I have always been one to look forward to important dates and holidays. Sometimes I don’t even celebrate them or engage in the festivities much. However, I love learning and re-learning the relevance of certain actors, events or dates that have been chosen to be honored and remembered in society. 

We are approaching a global astronomical holiday that has been celebrated by many different cultures throughout millennia: the northern summer solstice. I am specifying “northern” because, depending on which side of the hemisphere you are, it could be summer solstice at a different time of the year. While the northern hemisphere experiences the summer solstice, the southern hemisphere experiences its winter solstice. Six months later, the phenomenon happens vice versa. 

Nowadays we have science to help us pin down these dates as either June 20 or 21, and December 21 or 22. Nevertheless, in ancient times people looked at the stars and had their own science to keep track of the seasons. Through their own methods, many cultures were able to come up with extremely impressive structures that aligned perfectly with the sunrise at solstice. 

As I anticipate this date and learn more of its significance in my home country of Mexico and my current country of residence, Canada, where Indigenous people have celebrated the summer solstice from time immemorial, I have also learned something new in  how it relates to Christianity. Maybe you’ll be surprised, as I was, as to the connection between the summer solstice celebration and our Christian faith.

1. A birthday connection?

It might surprise you to know (like it did me!) that the Christian summer solstice connection is to a Biblical character. Furthermore, there are actually two birthday solstice connections to the Biblical story. Can you guess who? John the Baptist and Jesus Christ. Since Jesus’ birthday was established around the 24th-25th of December, John’s was separated by six months as the narrative told his birth would be ahead of Jesus’. This established John the Baptist’s birthday by default at the end of June (around the 24th).

2. The cousins

As you may very well know, John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth were cousins. Luke 1:36 tells us that Elizabeth, John’s mother, was a relative to Mary, mother to Jesus. The mothers shared a special bond which seems to have been passed on to the babies from the womb towards each other. Elizabeth’s baby leapt inside of her when Mary arrived at her home. The text in Luke 1:39-56 also states that Elizabeth was six months pregnant when Mary arrived at her home. 

3. The light of summer solstice

John is the eldest of the cousins in this instance; however, he insists that he is not the Messiah. Not the chosen one. He is not the light; in John 1:7-8 we are told that “he came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.” This despite him having been born on (according to church tradition, since ancient calendars don’t exactly match ours) the longest day of the year. This is significant because pagan religions of the day would have had celebrations and festivities on this day. The sun, and “light” in general, were revered and worshiped. 

4. The darkness of winter solstice

In contrast, Jesus’ birthday has been celebrated for centuries close to the shortest day of the year; when darkness is most dominant. Despite this, we are told in John 1:9a that Jesus is “the true light that gives light to everyone.” “In early Christendom, he was called “Verus Sol,” meaning “true sun.” Previously, the day had been devoted to the Roman “Sol Invictus,” the unconquerable sun. That particular day fitted perfectly well into Christian imagery, as it symbolizes the return of light, the never-ending force of the sun that creates life. In this sense, the winter solstice has a strong Christian aspect to it.”

5. The duality

If I’ve learned anything from my biblical studies courses, it’s that the Bible doesn’t give away details unless it’s relevant to the story. To that one may add that “during the Christianization of Europe, a Christian interpretation was implanted into formerly pagan holidays and their rites and customs. This also holds true for the winter and summer solstices.” This juxtaposition between John and Jesus, light and darkness, two solstices connected by blood, fits into both Biblical and church tradition symbolism to accentuate the importance of the characters at hand. 

All of this analyzing to me does not diminish the spiritual and mystic nature of the Biblical story. In fact, it adds to the complexity that makes it so fascinating and relevant because it shows how it has been adapted throughout time. Which leads me to ask, how has this learning impacted my faith and my desire to add summer solstice as a Christian celebration while acknowledging its pagan roots, and does it matter? Why or why not?