Winter Solstice and the Gates of the Solstice

Winter Solstice has been celebrated the world over for thousands of years. This is the start of the New Year and the return of light, and the return of the Sun /Son. Most of the customs, lore and rituals associated with Christmas actually come from Winter Solstice celebrations of ancient pagan cultures.

Any discussion of the Winter Solstice and Holly King would have to include or at least mention the battle between the Holly King and the Oak King. This battle represents a central theme surrounding the solstices-the concept of light and dark, of birth, death and renewal. This relationship is particularity born at the solstices, when the Holly King and the Oak King do battle with one another, and one of them must die, that the other may reign in his place.

They fight for power twice a year at Yule and once at Midsummer to see who would rule over the next half of the year. At Yule, the Oak King wins and at Midsummer, the Holly King is victorious. In other words, the Oak King rules the lighter half of the year, and the Holly King over the darker half.

The Oak King is born at Yule, and his strength grows through the spring, peaks at Beltane and then he weakens and dies at Samhain (Halloween). The Holly King is born at Midsummer, waxes more powerful through the summer and fall, to his peak at Samhain..His influence then lessens until until Beltane, when it is his turn to pass away.

Either way, each King represents different ideas. The Oak King is for growth, healing, and abundance. The Holly King time is for rest, reflection and regeneration.

Gates of the Solstice

Human souls entered and exited life through the gates of the solstice. The Milky Way girdles the Zodiac, it's great circle meeting it obliquely so that it crosses at the two tropical signs of Cancer (Summer Solstice) and Capricorn (Winter Solstice). Ancient philosophers named these “Portals of the Sun” because the solstice lies athwart the sun's path on either side. Souls are believed to pass through these portals when going from sky to earth and returning from earth to sky. For this reason one is called the portal of Men and the other the portal of the gods.

Cancer is called the portal of Man, because through it, descent is made to the infernal regions; Capricorn, portals of the gods, because through it souls return to their rightful abode of immortality to be reckoned among the gods. Capricorn, then Winter Solstice, admits the soul into life and then allows it to return to it's former god like state. This was also a time when the gods became incarnate as mortals, and they too are said to have journeyed through solstice gates.

At the solstice tide the gods were close, the veil between world's are open and the great cosmic wheel of the year turns once again.