Happy Winter Solstice!! Today has become a special day for me in recent years because my first book Beauty Restored, is in fact a winter solstice book. Celebrating the solstices and equinoxes was never really a thing for our family growing up and the celebrations can have very pagan influences, but when I started thinking of ideas for my first series, the idea of the seasons and the storylines centering on a significant day in each respective season intrigued me, so the solstices and equinoxes became a big part of my stories. Also, being set in a fairy tale world, they may not necessarily celebrate the traditional holidays that we might, so the solstices and equinoxes seemed to be the best fit for my season-based books. And, any time I’ve researched things that have a secular foundation, often times at the root of the traditions and celebrations is a thread of truth that points to the Greater story that my books point to.
The Winter Solstice marks the point midwinter when the northern pole/axis of the earth is tilted furthest from the sun, casting the Northern Hemisphere into generally colder temperatures and longer periods of darkness. The Winter solstice is notably the shortest day of the year followed by the longest night. It generally falls on December 21, 22, or 23 every year, though some ancient cultures combined Christmas and the solstice on December 25. Many of the traditions celebrated on the Winter solstice involve light and lighting candles or fires to signify the return of the sun or light to the earth. Many cultures celebrated the solstice as a day when the sun god would be reborn and sometimes eat fruits like pomegranates because the red hues of the fruits reflect the colors of the sun’s dawning light and life. This holiday also represents the victory of light over darkness. It is also a time for reflection and looking inwards in preparation for the new year to come and is often seen as a time of prayer and purification.
We do not celebrate any of the pagan/secular traditions in our household, but the meaning behind some of the celebrations point to the Ultimate Light that entered the world around this time 2,000 years ago, and that is a definite cause for celebration. A couple weeks ago (and I honestly can’t remember if it was in a sermon at church or if we heard it somewhere else) someone mentioned how we celebrate Christmas at the end of December because it is the darkest time of the year and what better time for the Light of God’s love to come to earth and give us hope. God’s first words of creation were “Let there be Light”. His first task in breathing life into the world and crafting His carefully designed masterpieces was bringing light to the darkness. The first verses of Genesis talk about how the earth was dark and void and God dispelled the darkness by calling forth the first light of creation. Sadly, the world of perfect beauty and light would not last long and our world was quickly plunged back into darkness shortly after creation was complete. Adam and Eve made a choice to eat of the one tree they were told not to eat from because they were tempted to doubt God’s provision and intent towards them, so they took their lives into their own hands and immediately were separated from the God of Light who had so lovingly created and crafted them in His image. Some may question why they were given a choice if God knew what the results of their choice would be, but He didn’t want just a mandatory love with no choice on the part of His creation. He wanted them to love Him truly and genuinely as He loved them and have it be because they wanted to, not because they didn’t have a choice (Read more about this in my 4th book, Beauty Revealed!). From the moment our world was returned to a world of darkness, God told of His plan to send His Son to the earth to overcome the darkness and restore us to His loving Light. That loving light would come in the form of a little baby boy born during the darkest time of the year in a city of little significance to a man and a woman of humble and lowly parentage. Little did the world know that this baby was born the King of Creation and Prince of Peace when he lay in that manger bed that night.
The story of Christ’s birth is full of references to Light shining in the darkness. He was born during the darkest night of the year. A bright star rose up in the sky that would be the beacon that would guide three magi to his humble home. A host of heavenly angels appeared to shepherds in the field, filling the expanse with the glory of God’s light on earth. The traditions surrounding the Winter solstice come true in the birth of the Son of God. The Son of the God Most High who was present when the world was created stepped down from His heavenly throne to be born as a humble human baby so He could live among us and bring us healing and peace and salvation. The birth of that baby started the journey towards a day thirty-three years later when that baby grown into a man would take our sins upon Himself and raise to life three days later, putting the ultimate act of trust and faith in God to truly raise Him from the dead three days later, overcoming darkness once and for all and claiming victory over death.
My books weave elements of the Bible and Gospel throughout every story, and my goal is to constantly point others to Christ when they read these stories. Some of the scenes in my Winter Solstice book definitely portray the darkness in the world of the winter realm brought on by the vanity and pride of the Snow Queen’s heart and how her decision to feed her vanity affected not only herself, but her children as well. They feel the coldness of feeling unloved by their mother and growing up without the light of that love, forcing them to find ways to cope and live without the comfort and safety of a parent’s love. They face many hardships growing up, but some of the biggest trials and decisions they’ll face culminate on the eve of the Winter solstice. When life and the world around them is at it’s darkest, they must look to the light of the Mage and His Son to find the strength needed to defeat the Snow Queen and bring new life in the dawning light of the Winter solstice.
There are many beautiful moments in this Winter Solstice Chronicle and my favorite moments in each of these books is the moment when the character meets the Mage’s Son and he reminds them of the beauty and purpose with which they were designed and he helps them overcome the dark moments in their lives by shining light and love and grace into their lives. My mom has been recording the audiobook versions of my books and we finished book 1 this past week! I have to tell you, she’s done such an incredible job and brought another layer of life to the characters God gave me to write about several years ago and I can’t wait for everyone to hear these stories brought to life in a different way! We are doing final checks and are hoping to upload the final product to the audiobook website today, which would be amazing to publish the audiobook version of my Winter solstice tale on the actual Winter solstice (prayers appreciated!!). As I listened to the final chapter this week, I was reminded of what a beautiful picture it is to be restored to the light. The main character is getting ready to be crowned queen and she is dressed in a beautiful gown and the long forgotten white cathedral in the winter woods is full with people from the winter realm for the first time in decades. When she reaches the end of the aisle, she steps into a spiral made with pine branches, a Winter solstice tradition that show the turning into oneself and reflecting on where you are at internally, and she bows before the Mage’s Son. He removes a crown of hyssop and holly from her head, a symbol of purification and cleansing, and turns her crimson cape around so the crimson part is covering her and the white on the other side is showing to the rest of the world, a visual picture of being covered by the blood of Christ and being washed and made pure and clean as the white snow. He then places a crown on her head and presents her as the new queen of the realm. Not only was she restored to her family, the presence of the Mage and His Son (my God and Christ characters) was restored to the Winter realm. Light overcame darkness. Life was renewed. They were no longer trapped in the grips of the relentless cold and dark of the Snow Queen’s heartless reign.
Many of us have been lost or forgotten who we truly are and live our lives believing that we are monsters because of how people treat us or because of different things we struggle with, whether a chronic illness or disease, or the condescending treatment of someone significant in our lives, or the backlash from unhappy people whose only satisfaction comes from putting others down and destroying the light and happiness in that person’s life because it aggravates the darkness in their own lives. We all face seasons of endless night when it seems the light is never going to come again. We all long for the light and love of someone to rescue us from this eternal darkness. Well, good news has come in the form of a baby born in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago. You are a child of the King. You are the beloved bride of the Prince of Peace. When Jesus was born in a stable, He brought with Him the promise of salvation and the dawning light of eternal life with God. He was born Immanuel because it meant God was with us in human form. He given the name Jesus because He would save His people from their sins. He is our rescuer, deliverer and Friend. He came to cleanse us and cover us so that we might be pure as a winter’s snow and He doesn’t give up until we know how loved we are by Him.
I pray this winter and Christmas season that you are reminded of the light that overcame darkness years ago and that you see the beauty of the Winter and Christmas season all around you. May you find the reason to rejoice in your cleansing by his crimson blood that washed you white as snow. May you find the peace and hope of His eternal light that still reaches into this earth every single day of the year. And may you find the beauty of being restored to your rightful place in the kingdom of God’s love and light.
“Let there be Light”
Ashley Beach-Author and Storyteller 