Solstice & the symbol of light

In the Northern Hemisphere, today is the Winter Solstice, the shortest and darkest day of the year. Cultures across the world pause. Lights are lit. Fires are kindled. Stories are retold. Long before Christmas trees, menorahs, or New Year fireworks, human beings gathered around the winter solstice, the turning point where darkness gives way to light.

Across traditions, the solstice marks not merely an astronomical event, but a psychological and spiritual one: the return of light, the promise of renewal, the reassurance that decline is not the end of the story. From Roman Saturnalia to Yule, from Zoroastrian fire rituals to Islamic reflections on light (nur), from Christian incarnation narratives to secular traditions of gathering and generosity, the same archetypal theme repeats.

Why does this moment matter so deeply to the human psyche?

From an idealist perspective, time itself is not fundamental but experiential. Cycles, day and night, birth and death, contraction and renewal are how mind represents its own dynamics. The solstice, then, may not just be something that happens in the world, but something that mirrors an inner turning point in consciousness itself.

This raises gentle but profound questions:
• Why do humans ritualise light in times of darkness?
• Is religious symbolism pointing to metaphysical truths, psychological needs, or both?
• Does “light” signify knowledge, love, consciousness, or simply hope?
• Can analytic idealism make sense of prayer, ritual, and sacred calendars without reducing them to superstition?
• Are religious myths best understood as literal claims, symbolic maps, or shared dream-logic?

This session welcomes believers, sceptics, atheists, mystics, and the philosophically curious alike. You don’t need to celebrate Christmas (or anything at all) to join the conversation. You only need to have noticed that human beings, everywhere and always, have felt that this time of year matters.

Please send in your questions ahead of the session. Solstice questions very much encouraged.

I look forward to seeing you on Tuesday and turning, together, toward the light.

Nour

Asking questions

Everyone is welcome to propose questions using the comments section below. Questions are selected based on relevance and audience vote. As such, make sure to write your question so that most can understand what you mean!

• Give it a short CLEAR TITLE in capital letters.
• Write an optional short description of what your question is about.
• Share further reflections below if you want, but if selected, aim for brevity when asking to help the flow of the discussion.

Also make sure to read the other questions and 'heart' the ones you are most curious about!

I look forward to seeing you on my dashboard soon,

With appreciation,

Amir

Zoom room

Tues 23rd of Dec
6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm EST