(Compilation for a Discourse by N. R. Srinivasan, December 2020)
Lord Dhanvantri has listened to our prayers. Will He descend on earth to fulfil his assurance in crisis to protect us as He promised to descend during crisis, eon after eon? We are however surprised with the news that He is descending as rare Star of Bethlehem after 800 years. Vedic astrology also predicted earlier that Kalasarpa Dosha will end in September and the rare conjunction of Jupiter-Saturn-Mars will take place.
Astronomers say both Jupiter and Saturn will appear almost like one from earth's view on December 21st. this year. It happens every 20 years, but the last time Jupiter and Saturn were this close together, and actually visible from the earth was the year 1226. Robert Sadler, a professor of natural science at Culver-Stockton College said: “this year, it happens on December 21st, the first day of winter. It's a conjunction in the sky of planets Jupiter and Saturn. Now, these planets are about 400 million miles apart if we'd have to measure the distance. But from our line of sight they appear like they're together in the sky”. We can find the pair near the moon just after sunset between December 16th and Christmas Day. Strange are the workings of GOD! The holiest month of Margazhi starts on December 16th, this year. December 16Th is also Holy Hanukah sixth day! December 21 is Winter Solstice Day. December 25 is Christmas Day, Vaikuta Ekadasi Day and Gita Jayanti Day. Is that not a proof enough that He has created all people equal to think alike and worship alike at the same time!
We will miss the Divine Light on Winter Solstice Day as Hindu Americans following India who wait for Makara Vilakku on Makara Sankranti Day next year. But Star of Bethlehem 2020 comes as our beacon of hope to pull through tumultuous Corona virus pandemic. It is heartening to learn the first most effective vaccine has been administered to a lady in England, who will celebrating her 90th Birthday this month around December 25. Soon the other companies who have succeeded in preparing equally effective vaccine will be joining the band-wagon to alleviate the human suffering and devastation! Are we out of woods? We still need His Compassion! Special Worship Day of December around Winter Solstice Day started as Worship day of Sun, the gift of Life-saving Light that shines after the Supreme Light (Divisurya Sahasra mentioned in Gita).
Let us now examine with our 20/20 vision how this 2020 Saturn-Jupiter-Mars Conjunction is unique and its arrival is a beacon of hope and optimism that at the same time calls for veneration and fortitude as believed in many faiths.
The Star of Bethlehem in 2020
The Christmas star symbolizes the star of Bethlehem, which according to the Biblical story, guided the three kings, or wise men, to the baby Jesus. The star is also the heavenly sign of a prophecy fulfilled long ago and the shining hope for humanity. May be the holy Bible visualized star of Bethlehem as Brahman!
The “Star of Bethlehem” is when Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars are in conjunction under the same sign. It is based on the mythology that around 2 B.C., there was a conjunction of Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars and three sage astrologers, or the “three wise men,” (one of them, a Hindu sage) predicted the birth of a child to be a savior to the people, located at the point where the terrestrial latitude and longitude of the triple conjunction is the same as the celestial latitude and longitude (and in the mid-heaven) of that geographic location. Such a child would become the initiator of a new epoch in world history.
The last incidence of a Star of Bethlehem was in the year 2000. This year in 2020, there will be a Star of Bethlehem that you will shortly. Then the next Star of Bethlehem won’t be until 2040. So basically, they occur about once every 20 years, give or take.
At about 4:00 am PST on February 15, 2020, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn are under the sign Capricorn, and rising (in the ascendant house). The Saturn-Pluto Great Conjunction (which we talked about in this previous post) is still going on, at only 3° apart
Defining a conjunction as being 10° apart, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn are in conjunct of one another on March 14, 2020, at 5:00 pm PDT. Saturn then enters Aquarius at 00° on March 21, 2020 at around 9:00 pm PDT, though these planets are still in conjunct, at just 7° apart. Mars and Saturn, both traditionally considered malefic planets, are in conjunct both at 0° in Aquarius in March 30 and 31, 2020. April 8, 2020 is when the three planets are no longer within a 10° conjunction, though most astrologers would only observe the Star of Bethlehem while the three plants are under the same sign, and so the event ends March 21.
The largest planet in our solar system, by both mass and volume, is Jupiter. It is two and a half times more massive than all of the other planets in our system combined. Then, despite its mass, it’s still a comparatively fast-moving planet, which is why it’s considered one of the personal planets, or most influential planets on the individual.
So when this massive, influential planet goes conjunct (goes near) malefic Mars and Saturn, it changes the behavior of Mars and Saturn, giving them a more beneficent demeanor than usual.
Thus, the period of the Star of Bethlehem 2020 is a time of hope, optimism, renewed faith, and a time to connect with Divinity. It’s a time when divination is heightened, so it’s a good period for spirit work. Connecting to the angelic or deva realms is also optimal during this astrological period. Renewal of vows, initiations of a spiritual nature, and really, all pursuits of happiness are amplified at this time.
With the event occurring in Capricorn, we see the Star most affecting culture and politics. On the personal level, this is also a strong period for manifesting career goals and ambitions.
Now Let us look at what David Frawley has to say about the Ancient Eastern Vedic astrology for 2020:
2020 Predictions of Vedic Astrology Endangers Humanity
We are all looking with deep concern about the current state of the world and what is happening today, which continues to surprise, confound and agitate us. The division and conflict on every continent is easy to see, but how to resolve it remains bewildering. While we should not give in to doomsday feelings, we must take the situation seriously and counter it on both inner and outer levels.
We are entering globally into what I have called “A New Time of Troubles”. Yet spiritual benefits and a deeper civilizational growth may eventually emerge after this difficult and trying period of uncertainty and turbulence that forces us to restore our harmony with nature and our inner Self.
A difficult Kalasarpa or Serpent of Time Yoga (combination with all the planets located between the lunar nodes Rahu and Ketu) has marked 2020 with epidemic disease, psychological malaise, paranoia, civil unrest and social change, with a new idealism in some places and old prejudices in others. It will decline somewhat over time but there will be new challenges throughout this year, which is likely to be set the tone of the future century.
Presently as of September 2020 this Kalasarpa Yoga has come to an end by way of transits in September but its influence remains in the yearly charts. Other difficult astrological combinations are coming as well. The winter solstice of December 2020 is marked by a Saturn-Jupiter conjunction and solar eclipse, with Jupiter near its maximum point of debility, showing the danger of large scale political and economic turmoil or division, which will likely influence the next twenty years until the following Jupiter-Saturn conjunction. The contentious American presidential election of November 2020 occurs just before this.
Overall, the main astrological event dominating our times remains the conjunction of the point of the Winter Solstice with the galactic center, an important point of karmic purification and rectification. However, this conjunction with the galactic center is an influence of several decades, which cannot be reduced to a particular year.
Astrological Indications – Conjunction with the Galactic Center
The great Yogi Paramahansa Yogananda in his special Yuga theory, which he derived from his guru Sri Yukteswar, indicated that humanity has moved astrologically from the dark age of Kali Yuga to the brighter age of Dwapara, a process completed around 1900 AD with the notable technological gains of that time. This may cause us to raise our hopes in the current historical situation.
However, Yogananda noted that Dwapara Yuga can be a dangerous period in which the development of new technologies can proceed faster than our wisdom to handle them, with our minds still in the shadow of old Kali Yuga belief systems. This situation creates high tech Dwapara based wars and calamities that are more dangerous than those under Kali Yuga, which had limited humanity’s resources and weapons. Such a disturbed initial Dwapara Yuga is what we are seeing today.
The first sub-period of Dwapara from 1900 – 2100 is its dark or Kali phase. We are now in the middle of this. The dangers of Dwapara Yuga should not be underestimated, particularly during these initial phases, as we experienced in the twentieth century with World War I, World War II and the Cold War, which were Dwapara type technological conflicts. Our new media and high tech conflicts and confrontations are also new Dwapara events.
We are also likely in the Kali Yuga of a longer cycle that is still casting its shadows upon us. While the long term trend may be more positive in some ways this can take more decades to fully manifest.
Prospects of Global Change
Clearly we are in a time of great challenges in terms of ecology, technology and societal changes that are shaking the moorings of what we regard as world civilization. While there is no end of the world in sight, the negative karmas of our civilization out of balance are strongly manifesting, until we deal with them in a responsible manner. For this new global karmic rectification the wisdom of Vedic knowledge systems, notably Yoga, Vedanta, Ayurveda and Vedic astrology remains crucial and can lead us to a transformative future.
Our civilization will likely experience several years of turbulence, uncertainty, and confusion before a clear light emerges for humanity overall. One could call this upcoming period in the twenty-first century a “New Time of Troubles” – an extended period of obstacles during which we are forced to change the values of our civilization that is far removed from nature and the Divine Self within us.
Calamities, both manmade and natural, are likely to increase, as well as increased physical and psychological vulnerability in society. Yet even if these difficulties are only as much as in previous centuries, they can be more significant in their consequences as a larger and more vulnerable population will be exposed to their dangers. The ultimate result of this new churning process should be an ecologically sustainable culture and a new global era of peace and yogic spirituality, with a new compassionate science, humanism and cultural renaissance reflecting dharmic values. The coronavirus is a key indicator of this process but not the only factor.
Until such a higher change occurs, we may see an increasing Brave New World decline. The organic basis of human life will be compromised and people made uncertain as to who they are, what life means or what their purpose should scenario of media, high tech and drug-based social control, social disruption, terrorism, new diseases and epidemics, and population displacement if not be.
We must not just restore the Earth outwardly at an ecological level, but must restore our inner ecology and honor the forces of nature within us, such as Ayurveda teaches us. This requires understanding the doshas, gunas and karmas within us and restoring the organic basis of our physical life and social order, including the individual, family and spiritual communities. There is a greater danger of new physical and psychological diseases as our individual immune systems decline along with the disruption of our natural environment.
Increasing Difficulties for Humanity
One does not have to be an astrologer to see the difficulties facing the world today. The exploitation of our lands, ecosystems, air and water, has reached a breaking point. Similarly, the manipulation of human beings through the mass media, cell phones, computers, multinational corporations, social and government agencies, and the widespread use of both recreational and medicinal drugs, is also creating extensive psychological malaise, disorientation, and alienation. Various types of physical and psychological toxins abound in our environment that even a healthy person cannot avoid.
Our economic systems are in danger of decline, if not collapse, through excessive borrowing, spending, speculation, and a reckless use of other people’s money by banks, corporations and governments. Many people are living on credit that offers little security. Our population is outstripping its essential resources of food, water, land and jobs. Many countries are caught in civil unrest extending into unending civil wars in some instances.
We see a lack of responsible leadership and a dearth of great leaders in the world, with few notable exceptions. Political parties aim at short-term electoral gains and inflame identity politics, divisive vote banks and religious extremism. We now look to technocrats to guide us, but an ability to develop new technologies cannot be regarded as the wisdom to guide society. It is often connected to vested economic and political interests and new powerful social control potentials. Overall our civilization, with its high degree of centralization and interdependency, remains more vulnerable than previous eras. Now a major war, environmental, health or economic disaster in one country can send off shock waves that can disrupt the entire world order.
Yet we must remember that each century for humanity has produced major challenges that the next century seems to quickly forget. The twentieth century had two enormous world wars that resulted in the killing of a hundred million people worldwide, with the most extensive losses in highly civilized Europe – compared to which our twenty-first-century conflicts so far appear minor. Science and technology continued to develop and the scars of these twentieth world wars were quickly covered with new cities and peace between the hostile countries.
As a counter trend, there continues to be a growing movement towards higher consciousness in humanity, though in the background and subject to distortion. The global spread of dharmic traditions, Yoga, Vedanta, Buddhism and meditation, mystical approaches, native traditions, alternative, and natural medicine like Ayurveda reflects this. Pro-environment and ecological forces are gaining greater influence in government and business circles. The new social media is providing an alternative voice to the mainstream mass media and its vested interests that so far had a monopoly. Yet at the same time, adharmic and unspiritual forces are getting more powerful and sophisticated, spreading through the media and promoting violence, determined to cause disruption. The battleground between these opposite forces is developing.
Looking into the Future of Despair and Hope
We are looking to a new post COVID world order but uncertain if it will bring spiritual freedom or simply greater social control. A new economic order is required as jobs continue to disappear, with many becoming automated or computerized. Schools and universities are going online, reducing their physical presence. New creative thinking is required, not simply getting caught in negativity or emotional reaction.
This new global time of troubles that is likely to last for several decades, and cannot be dealt with in a simplistic manner or with short-term action plans. These global problems have already started in 2001 with global terrorism and 2008 with economic dangers. 2020-2028 will be a period of increased disruptions at government and economic levels, with continuing refugee problems and failed states. 2028-2044 will continue these, perhaps at a more severe level, but with stronger countermeasures.
By 2050, the worst may be over, but the shadow of these events may color the remainder of the century. These issues are generational, not simply a matter of a few years. The end of the century should see a considerable drop in the global population, both by outer problems or better population control. Whether what remains afterward will be a Brave New World or a real new yogic spiritual era is debatable.
Science and technology have proved to be a two-edged sword, raising standards of living but increasing artificial desires, developing better communication but causing a greater polarization in society. Our older organized belief-based religions have failed, carrying on medieval creed-al divisions as if these could provide a solution for all humanity. Dharmic traditions with their emphasis on a universal Consciousness show the way forward.
There will be a continuing growing interest in higher consciousness, meditation, Yoga, Vedanta, Ayurveda and natural healing, Hinduism, Buddhism and Taoism, the seeds of which have already been cast in the global consciousness, including in the educated elite. Most countries will have spiritual movements and a visionary aspiration in a few. Hopefully, the new spiritual elite can overcome the demonic (egoistic) tendencies of our current culture and bring in more compassion and devotion.
And always hope must remain. Though the negative forces or Asuras (demons) usually have the advantage in this material world, which is their obsession, the Devas or Divine energies can overcome them at the level of the heart, and can win at the end, even when realistic scenarios look bleak.
India remains a target for negative adharmic forces as usual but has been developing a new dharmic strength over the last ten years that can hopefully hold steady through these storms. If so, India can be a guide for all humanity how to integrate science and consciousness-based spirituality.
In any case, humanity is in for a great deal of turbulence in the years to come. The question is if the nobility of the true human spirit, like the lotus, can surface in this mire. At least to some extent, it will, as it always does. The individual can always transcend, even if society cannot.
We can only spread the message of higher humanity – and look to the cosmic powers to enlighten or chastise our species as our karmas may dictate. We must remain patient during this long term churning process and sustain the eternal light! Then even the limitations of collective Karma can be overcome
The higher powers are looking for more individuals to aid in this work, which has great blessings for all. May everyone take up that call! This is a call not simply to be a social activist but to be a center for bringing a higher awareness into the world, however one is capable of doing that.
The Eternal Esoteric Star Brahman Outshines All
There are only two Stars that can carry light to all the corners of the globe...the Sun (vyahriti of Brahaman as 12 Adityas in the Sun’s Orbit) in the heavens and The Esoteric Brahman that pervades all sentient and non-sentient beings on Earth. Neither the Sun nor the Moon nor all the other stars can match the brilliance of the Universal Esoteric Star Brahman--deepam jyothi Param Brahman.
Many of us are not aware that Christmas is inspired by the Esoteric Tradition of Sun worship celebrating the arrival of Winter Solstice that was arbitrarily fixed as the Birth of Jesus Christ by a Pope. Hence the global celebration of Christmas is in fact is directed to the Universal Light that shines as Star of Bethlehem on Christmas tree that Hindu Americans visualize as deepam jyothi on heavenly tree of Aswattha!
In Bhagvad Geeta, The Lord compared himself with Peepal Tree. In many scriptures, Peepal tree represents the Holy Trinity. The roots being Brahma, Trunk being Vishnu, and Leaves being Shiva.
The Sun sends different kinds of energy to Earth for our creation and survival. There is infrared radiation, which is heat. There is visible light, which is what our eyes can see. There is also ultraviolet light. We can’t see ultraviolet with our eyes, but it can burn our skin.
Sun’s rays and roots of divine Aswattha tree come down from heaven to earth facing downwards that are venerated as Brahma by the Hindus who as the prime energy is the source for all creations on earth‑vidhartara
OM Tad Brahma-- Om it is Brahman!
Vidhartaaram havaamahae vasoeh kuvidvaanaati nah | savitaaram nri-chakshasam || (MNU)
We invoke the creator of the universe who sustains the creation in many ways and who witnesses the thoughts and deeds of men. May He grant us plenty of excellent and all round health and wealth!
“Maasaanaam maargaseershoham, tadyapi Star of Bethlehem 20/20 on Gita Jayanthi Night 2020 “ says Gita bringing Stabilty, Hope, Optimism and Renewed Faith!
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This discourse is a compilation based on my e-Mails sent to you in the past, from various authors indicated in the text, NASA and Internet sources that is gratefully acknowledged for delivering lecture to the students of Vedanta Class at Sri Ganesha Temple, Nashville, USA.
APPENDIX
WAS CASPAR, THE MAGI, THAT FOLLOWED STAR OF BETHLEHEM IS FROM KERALA?
(E-mail sent to HR participants on December 17, 2020)
Vedic Astrology predates the Three Wise Men that includes a speculated astrologer from Kerala, Caspar. All the facts described below make it no longer a speculation. Conjugation of Planets at the time of Birth of Jesus shone as a bright Star of Bethlehem then, and again now in 2020, after 800 years, a rare phenomenon. Yogananda Parahamsa says Jesus was an Avatara Purusha like the sage Vedavyasa though not worshiped as such. I believe star of 2020 that shines brightest on Winter Equinox Day on December 21 this year, venerated as Star of Bethlehem on December 25 announces the timely Vaccine relief that has just arrived to eradicate the devastation caused by the sound and fury of Kalasrpa in Sarvari that good Lord removed in September and also brought the vaccines to restore Joy on December 25 for all Religions this year, unlike in the past! Good Lord has blessed more than one firm to come with effective vaccine for mass eradication of Virus by the rare active cooperation of the Government and Private sectors, a divine inspiration of act in crisis, guided by sanghacchadvam samvadadvam.
Three Wise Men in the Bible & The Star of Bethlehem
In about the 8th century the names of three Magi—Bithisarea, Melichior, and Gathaspa—appear in a chronicle known as the Excerpta latina barbari. They have become known most commonly as Balthasar, Melchior, and Gaspar (or Casper). According to Western church tradition, Balthasar is often represented as a king of Arabia or sometimes Ethiopia, Melchior as a king of Persia, and Gaspar as a king of India. The three are often venerated as saints and martyrs.
Gondophernes--Indo-Parthian king
Alternative Titles: Gathaspar, Gondophares, Guduphara
Gondophernes, also spelled Gondophares, (flourished 1st century ce), an Indo-Parthian king in the areas of Arachosia, Kabul, and Gandhara (present Afghanistan and Pakistan). Some scholars recognize the name of Gondophernes through its Armenian form, Gastaphar, in Gaspar, the traditional name of one of the Magi (Wise Men) who came from the East to worship Jesus Christ at his nativity.
Gondophernes was first known from the apocryphalActs of Judas Thomas the Apostle, which told that St. Thomas visited the court of Gondophernes, where he was put in charge of building a royal palace but was imprisoned for spending the construction money on charitable purposes. Meanwhile, according to the story, Gad, the king’s brother, died, and the angels took him to heaven and showed him the palace that St. Thomas had built there by his good deeds. Gad was restored to life, and both he and Gondophernes were converted to Christianity.
Coins of Gondophernes, some bearing his Indian name Guduphara, indicate that he may have reigned supreme over both eastern Iran and Northwestern India. According to an inscription at Takht-i-Bhai (near Peshawar), Gondophernes ruled for at least 26 years, probably from about 19 to 45 CE.
--From the Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Caspar the Magi of Kerala by J. Noss
Of the three wise men popularized by the Gospel of Matthew, at least one was believed to have been an astrologer from India: Caspar. The name Caspar, or Gaspar/Kaspar, is thought to be derived from the name Gudapharasa or Indo-Parthian Gondophares.
Caspar, as the Indian magi was referred to, was the young, beardless sage who brought frankincense to the young Jesus as a representation of his divinity. The other two sages were Melchior of Persia and Balthazar of Babylon. The Gospel of Matthew describes these three sages in verses 2:1-9, while the names of the sages were derived from a Greek manuscript composed in around 500 C.E., likely in Alexandria. Over history some believed that there were as many as twelve astrologers or sages, but because three gifts were given (and the number 3 is frequently used in Christian mythology as a reference to the Trinity) the officially undocumented number of sages has been unofficially documented as three.
Caspar the Jyotiṣka
It’s now commonly understood that these men who traveled from the east (from the rising of the sun), as Matthew remarked, were not kings as previously believed, but rather “men who studied the stars” who could foresee the birth of a Messiah (Sanskrit: Masiha), whom was referred to as Isha/Issa (God). In fact, the birth of Jesus (Isha Masiha) is said to have been predicted in Puranic texts hundreds of years prior to his birth. The wise star followers are believed to have traveled the ancient silk road from the east to Bethlehem. Although it appears impossible to prove in current times, many believe that all of the “wise men” who visited baby Jesus were Indian sages and astrologers.
“Long before the time of Christ, India had trade relations with Palestine; much of the commerce between the Orient and the Mediterranean civilizations (including Egypt, Greece, and Rome) passed through Jerusalem”, so it is very likely that Wise Men could have been “great sages of India”, as Paramahansa Yogananda wrote in his “The Second Coming of Christ – The Resurrection of the Christ Within You” (2004, pp. 56–59).
Caspar is believed to have been a native of what is now South India, possibly in Piravom (Malayalam for “birth”) in Kerala. There are three churches in and around Piravom named after these three sages, while only three other such churches exist in all of the remainder of India. It’s well-known that Thomas the Apostle traveled to South India, whose tales are closely linked to Gudapharasa.
The Star of Bethlehem
Was the Star of Bethlehem an actual star, a planet, or was this term simply used as a reference to the science of astrology itself or the planetary placements which occurred at the time of Jesus’s birth? Some believe that a quasar was visible at this time, while others indicate that a particular planetary conjunction (Venus and Jupiter) took place which made a number of planets appear as one bright star in the night sky.
After the Pilgrimage
After leaving Bethlehem the sages actively attempted to avoid King Herod, so are believed not to have returned to their homes via the silk-road. In fact, some believe that Saint Thomas himself baptized them on his way to India. Caspar was eventually martyred with the other sages, and their relics found in Persia by Saint Helena (now kept in the Cologne Cathedral).
In 70 A.D. when the Romans under the Emperor Nero were feeding Christians to angry lions, in Kerala, India, Christians were worshiping in churches. In 65 A.D. Malabar had many churches. It is therefore logical to believe that one of the wise men could have been an astrologer from India as Kerala is also known for its astrologers from ancient times.
European History says “The earliest archeologically identified Christian church is a house church (dome’ ecclesiae), the Dura-Europa’s church, founded between 233 and 256. In the second half of the 3rd century AD, the first purpose-built halls for Christian worship (aula ecclesiae) began to be constructed.” you can now understand how falsified this history see knowing Christians in Kerala. In fact, the whole History of India has been based on political maneuvers and conveniences and not on facts as is taught in schools today! Jagadguru Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi now dates the age of Sankara to fourth century BCE.
Winter Descends, a Dark, Bitter Echo of Our Past
(Adapted from NY Times)
This year a raw and unbridled winter has descended on America. Its darkness is literal, with coming of the solstice on Monday, and it I metaphorical with the catastrophic toll of Covid-19, as each day the number of American dead grows steadily. Across the country the arrival of winter has filled p with fear and dread for what is to come.
For millenniums, during these months of darkness humans have turned to rituals and stories to remind one another of hope and deeper truths.
Allover the world, celebration of light dot the winter darkness like stars. Hindus, Jains and Sikhs celebrate Diwali. A five-day festival of light’s victory over darkness. Since ancient times humans have created rituals to imitate a desired overcome. One of the oldest such practices vis the act of lighting fire to call back the Sun
Winter is kniownn as the hungry time, the dangerous time, and people in the past counted their ages not by years but by how many winters they have survived- -that man has 70 winters and that woman 16.
The Iranian tradition of Yalda began some 2500 years ago, rooted in the Zoroastrian practices of ancient Persia. On the Winter Solstice families gather for a feast and surround themselves with candles, eat pomegranates and nuts, and recite poetry often by Persian master Hafez.
in the Chinese conception time, the winter solstice is the apex of Yin energy and the destructive forces of fall and winter. On the solstice, in early medieval China, Daoist priests intercede to the gods, who gathered in the wintry part of the heavens to judge deeds.
Around the solstice ancient Jews ad Canaanite people celebrated light rituals common across the Northern hemisphere. Hanukkah, the eight day festival of lights, likely emerged from the practice and the commemoration most likely celebrated light rituals common across the Northern Hemisphere.
It is an interesting metaphorical truth, that it is only when you have darkness that you can see the faint lights, whether it is faint stars, or the little points of light, thousand points of light that bring us hope even in darkness.
The great irony of winter is that the moment darkness is greatest is also moment of light is about to return. Each year the solstice comes with the promise that the next day will be brightest.
The stars are especially beautiful in the winter-time. Unfortunately the clearest nights are also the coldest nights, because the clouds act as blanket to keep the warmth in.
Some people mistakenly think that it is coldest in winter because Earth is farthest from the Sun; but Earth’s orbit actually means it is closest to the Sun in January. Artificial light has interrupted humanity’s experience of darkness, making us more uncomfortable, and robbing us of the night sky.
Human all over the Northern Hemisphere will share nature’s winter ritual of darkness on Monday, whether winter solstice or not. The longest night of of all is hundreds of miles north of Arctic Circle. In Alaska the sun set in November buried beneath the horizon, not to rise for 65 nights. And even here, one of the remotest places on earth, Corona virus is spreading!
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