Winter Solstice

Borrowed from Masonic Museum Latvia . Their post this morning is the best I have read this year.

December 21st is the winter solstice. That is, today is the real New Year, when we can make wishes that will surely come true.

Let’s remember the traditions of this day – where does the myth of the birth of the messiah and new life come from.

As you know, the appearance of Christ was foreshadowed by a bright star in the East, to which three wise men went with gifts and managed just in time for the birth of the messiah on December 25th.

The brightest star in the East is Sirius, which forms a straight line with the other three brightest stars in Orion’s belt on December 25th. These three stars are called “Three Kings”.

And the line formed by these stars indicate the place where the sun rises on December 25th. That is, “Three kings follow the brightest star” to arrive at the birthplace of the sun messiah.

From the moment of the winter solstice, the luminary rises in the same place for three days, so that on December 25 it starts moving again, indicating the lengthening of the day and the turn towards spring.

Christ, with 12 apostles, is interpreted by astrology as the sun, surrounded by 12 constellations of the zodiac, which are divided by a cross into 4 sectors – the seasons, forming a cross with a circle known in Christianity, which is depicted by Christ’s halo with his face in the center.

Most of the myths of different peoples of the world are associated with the calendar and the four solstices. The myth of the birth of the messiah, the solar god, is first found in Egypt: Isis gives birth to the sun god Horus on December 25. This myth also speaks of a bright star in the East, with the help of which the three kings find Horus. The very image of Isis with Horus becomes the prototype of Mary with Christ. The photo shows Isis with Horus, depicted on a French Masonic token from the mid-18th century. The same statue adorned the Cathedral of Saint Germain des Pres until the 14th century, because it was built on the site of the temple of Isis in Romanesque Lutetia, which became Paris in the 4th century AD.

Practically all pre-Christian theologies, including the ancient mysteries: Eleusinian, Bacchic or Dionysian, have a similar plot and chronology. Bacchus (Dionysus) also gave birth to an immaculate virgin on December 25th. He was called the Savior, performed great miracles for the benefit of mankind, turned water into wine, rode in a triumphal procession on a donkey, was sentenced to death by the Titans and rose from the dead on March 25th.

The same natural cycles of celebration were in Mithraism. Mitra was also born on December 25th. And on the days of the spring equinox, his image was placed in a coffin, mourned, and in the morning they took it out and praised the resurrected god.

An important Masonic symbol associated with this date is a circle with a dot, bounded by two straight lines, one of which symbolizes John the Apostle and Evangelist, whose day is celebrated close to the winter solstice and Christmas – December 27, the other – John the Baptist.