Solstice in the Canyon
  by William Edelen

Every year on the date of the Winter Solstice my Palm Springs Sunday Symposium does something very special that has become an exciting tradition. We meet in Andreas Canyon, the sacred center of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians. Our average attendance runs around 300. The Indian managers help us set up picnic tables next to breathtaking rocks about 400 feet high. This year it will be on December 22, the actual date of the Solstice.

There is no way I can describe the beauty and wonder of this event. There is always a crystal blue sky...a light breeze moving the golden leaves of the Cottonwood trees...ravens coming in with their spirit messages...and last year during my Solstice meditation a Red Tail hawk circled over my head for the entire 20 minutes. Everyone present watched it with complete wonder and amazement, telling me about it later. This is a glorious event, saturated with miracles of the natural world.

For thousands of years the Winter Solstice has been the most special time of the year and the most important date in human celebration. The sun has started its long journey home bringing Spring-time. Celebrating this event in this month of Solstice I am part of the line of descent that has been uninterrupted almost from the birth of humankind.

Long before the mythological birth date of Jesus in the Solstice period, our bloodstream ran in the veins of sun gods and sun worshippers -- Greeks and Romans, Barbarians in the Germanic forests, Northern worshippers of Thor, and Egyptians, Jews, Gauls, Persians and Indians. No wonder that human beings have celebrated the date of the Winter Solstice for thousands of years, considering that our very survival depends upon the return of the sun. No wonder that the virgin births of the gods in almost all religious traditions were said to have taken place during this Winter Solstice period.

No wonder that Julius, the fourth century Pope, when asked to fix a date for the birth of Jesus, said: "We will say it took place in Bethlehem on December 25." That was the date of the Winter Solstice according to the Julian calendar. Other virgin-born gods, celebrated during this Solstice period, were Marduk, Osiris, Horus, Isis, Mithra, Saturn, Sol and Apollo. And so, for thousands of years we have celebrated this date with singing and dancing, with solemn ceremony and flowers...palms...mistletoe and holly.

The Solstice is in our bloodstream. It is in our genes. I know that the entire season is rooted in mythology...legends...folklore...cultural customs and traditions. I would not deny that. And yet, there is more. It is to enjoy and experience the wonder of it all...the wonder of this Solstice season.

Wonder is the capacity of sustained joy and awe. Wonder is a sense of freshness and spontaneity. It is wonder that puts human life into direct contact with the life of the cosmos...ocean life...mountain life...desert life...cloud life...sun life...moon life...earth life...rain life...snow life...plant life...animal life...rock life. And that is why this Winter Solstice period is so very special.

I wish...for you and your house...all joy...all peace...and all wonder in this glorious Solstice season.

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