Sacred solstice: Embracing the dark to re-enter the light
On Dec. 20, 2023, people came together at Afton, Minnesota's Belwin Conservancy to celebrate the winter solstice.
On the night before the winter solstice, the longest of each year, the northern hemisphere prepares itself to re-enter into the light.
But for those gathered Wednesday at Afton's Belwin Conservancy, the solstice was an excuse to go out and relish the night.
"It's important for us to embrace the lessons that darkness brings."
Some of those lessons are learned through a series of tales — some, as old as time.
"It's an ancient thing for people throughout thousands of years, celebrating this amazing celestial event of the shortest day and the longest night," Lynette Anderson, interpretive naturalist at Belwin, said. "We have this whole other time of day to explore — it's unfamiliar to most of us, so it holds a lot of surprises and adventure."
Luckily for Anderson, every day at Belwin brings opportunity for adventure — especially on a balmy December night, when the Earth was at its fullest tilt away from the sun.
"For me, this one, the winter solstice, is most exciting," Anderson said. "Because what’s not to love about the night?"
Judging by the nearly 500 who attended the conservancy's annual solstice celebration on Wednesday, a lot of people seemed to agree.
"Why not connect people to nature in a way in the winter, that's joyous and a celebration and building community?" asked Belwin's program director, Susan Haugh. "The solstice, of course, in every culture has huge meaning."
Honor
"For us, it's a time of change," said Amy Nelson, who with her husband, are the drum keepers for the Dakota drum group, Imnizaska. "Having that time to honor the earth, the universe."
Their drum — a tool used in times of celebration, acknowledgement and mourning — was presented at Belwin Wednesday night in the hope it might also be of use to foster understanding.
"When you're having an event like that, and it's significant to Native American people, or acknowledging Native American people, to have a drum there is really nice. It kind of helps people who may not understand some of the cultural aspects," she said, "It kind of helps pull it together."
Pulling tighter and tighter with each echoing strike, the drummers remind those who gathered there that heartbeats sound the same in every language.
"It changes the whole energy of any type of event or gathering," Nelson said. "It's loud, it's big; but when you hit it, it gets your attention."
"It's a good feeling, and to me, I feel like we're sharing some of that goodness with people when they come around."
Strength
The people who came around Belwin that night shared not only in cultural traditions but also in a patchwork of landscapes — wetlands, oak savanna, hardwood and pine forests — dotting 1,500-acres of ancestral Dakota land on the eastern side of Minnesota.
It's a playground of sorts for nature lovers and admirers like Anderson, who participated in the solstice event by leading a round of nighttime hikes, where she taught each group to open their senses — literally — to the magic of winter not normally seen under the cover of night.
"We always like to incorporate some general quiet moments where you can really enjoy the sensation of being out in the dark in the cold. It's a special feeling, and you only get it in the wintertime," Anderson said. "It's especially wonderful and magical."
And with help from the great anthology already amassed by nature, the guests at Belwin also came to recognize a unique magic all their own.
"This is a time that we are allowed to slow down," said Kari Tauring, Nordic root musician and storyteller. "We're allowed to sleep a little longer and dream a little deeper."
Tauring is one half of a performing duo who integrated song, dance and storytelling into their act Wednesday, educating and entertaining the audience with a Scandinavian flare. Tauring, and her cohort Carol, used their folk tales to turn members of the crowd into scurrying mice and calling ravens, while integrating educational tidbits about the hibernal solstice and its symbolism for centuries in the way of northern European life.
The goal, Tauring said, was to renew a sense of strength to get through even the darkest of nights.
"Nature is the big healer and Scandinavian tradition says there's nothing that can't be healed by going out into nature," Tauring said. "It's a way of being able to come together to both celebrate the darkness and give some relief to ourselves in the darkness."
Appreciation
The point is illustrated by the bear who dreams in hibernation while the forest waits for it to awaken, the rest of the forest knowing for certain it will awaken then, too.
"This is the time of year when we snuggle into our homes and we turn our heat up and we get cozy in our jammies and have a warm dinner and then settle in for the night," said Anderson. "We forget even though it's cold, it's magical and has wonderful things to appreciate and feel."
Practicing appreciation together in nature, Belwin's guests mused at the promise of new beginnings, just before the moment the sun would once again come to stand still.
A celebration of darkness, as tomorrow promises to once again bring the light.
WATCH MORE ON KARE 11+
Download the free KARE 11+ app for Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV and other smart TV platforms to watch more from KARE 11 anytime! The KARE 11+ app includes live streams of all of KARE 11's newscasts. You'll also find on-demand replays of newscasts; the latest from KARE 11 Investigates, Breaking the News and the Land of 10,000 Stories; exclusive programs like Verify and HeartThreads; and Minnesota sports talk from our partners at Locked On Minnesota.
- Add KARE 11+ on Roku here or by searching for KARE 11 in the Roku Channel Store.
- Add KARE 11+ on Fire TV here or by searching for KARE 11 in the Amazon App Store.
- Learn more about the KARE 11+ app for Apple TV in the Apple App Store.
- Learn more about KARE 11+ here.
Watch more local news:
Watch the latest local news from the Twin Cities and across Minnesota in our YouTube playlist: