Categories: Time

May you walk in the Light: Merry Christmas vs Pagan Solstice

“I do not consider either the just, or the wicked, to be in a supreme state, but to be, every one of them, states of the sleep which the soul may fall into in its deadly dreams of good and evil when it leaves Paradise following the Serpent.” ~ William Blake

Christmas falls at that dividing point in the year where light is most oppressed by darkness. After the longest night of the year, the Midwinter Solstice, the unconquered sun returns on December 25th in the Sol Invictus. The birth of Christ was symbolically placed at this point, overlaying two ancient pagan holidays, Roman Saturnalia and Germanic Yule.

The choice was poetic. What more dramatic day could a divine being enter a world ruled by a fallen angel, in order to preach love and forgiveness? After all, the pagan roots of Sol Invictus are drenched in drunkenness, slavery and sacrificial blood.

This cosmic battle between good and evil has inspired writers and poets since the very first stories were told. The visionary artist and poet William Blake was fascinated by the conflict between darkness and light and embodied it in his extraordinary dragon paintings. He saw the conflict as an internal struggle, the battle we all face when the dragon comes to call.

May you walk in the light.

Amy Eyrie

I'm a novelist and writer of strange and unusual subjects, from Quantum Physics to the dark ruminations of the soul. With a B.A. in creative writing/poetry and a minor in astrophysics, I’ve worked as a journalist, writer and editor in both the U.S. and Europe.

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Richard Sherrod says:

December 8, 2020 at 11:38 pm

As Our Universe is made up of 95.1% "Dark Matter" and "Dark Energy" this leaves only 4.9% LIGHT for all the Stars, Planets, People...
All Religions are seemingly based on or around SUN Worship. Maybe WE need to "BE the LIGHT?"
LIFE is what WE make it!
Save Your Soul, don't fall for the Dark Side and its Donuts. Our Eternal SOUL should be worth much more than Lard or fat. So, Don't be a Homer. Doh!