Tune in at 12 AM, December 22nd (the longest night of the year), and listen to the Gypsy Scholar present his annual Winter Solstice program, with his Orphic Essay-with-Soundtrack entitled, “The Midwinter Festival of the Winter Solstice & Yule: the Celebration of the Return of the Sun.” (This year, the Winter Solstice began on Dec. 21 at 7:03 AM PST.)
This musical essay is actually the first in an overarching three-part series that, although having different names—Winter Solstice, Winter Solstice Christmas, and New Years—and each standing alone, all nevertheless carry a unifying theme associated with the Winter Solstice.
For the pre-Christian peoples of Europe, the Winter Solstice or Yule marked the start of the winter holiday season. According to some cultural historians and folklorists, the Winter Solstice goes back some 25,000 years, having been celebrated in different places and at different times throughout history. These celebratory rituals had to do with the rebirth of the sun at Winter Solstice.
The GS will look behind our traditional winter holiday season of Christmas (notably Christian in calendar and character) in order to trace the origins, the pagan, pre-Christian origins, of the seasonal festivities and customs we as a culture in America take for granted. Winter Solstice is, as much today as ever, about the “Rebirth of the Light;” something that has never really been forgotten, but has become much obstructed in recent times. The GS believes that today we can still acknowledge the Winter Solstice with an awareness of its antiquity and sacredness.
Please be sure to check out the fantabulous webpage dedicated to this musical essay, the “Winter Solstice” webpage. It’s accessed at revradiotowerofsong.com
