 11, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Advent, Christianity, Christmas Eve / Christmas, IllUUmination, Unitarianism, Winter, Winter Solstice / Yule -
In the bleak and cold winter, We gather ourselves in To light the fire to warm our spirits, To kindle the flame of love and hope.Chalice Lighting | By Cynthia Landrum | November 11, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Commitment, Community, Earth-Centered, Faith, Friendship, Hope, Imbolc / Brighid's Day / Candlemas, Journey, Kindness, Love, New Year, Relationships, Twelfth Night / Epiphany, Winter, Winter Solstice / Yule -
Night has its own kind of beauty, different than the beauty of day. Night is a time of sleep and dreams and inward visions, A time of pause within activity. Darkness is an invitation to imagining and storytelling, And to using ears instead of eyes to listen to the world in its stillness....Meditation | By Gary Kowalski | June 3, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Balance, Beauty, Death, Earth-Centered, Imagination, Listening, Mystery, Searching, Silence, Solitude, Summer Solstice, Vision, Winter Solstice / Yule -
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 -
There once was a child who got lost in the woods. As night began to descend, the child became more and more frightened. I’m sure any of us would be frightened too, in that situation, but what made this child even more frightened, was that he had always been afraid of the dark. He was more afraid...Story | By Sheri Phillabaum | January 25, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Awe, Beauty, Courage, Fear, Halloween, Samhain, Winter Solstice / Yule, Wonder
-
Oh Beloved, Can it be that another year has passed? Wasn’t it just yesterday when we heard such familiar music, when these well-worn stories awakened us from our post-harvest slumber? Wasn’t it only weeks ago when we last reminisced about seasons past, when life seemed easier, when this season...Prayer | By Aaron Payson | January 25, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Christmas Eve / Christmas, Community, Hope, Joy, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Unitarian Universalism, Winter Solstice / Yule
-
Something has changed in me this winter. In the past I’ve focused on how long winter is, How miserable I find it, and how it seems so interminable. This winter, I find myself thinking instead That every day, every hour, every minute Brings us just that much closer to spring. We all experience...Poetry | By Tess Baumberger | January 25, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Acceptance, Advent, Agnosticism, Atheism, Brokenness, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Despair, Earth-Centered, Humanism, New Year, Strength, Unitarian Universalism, Wholeness, Winter Solstice / Yule
-
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
-
Emmanuel means "God is with us." Who is your Emmanuel? Who is your "God is with us," the one you were promised, the one you have been waiting for? For the ancient prophet Isaiah, he was a boy soon to be born who would guide the people of Judah back to peace and harmony with God....Meditation | By Sarah Movius Schurr | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Advent, Beauty, Belief, Christianity, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Direct Experience, God, Listening, Searching, Tradition, Transcendence, Winter Solstice / Yule, Wonder -
Spirit of Life, The beginning of the holiday season is filled with temptations to conspicuous consumptions, and pleas for generosity. The contrasts between the values represented by this time of year, and our ability to fulfill them, remind us how great the distance can be between aspirations and...Prayer | By Wayne B. Arnason | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Advent, Balance, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Hanukkah, Patience, Service, Unitarian Universalism, Vulnerability, Winter Solstice / Yule
-
Space-hanging Earth, fragile as a Christmas babe delicate as a Christmas Tree ornament: nurture us as a mother nurtures children, like Mary nursing Jesus. Forgive our hurtful ways. Help us to fairer sharing. And so may you sustain all earth's children and all earth's beings even your Earthly self...Meditation | By Andrew M Hill | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Christmas Eve / Christmas, Earth-Centered, Winter Solstice / Yule
-
In this small flame dwell: the beacon light of lanterns guiding travelers home; the warmth of hearth fires tended through the generations; the transforming energy of furnaces and the power and life of our sun. May these blessings -- warmth and light and life-giving energy -- be kindled in each of...Chalice Lighting | By Jean L Wahlstrom | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Acceptance, Community, Family, Friendship, Generations, Home, Journey, Love, Power, Transformation, Winter Solstice / Yule -
Not gold, nor myrrh, nor even frankincense would I have for you this season, but simple gifts, the ones that are hardest to find, the ones that are perfect, even for those who have everything (if such there be). I would (if I could) have for you the gift of courage, the strength to face the...Meditation | By Maureen Killoran | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Acceptance, Challenge, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Community, Connections, Courage, Generosity, Hope, Presence, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Simplicity, Strength, Winter Solstice / Yule
-
Ritual | By Liz Benjamin | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Earth-Centered, Paganism, 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
-
Great Rainbow Arch your bright light your seven colours your cool dew link sky and earth above the Christmas stable. Hold us all in your encompassing arms. Forgive our exclusion of others earth and life and child. So may we too forgive those who have excluded us. Save us from the darkness of deep...Meditation | By Andrew M Hill | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Awe, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Earth, Earth-Centered, Forgiveness, Nature, Presence, Transcendence, Winter Solstice / Yule -
George: This is Angel Gabriel of KGOD airwaves, coming to you live from the downtown mall in Bethlehem. The air is positively solar as frenzied shoppers scurry from store to store, their camels and donkeys weighted down with purchases. The beasts bawl. There are only, count ‘em and weep shoppers,...Story | By Lois Van Leer | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Christianity, Hanukkah, Judaism, Kwanzaa, Multiculturalism, Paganism, Winter Solstice / Yule, Multiculturalism
-
While most of us have heard the term, Winter Solstice, we don't necessarily know what it means. Many years ago, when I first started celebrating the solstice, a scientist explained it to me in a way that made sense. Learning from him, I wrote a reflection on the solstice that gives his scientific...Meditation | By Barbara Wells ten Hove | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Winter Solstice / Yule
-
Would you please join me in the spirit of prayer and meditation? Dear Gods and Goddesses, Spirit of Life & Love, Bless us on this beautiful southern California winter day as we celebrate and honor the darkness of the season as a time for us to reflect, look inward, and nourish and replenish our...Meditation | By Sara Eileen LaWall | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Earth-Centered, Generosity, Joy, Winter Solstice / Yule
-
Come we now out of the darkness of our unknowing and the dusk of our dreaming; Come we now from far places. Come we now into the twilight of our awakening and the reflection of our gathering. Come we now all together. We bring, unilluminated, our dark caves of doubting; We seek, unbedazzled, the...Chalice Lighting | By Annie Foerster | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Despair, Earth-Centered, Hope, Hospitality, Nature, Shadow, Spirituality, Transformation, Winter, Winter Solstice / Yule -
(May be read responsively) We light this chalice to affirm that new light is ever waiting to break through to enlighten our ways: That new truth is ever waiting to break through to illumine our minds: And that new love is ever waiting to break through to warm our hearts. May we be open to this...Chalice Lighting | By Charles A. Howe | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Birth, Calling, Grace, Growth, Healing, Hope, Listening, Love, Truth, Vision, Winter Solstice / Yule -
This prayer was originally spoken while lighting candles in the following way: Begin with only the Chalice light in the sanctuary (no artificial lights). Light the first candle from the Chalice, and read the first part of the prayer....Meditation | By Lisa Rubin | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Christmas Eve / Christmas, Winter Solstice / Yule -
As frozen earth holds the determined seed, this sacred space holds our weariness, our worry, our laughter and our celebration. Let us bring seed and soul into the light of thought, the warmth of community, and the hope of love. Let us see together, hear together, love together. Let us worship.Opening | By Laura Wallace | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Advent, Caring, Community, Earth-Centered, Hope, Love, Nature, Sacred, Winter Solstice / Yule -
God of life and beauty: We pray for the quietness of snowflakes, knowing that love is quiet. We pray for the kindness of small acts, knowing gentleness is fragile....Prayer | By Lucinda S Duncan | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Advent, Compassion, God, Kindness, Living Our Faith, Service, Unitarian Universalism, Vulnerability, Winter, 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 -
We join our hearts and minds together in a time of meditation or prayer; spoken, silent, sung, and shared....Meditation | By Christine Robinson | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Paganism, Winter Solstice / Yule
-
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
-
Now is the moment of magic, when the whole, round earth turns again toward the sun....Meditation | By Victoria Safford | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Awe, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Connections, Earth-Centered, Gratitude, Hanukkah, IllUUmination, Kwanzaa, Love, Winter Solstice / Yule, Wonder
-
It is a good morning to be together! When winter's darkness spreads across the land, and cold seeps through our thickest coats, we hurry here, drawn by the warmth of faces familiar and new, to the welcoming walls of this house. Here, for this hour, we open ourselves to new understanding,...Opening | By Barbara Cheatham | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Challenge, Community, Connections, Earth, Meaning, Unitarian Universalism, Unity, Winter Solstice / Yule