Photos by Tony Overman/The Olympian
Keri Harpel of Olympia and her son, Brandyn, 2, light a candle from a Tiki torch along Capitol Lake during Friday night's winter solstice celebration's "Walk of Remembrance."

Organizer Eli Sterling watches the Walk of Remembrance ceremonies on the shores of Capitol Lake from the walking trail lined with Tiki torches for the winter solstice celebration.

Solstice festival honors nature

JOHN GRABER, THE OLYMPIAN

Originally published December 22, 2001

OLYMPIA -- The drum rolled and echoed through the marble dome, silencing the crowd of several hundred people.

The open spaces and light from dozens of brass lamps focused attention on the giant Christmas tree in the middle of the cathedral-like building.

Then, seemingly from nowhere, the tall, red-haired woman dressed all in green stepped out from the crowd.

"Good evening and welcome to the longest night of the year," she said.

With that, the winter solstice celebration began Friday in the Capitol Rotunda.

The crowd watched the festival from the first three floors of the building by making bleachers out of marble steps and leaning over the railings two stories above the event.

They joined their voices to cheer loud enough to convince the man at the switch to hit the lights on the tree.

They watched performers do "a dance from the earth" with antlers and bundles of dried grass. Small children and mothers carrying infants in slings thrown over their shoulders swayed with the music.

They listened to the story of how Sister Sun and Sister Storm argued over who was more beautiful and tested each other until they realized it did not matter.

It was a very satisfying experience to participate in something so basic and so old for Patsy Nutt, 62.

"It's honoring the earth and it's honoring nature," Nutt said.

It was more than that for Eli Sterling, one of the coordinators of the celebration. For him, it was a reminder that we are all part of nature.

"While our minds come into this world, our bodies come out of it," Sterling said.

There is no better time to celebrate that than on the winter solstice when, historically, people gathered to share in a community event.

"The solstice was the story-telling night of the year," he said.

It was not a religious ceremony, Sterling said.

"This is not about replacing Christmas," Sterling said. "This has nothing to do with the Celtic traditions. This is about understanding we are part of the miracle of nature."

Winter ritual

Winter solstice -- the longest night of the year -- occurs on or about Dec. 21 every year.

Winter solstice celebrations are rituals with pagan roots. During a time when people relied on the sun for agricultural purposes, ceremonies were performed to encourage the return of the sun.

On the Web:

- NASA: Seasons of the year

The Olympian Copyright 2001

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