Winter Solstice Songs

Winter Solstice Songs

WINTER SOLSTICE SONGS. In Europe the celebration of the winter solstice, the longest night of the year, is a heritage that goes back to prehistoric times. The classical Greek and Latin authors, as well as the fathers of the church, attest to the fact that the festivities centered around the winter solstice in antiquity perpetuated traditions still more ancient that were deeply rooted in folk practice. Despite regional differences in the evolution of these feasts and in their cultural significance, they all included elements of sun worship, revels, masquerades, and divination since the winter solstice was considered to be a time of great importance. The fertility of the fields, the reproduction of the cattle, the health of the people, and the conclusion of marriages in the coming year were all deemed to depend on the observance of the solstice rituals.

The celebration of the winter solstice also included the singing of special songs. Unfortunately, very little is known about the songs performed during the cycle of the Roman imperial feasts, the Saturnalia, the Dies Natalis Solis Invicti (the birthday of the Iranian god Mithra), and the Calendae Ianuari, which occasioned the exchange of congratulations and the start of the new administrative year.

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