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The Original Winter Solstice
December 13 is St. Lucy’s Day. This is the Catholic feast day of Santa Lucia/Saint Lucy (and also my mother Lucy’s birthday). The word Lucia is rooted in the Latin word meaning light and Santa Lucia celebrations revolve around light returning.
On the ancient Roman calendar, Saint Lucy’s Day was the original winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. We now use the Gregorian calendar, and solstice has shifted to later in December. Even though the calendar has changed, celebrations on December 13 still explore the balance of light and darkness.
Saint Lucy lived in what is now Sicily in the fourth century A.D.. She is the patron saint of Syracuse, in the south east part of the island. Lucy was known for bringing bread to the poor, and she is often depicted holding sheaves of wheat. In order to hold as many loaves as she could, she wore a wreath with candles on her head when it was dark (or so the story goes). This tradition was adopted in Sweden as part of the day’s celebration. Young girls wear crowns with lit candles in a procession to celebrate the light returning.
I don’t advocate for candles in the hair, but I love the idea of honoring this original solstice day and resting in the awareness that light returns after darkness.
Connection to wheat
In the 1600s Lucy is credited with saving the people of Syracuse from starvation when ships arrived bearing wheat berries. Berries are most often ground into flour to make bread, but because of their hunger, the people simply boiled the berries making them into soup and a kind of pudding called cuccia. Present day Saint Lucy’s Day celebrations in Sicily include making wheat berry pudding and not eating bread. There are many bakeries that will not sell bread on December 13 and offer the pudding instead.
We did not know this story as kids, as it would have been a fun way to celebrate my mom Lucy’s birthday. But I am starting a new pre-solstice tradition of my own that will also honor my mom’s birthday. I am making wheatberry pudding and I’ve found a wonderful vegan recipe here.
This tradition also got me thinking about growing wheat next summer, so that I can use my own harvested berries to make cuccia next December 13th. And since it is never too early to begin planning next season’s garden, if you are interested in growing wheat. you can find the seeds at Johnny’s Selected Seeds .
Whatever you do on December 13, I hope you will take a few moments to stop and recognize this day as a prelude to winter solstice. Even though the days are getting shorter, we know the light is returning soon.
Happy Saint Lucy’s Day – Happy Pre-Solstice!
I’m hosting a virtual garden mindfulness circle on Sunday December 12th (free event) – check out the details at EventBrite
This is so interesting! All new to me. Thank you and Happy Saint Lucy’s Day!
Barb, Most of it was new to me as well. We simply new growing up that my mom was named Lucy because she was born on the saint’s day. When I started to research it I was fascinated!