Before social media and the fast pace and brief acknowledgement of important celestial markers under 24hour blue light exposure emitted from our electronic devices, humans and cultures evolved around the movement of the Sun. The reality is that without the light of the Sun, nothing can exist or grow on planet Earth. This simple yet profound reality means that most civilizations up until very recently were mostly preoccupied with the disappearance and return of the light and complex rituals and mythologies surrounding the Solstitial and Equinoctial Gates are built within our history.
Important monuments were erected all over the world to observe significant celestial events, including the Winter Solstice. 40 000 years ago, long before the Greek astronomer Hipparchus (who lived around 120 BCE and usually gets credit for discovering the Equinoxes) cave-dwelling humans who made art in the Chauvet cave of Northern Spain, the Lascaux site in France, and Neolithic sites like Göbekli Tepe were already observing the Solstice and Equinox. There is as much mythology about this time of the year as there are stars in the sky.
Nature and our bodies are biologically wired to move with the ebbs and flow of natural light. This is something important to keep in mind as real darkness is almost completely absent from our modern reality. Cell regeneration happens in the dark of night when we are sleeping. We are becoming increasingly aware of the physiological and psychological implications and damages that come from looking at a screen after sunset. Today is the longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere.
The Sun enters the sign of Capricorn and crosses the Gate of the Gods. The return of the light and the promise of life is imminent.
9th House 