Alycia

Today is, in the northern hemisphere, the shortest day of the year, followed by the longest night. Many different cultures have holidays revolving around this time of year, and they get more and more intense and culturally significant the further one gets from the equator. Over the course of the past two thousand years, Christianity assimilated a lot of those traditions into a day that they decided would represent the birth of the Messiah. So now, while many of those original holidays are still celebrated, a significant chunk of humanity considers this to be "Christmas time."

Personally, I had a pretty secular upbringing. I celebrate Christmas and Hanukkah, but more as family traditions than out of any kind of religious devotion. But ultimately, what are all these winter-solstice-adjacent holidays about? Hope. A reminder, at the darkest and coldest time of the year, that things are going to get warmer and lighter again. Whether you're bringing back the Sun God, or commemorating the birth of the Son of God, the underlying message is the same.

The light comes back, guys.

The light always comes back.

Happy Solstice, everyone.