{"id":124129,"date":"2018-12-17T12:01:48","date_gmt":"2018-12-17T12:01:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=124129"},"modified":"2020-12-17T06:15:12","modified_gmt":"2020-12-17T06:15:12","slug":"winter-solstice-the-day-of-the-longest-night","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2018\/12\/winter-solstice-the-day-of-the-longest-night\/","title":{"rendered":"Winter Solstice: \u201cThe Day of the Longest Night . . .\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\u201cTo everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under the heaven.\u201d<\/em>
\n(Ecclesiastes 3:1) Old Testament (Hebrew Bible, 450-200 BCE)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Prelude<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

I write in awe and reverence of Time! I write with respect for ancients pursuing mastery and control of Time\u2019s mysterious cycles, determining life and lives. \u00a0I write of \u201cThe Day of the Longest Night,\u201d when ancients gathered in appeasing rituals, fearing Sun\u2019s light would surrender to eternal darkness. Cosmic struggles were at hand.<\/p>\n

On \u201cThe Day of the Longest Night,\u201d today calendarized as December 21, uncertainty of light\u2019s return once brought chants, prayers, and sacrifices. Shrines, columns, and monuments were erected to map the past.<\/p>\n

I write to remind us Time, not as conceived and measured today, but rather ancients\u2019 experience of Time\u2019s endowed rhythms, connecting life and lives to mysteries of cosmic creation: \u00a0uniting, bonding, connecting all things in an endless stream.<\/p>\n

I write of Time as an eternal unity archetype, inscribing and compelling thoughts and feeling, with awe and reverence of creation\u2019s omnipresence. \u00a0Time is life! Life is Time!<\/p>\n

\u201cTime is tyranny,\u201d ruling life and lives, demanding obedience to change even as comforts of accepted ways resist. \u201cTime is a gift,\u201d opportunity for change: Time sanctions discovery, escape from stasis, awareness of consciousness. \u201cTime and consciousness are one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Time and Ancients<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Ancients surrendered to Time\u2019s<\/strong> demands. Sacred rituals accommodated, appeased, placated, Time<\/strong>, in awe and reverence.<\/p>\n

Ancients fathomed Time\u2019s <\/strong>control of life\u2019s rhythms! In Sun\u2019s ascent, light, purpose, comfort! In moon\u2019s rise, fear! What purpose? Why? A cosmic struggle? \u00a0Sun, Moon, distant stars, symbols of light and dark, good and evil, life and death?\u00a0 A cosmic dance!<\/p>\n

Were Time\u2019s<\/strong> cycles allegory, testimony to life and lives\u2019 connections? Who, what, why? Inherent in human mind, a pursuit of meaning, identity, purpose, mastery! In Time\u2019s<\/strong> mysteries, tensions of belief, doubt, wonder, faith, denial, hope!<\/p>\n

The Day of the Longest Night<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n

December 21, \u201cThe Day of the Longest Night,\u201d<\/em><\/strong> may be passed today with little celebration, no awareness of the magnitude of this day in our past. It was a day of consequence, an encounter with cosmos.<\/p>\n

For ancients, \u201cThe Day of the Longest Night<\/em>,\u201d<\/strong> was a Time<\/strong> of mystery. \u00a0Cosmic forces were at work! There was no expectation life would continue, only an apprehensive hope.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Day of the Longest Night\u201d<\/em><\/strong> was once a Time <\/strong>of fear; forces were poised to impose their will!\u00a0 \u201cThe Day of the Longest Night\u201d<\/em><\/strong> was both reality and symbol, a struggle between light and dark, day and night, good and evil. \u00a0For ancients seeking certainty, it was a day of consequence, a precise moment in Time. <\/strong>Destiny was at stake!<\/p>\n

In the ancient land we today call England, ancestors gathered before monuments of circled stone columns and mantles. Would a faint ray of sunlight appear in an aperture promising survival? Mystery! Knowledge was at risk!<\/p>\n

Knowing and Mystery <\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201cKnowing!\u201d Knowledge! What if knowledge is incorrect? \u00a0How can we be sure?\u00a0 Recall the lessons of the Biblical story of Adam and Eve! \u00a0If you obey my words, Paradise is assured; disobey, disregard, dismiss my words, and eternal suffering will befall you.<\/p>\n

Must we be comforted by ignorance? Minds dulled by accepted sensory pleasures, devoid of challenge, absent question? Is not knowing natural? Choice!<\/p>\n

Does choice dooms us to suffering? A dilemma, paradox, enigma. Is not the desire to know, to inquire, virtuous?\u00a0 Is question the root of change? \u00a0\u201cTime <\/strong>is change, change is Time!\u201d <\/strong><\/p>\n

What maddening game is this played out by ancients minds? Is this a game of gods, wagering on decisions made by mortals, laughing, angry, troubled by choices? Who was fearful of knowledge?<\/p>\n

Original sin was imposed! A timeless burden risking the loss of paradise! Ahh, Milton! Let evil be abolished and paradise restored! Cannot paradise be found in knowledge? Disobedience dooms us to hell\u2019s fires and damnation!\u00a0 Apocalypse!\u00a0 You were warned! How many times must you be told? \u201cI choose to disobey!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDo not eat the apple!\u201d <\/em>\u00a0A serpent\u2019s timeless message spoken by a by a reflexive symbol of fear: before us twisted constrictions, narrow eyes, flicking tongue, poisonous fangs, fear in sight and sound.<\/p>\n

\u201cKnowledge is dangerous! Do not yield to temptation! \u00a0Heed, or forever fall from grace.\u201d \u00a0A timeless curse imposed! A timeless issue created!<\/p>\n

Conflicting legacies remain today, deserving of Shakespearean rhetoric and rhythm: \u201cTo know or not to know! That is the question!\u201d<\/em><\/strong> Knowledge abounds! And Wisdom? \u201cAye that is the question!\u201d <\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Amid fear, no sense of \u201coriginal sin,\u201d ancients called upon the oldest and wisest for answers! Tell us sages: \u201cWhat is the meaning of this \u201cDay of the Longest Night?\u201d<\/em> \u00a0Sages replied: \u201cWe must mark days and nights! We must learn! We must doubt light of day will close. We must prepare less darkness will come!\u201d<\/p>\n

Today<\/em><\/strong> . .<\/strong> .<\/h3>\n

Today, calendars are marked. We need nothing more. We note the day and date: December 21, \u201cThe Day of the Longest Night.\u201d<\/em> \u00a0So be it! No mystery for modern mind. Knowing!<\/p>\n

Sun\u2019s angle on Earth\u2019s axial rotation causing predictable days and nights. Electric lights will be turned on earlier, turned off later. Mystery is gone! Reverence and awe subdued. Those who write history, command its directions, affirm its \u201ctruths.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some will gather, honoring events of distant times, reliving ancient gatherings, re-living awe and reverence, finding meaningful connections to past. They wait, as ancients waited!\u00a0 Will a semblance of light pierce a precisely placed aperture placed amid stone columns?\u00a0 And then, as in the past, a ray pierces the aperture, promising another period of known light and dark. Rapture.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere Comes the Sun,\u201d<\/em> sang the Beatles . . . \u201cand it\u2019s alright!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

A primitive celebration of knowing, a possible mastery of Time<\/strong>. \u00a0So, let it be written . . . so, let it be sung . . . So let us honor, Time!<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
Dedicated to Prof. Tod Sloan: Mentor, Colleague, Friend<\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u00a0<\/em>___________________________________________<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/em>Anthony J. Marsella, Ph.D., a member of the <\/em>TRANSCEND Network for Peace Development Environment<\/a>, is a past president of Psychologists for Social Responsibility, Emeritus Professor of psychology at the University of Hawaii\u2019s Manoa Campus in Honolulu, Hawaii, and past director of the World Health Organization Psychiatric Research Center in Honolulu. \u00a0He is known internationally as a pioneer figure in the study of culture and psychopathology who challenged the ethnocentrism and racial biases of many assumptions, theories, and practices in psychology and psychiatry. In more recent years, he has been writing and lecturing on peace and social justice. He has published 21 books and more than 300 articles, tech reports, and popular commentaries. His<\/em> TMS articles may be accessed<\/em> HERE<\/a> and he can be reached at <\/em>marsella@hawaii.edu<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I write in awe and reverence of Time! I write with respect for ancients pursuing mastery and control of Time\u2019s mysterious cycles, determining life and lives. On \u201cThe Day of the Longest Night,\u201d today calendarized as December 21, uncertainty of light\u2019s return once brought chants, prayers, and sacrifices. Shrines, columns, and monuments were erected to map the past\u2026 So, let it be written . . . so, let it be sung . . . So let us honor, Time! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":68088,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[2266,321,2265],"class_list":["post-124129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-transcend-members","tag-seasons","tag-time","tag-winter-solstice"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124129"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124129\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}