The Wren, the Robin & the Light of Winter ~ Alban Arthan
“Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each”
We are trying to weave our lives back into the tangle of nature, the natural rythms of the seasons and a culture of celebration bound to cycles of the year and traditions of land folk of the past.
So although Christmas is coming, and tomorrow we’ll deliver Christmas veg boxes to our members, marking the end of our working year and the beginning of an exciting time celebrating with our families, we also wanted to paause to acknowledge the Winter Solstice, or Alban Arthan in Wales. Land folk throughout the Celtic lands have long celebrated different traditions around this time of year, rooted and bound to the unique characters of our landscapes, and the people who live and work in them. You’ll also find that the roots of some of the traditions and symbolism we now associate with Christmas, can actually be found in the ancient Celtic traditions of the Winter Solstice in these lands…..
Believed to be the oldest seasonal festival know to mankind, the Winter Solstice, or Midwinter, is celebrated around the world by a variety of cultures. It marks the shortest day of the year (the longest night), and when the sun is at its lowest on the horizon. This year, it’s today - Tuesday 21st December. Just as we will on Christmas day, Winter Solstice is a time to come out of hibernation to celebrate with our community, to feast and be generous, light candles and fires, sing and tell stories. It’s a time to herald the rebirth of the sun and rejoice in the returning of the light. Brighter days are ahead and Spring isn’t far away!
In Druidic traditions, this day is known as Alban Arthan, which means ‘Light of Winter’ in Welsh. Some also call it Alban Arthuan, or ‘Light of Arthur’, which pays homage to the Welsh legends of King Arthur. The Sun dies and is reborn, just as the mythical Arthur is sleeping deep inside a mountain and will wake up again when the people needs his help, so goes the story.
Alban Arthan signifies the time when the archetypal Holly King (who rules from Midsummer to Midwinter) is defeated by the Oak King (who rules from Midwinter to Midsummer) in a great battle. The Holly King, also seen as a wren bird, signifies the old year and the shortened sun, while the Oak King, also seen as a robin, signifies the new year and growing sun. Mistletoe is also a symbol of the Winter Solstice, as it was thought that Druids revered the plant as ‘ever green’, which signified continued life over the cold dark winter. Since mistletoe is thought to be an aphrodisiac, this is where the holiday tradition of ‘kissing under the mistletoe’ could have originated!
We’ll be decorating our homes with evergreens like yew, holly, ivy, mistletoe, firs and pines, all cherished as symbols of rebirth and life in the depth of winter, feasting on the stored harvest, sitting still with the stones and taking a pause before the surging spring means it’s time to get going again!
For us as veg growers, already thinking ahead to the next growing season, the seeds we’ll sow, the crops we’ll tend for our members’ veg boxes, the return of the light is something to celebrate and be thankful for. We’ll try to think of some simple rituals we can do to give thanks for the year past, and for the light that always comes after the dark, more and more trying to live in relationship with the land and the seasons the way folk once did.
