Winter Solstice, Dong Zhi, and Mother's Night

The winter solstice occurs tomorrow morning at 2:44 a.m. pacific standard time.

In the Northern Hemisphere, the December solstice happens during the coldest season of the year, when the sun is at it’s lowest angle and is seen for it’s shortest period. This is the moment of new beginnings- the darkest time, with the brightest hope. 

Many ancient solstice traditions are adopted and absorbed into Christmas festivities. I mark the solstice separately from- but linked to- Christmas. This is when I honor the sun, and remember that in spite of our technology, we are still dependent on the sun for life. Our world does revolve around the sun!

Agenda today:

1. Say a prayer:
Dong Zhi is the Chinese celebration of the winter solstice; it means "Arrival Of Winter". The Chinese have a great feast on Dong Zhi. Everyone wears new clothes, and visits their families with gifts. 

The Dong Zhi Festival is a time of hope, optimism, and thanksgiving for a successful harvest, the fertility of the land, and the reunion of the family. Many people offer incense on the morning of Dong Zhi, and prayers of thanksgiving to Heaven and Earth, the household gods, and to the spirits of the ancestors. People also pray for safety and prosperity in the coming year.

My prayer today: I offer my grateful thanks for life, my family and friends, this warm house in which I am able to stay out of the cold, and for the people who are working daily to make the world a better, more loving place.

2. Paint a plum tree calendar:

Funny looking plum tree!

Dong Zhi is grounded in the Chinese idea of yin and yang- balance and harmony in life. The feminine yin qualities of darkness and cold are most powerful at this time but the solstice is the turning point, giving way gradually to the masculine yang of light and fire.

In China, the number nine is linked with winter because odd numbers are yang, and nine is the largest odd number. Nine represents infinity and extremes. Winter is divided into nine periods, each nine days long, totaling 81 days. 

The Winter Solstice is the beginning of the first nine-day period. The weather should improve a bit every nine-days, and at the end of the ninth period, spring comes!

Before the Winter Solstice, people in China sometimes paint a plum tree with 81 white flowers. The plum blossom symbolizes longevity, hope, courage, and the promise of spring.

Materials: 

• soft absorbent paper (rice paper or newsprint)
• bottle of black sumi ink
• a Chinese brush 
• or use a black marker!

1. Experiment with the brush. Dip your brush into the ink. Hold the brush vertically, very gently.

2. Practice painting a tree and plum blossoms. To get fine lines, touch only the tip of the brush to the paper. Move your whole arm. Just paint the outline of the blossoms, and five dots in the center.

3. When you feel confident, paint a tree with 81 plum blossoms.

4. Hang the tree on the wall, and, starting tomorrow, color one flower red each day. At the end of nine-times-nine days, 81 red blossoms will welcome the spring!







3.  Burn Yule candles:

Yule (Jul) was a midwinter festival celebrated by the indigenous Norse and Germanic peoples, and is still celebrated by pagans today. The name might mean “Wheel of Fire”. The original date isn't known: It probably started about the time of the winter solstice and very likely at the new moon.

Yule, as it is observed by neo-pagans, is the celebration of the rebirth of the Sun, and the beginning of the cycle of the year. Traditionally, a large oak log is burned tonight, and kept lit for 24-hours or more.

We don't have a fireplace, so we will burn candles instead.

Tonight, on the darkest night, I honor the sun as a demonstration of the Divine Power.

4. Mothers Night Offering:
The winter solstice, for Saxons, is known as Modraniht, or Mothers Night, in honor of the Mothers who give birth to the Midwinter sun. On this first night of Yule the early Germanic and Scandinavian tribes paid tribute to the ancestral mothers who protected and watched over the family, helped with childbirth, and healed illnesses.

This Yuletide, light a candle and set a place at your table for your ancestral mothers. Ask them to make themselves known to you and stand by you during the coming year, that you may face the demands of the world with the strength and wisdom of your kin at your back. 

Offer them a bite to eat, as thanks for the help they give you. According to tradition, they like porridge with milk, fruit, smoked fish, and a mug of ale, cider or mead. Leave the plate out for one night, and the next day give the leftover food to the family pets or the wild animals, and pour the drink at the roots of a tree.

5. Danish Prune Bread:

Christmas sweet bread is a tradition in most every country. Since I grew up in a Scandinavian town, I’m partial to this bread from Denmark. You can easily make the dough and filling in advance and shape it to bake fresh on Christmas morning.

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 c. chilled unsalted butter 
• 3-1/2 c. flour 
• 2 tsp. active dry yeast (1 packet)
• 1/2 c. warm water (105-115ºF) 
• 1/2 c. heavy cream 
• 1/2 tsp. ground cardamom 
• 1/2 tsp. salt 
• 2 eggs 
• 1/4 c. sugar 
• 1 c. pitted prunes, packed 
• 1 c. sugar 
• 2 Tbsp. lemon juice 
• 1/2-tsp. vanilla 
• 1/2-tsp. cinnamon

Yield: 2 loaves-

1- Cut cold butter into chunks; combine with flour, and cut with a pastry blender until the butter is the size of kidney beans.

2- In another large bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Let stand 5 minutes. Stir in the cream, cardamom, salt, eggs, and 1/4 c. sugar. Mix very lightly with a fork.








3- Turn flour and butter mixture into the yeast mixture and mix lightly with a fork or spatula just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour (or up to 4 days).

4- Filling: Put prunes, 1 c. sugar, and 1/4 c. of water into a saucepan. Heat and simmer until prunes are soft and plumped, and have absorbed most of the liquid. 

5- Puree in a blender, transfer to a bowl and stir in lemon juice, vanilla and cinnamon. Cool and store in the refrigerator until ready to bake.

6- On Christmas morning, prepare a baking sheet with lightly buttered and floured parchment paper. Take dough out of the refrigerator, divide in 2 parts, and put half back. On a floured surface, roll dough into a 12 x 6-inch rectangle. Place on the baking sheet.

6- Spread half the prune filling down the length of the center of the dough. Cut strips along both sides with kitchen scissors. Fold strips over the filling in a crisscross manner.

7- Repeat for the other half of the dough and filling to make a second loaf.

8- Let rise 1 hour or more, just until the pastry appears puffy (it will not double.)

9- Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Bake about 20 to 25 minutes, until golden.