By Emily J. Weitz
Ancient cultures used to wonder, on dark December days like these, if the sun would ever return. All over the world, monuments still welcome the sun on winter solstice in the same grand ways that they have for thousands of years. Of course, agricultural practices were and are dependent on the sun, and the winter solstice was a sign that, slowly, the sun would begin to return.
But the Solstice has also always had a social and spiritual element. At the time of greatest darkness, the solstice has been a beacon of light.
The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the South Fork has been inviting the community to celebrate the winter solstice for 22 years, in recent years at their meeting house on the Bridgehampton-Sag Harbor Turnpike. In a place like the East End, where December 22 resonates with the farming community as well as the locals who feel a thousand miles from 4th of July barbecues, this celebration of light is essential.
“It caught on quickly with the whole community,” says Reverend Alison Cornish. “This is about the human experience of the natural world – it’s something we can all grasp.”
Cornish, whose connection to nature is evident in the overall culture of the meeting house, encourages people to take this opportunity to listen to the natural world instead of resist it.
“The light is diminishing,” she says. “Should we respond by just turning on more lights and cranking up? Or should we quiet down and embrace the dusk?”
It’s in these darker times that reflection is more readily available. When there isn’t so much stimulus from the frenzy of summer, “Solstice invites us to name the aspects of the season we love as well as what’s challenging,” she said. “The crystal quality to the air, the long afternoon light that brings out the orange and brick.”
But even with an appreciation of the cold, dark winter days, there’s a human impulse to increase the light. Christmas lights are scattered throughout the town, Hannukah menorahs are poised and ready for fire. Solstice, too, is loaded with the symbolism that fire brings.
“Light is safety and community,” says Cornish. “Light goes to the basic need to be able to see, and not be surprised by something coming out of the dark. Come to our hearth, lay down your troubles, and be together.”
That is precisely what the winter solstice party is all about. Events this year invite people to turn in, and then to reach out. At 4 p.m. on Saturday, Linda Mikkel will roll out a portable labyrinth for people to embark on their own meditative walking journeys.
“The point is not to solve the problem,” says Cornish, “but to use the experience of walking the labyrinth to figure something out. Take a problem to be solved and use the turns in the labyrinth to look at the problem from a different perspective. You can use the labyrinth to let go.”
The fact that other people will be walking the labyrinth at the same time, having their own experience, adds to it for Cornish.
“Passing one another on the labyrinth changes the experience, and allows it to be communal,” she said. “I’m hoping the larger community will see it as a way to bring solstice into their lives.”
At around 6 p.m., there will be a potluck dinner by candlelight, because “What brings people together?” asks Cornish. “Food, drinking, light. In a tribal culture, the last thing you wanted was to be isolated in the dark and cold.”
But the food is also symbolic of our agricultural roots and the presence of the solstice there.
“We’re eating root crops, long-lasting fruits and veggies,” says Cornish. “We’re so fortunate on the East End. It’s a great time to be a locavore.”
At 7 p.m. the drumming will begin, first with Dave Chorowski accompanying a solstice ritual, and then with the Escola de Samba Boom Brazilian drummers. People will undoubtedly throw off their shoes and dance.
“It’s all about creating community,” says Cornish. “We gather together so that we know we’re going to be okay.”
At the Meeting House, “We’re trying to build for the multi-generational experience on equinoxes and solstices,” says Cornish. “The winter solstice is the longest-running. We honor these holidays in our Judaeo-Christian upbringing but also in nature-based celebrations. Solstice is open to all. It doesn’t belong to a particular tribe or nation. Both hemispheres experience it, and if you’re human, you notice it. As Unitarian Universalists, we can honor this honestly and joyfully.”
The Unitarian Universalist Meeting House, on the Bridgehampton/Sag Harbor Turnpike, invites all to celebrate the winter solstice together. Festivities begin at 4 p.m. There’s a suggested donation of $10 for adults and $2 for children. For the potluck, you can bring a dish to share, and feel free to bring your own drum or instrument.
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