Midwinter - is about the re-birth of the sun and the birth of the Winter King. In much of British tradition the winter king is Arthur but not always. Christianity took over the ancient feast of sun-return, the birth of a new king at the turn of the sun and for a large part of the world this feast is now called Christmas. 20th December, Winter Solstice Eve, is the eve of the shortest day, when the sun comes to its nadir and the darkness reigns. Nowadays we are often told it is a time of death and in some ways this is true, for it is when the Old King is recalled, his term is ended and he dies. However it is also a time of birth for the sun does not go on down into the darkness forever but rises again and from now on the days become longer up until mid-summer. There are a lot of stories about the new king being born in a cave. One of the most famous is of Zeus on Crete, where the Cretans say he dies and is reborn again each year in the cave of Dicte on the Agean Hill. Another says that he is one of twin sons (body and soul?) born in a tomb and shown to shepherds. It seems that Christmas is a concatenation of many stories. The idea of the Winter King being born in a cave has connections to the heart. The heart has four “caves” (or chambers) within it corresponding to the four elements. There is a labyrinthine way through these chambers from one side of the heart to the other. These remind us of the labyrinths called Troy Games in Celtic tradition. There is one still extant at Somerton near Oxford. |
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