Having
already spent 10 Christmas days at sea on a commercial fishing boat,
I can tell you that the 25th of December means 2 things to us.
1. Double time as a workday.
2. The fish always bite!
Not being part of the hype meant not taking part in the distraction.
So, we have long since given up on the commercial celebration of Christmas.
However, in our isolation, our observations were that this is indeed
a very special time of year.
The Summer Solstice in the Southern Hemisphere is a time of plenty.
The fish go in to a feeding frenzy on the 25th, 3 days after the Summer
Solstice.
Now that we are in the Northern Hemisphere, it's mid-winter, the shortest
day.
Throughout the Ancient world, the symbolic story of the Sun's journey
through the year is depicted by the Sun Cross. They drew a circle and
a zodiac (Greek word meaning animal circle) and added a cross to mark
the four seasons, and the solstice and equinox points. At the centre
of the cross they placed the Sun.
The winter solstice, the lowest point of the Sun's power in the Northern
Hemisphere, was the time when the ancients said that the Sun had died
and gone down into the dark place. By the 25th, 3 days later, they said
that the Sun had begun its journey back to the peak of its power in
the summer, and so it is said that the Sun was born on this day.
When in Rome, do as the Romans do! That
is why we choose to live on a boat, to be able to go and celebrate whatever
is being celebrated wherever we are.
So on the eve of the Winter Solstice in the Northern hemisphere, we
stay awake all night, making merry, feasting, and reflecting on the
past. In the morning we await and greet the rising sun, which has since
been reborn, and is on its journey to summer, with only brighter things
to come!
