Winter Solstice Illumination

Waxing Crescent Moon

The beginning of something big.

The Mission San Juan Bautista was founded in 1797. Like many other structures and monuments around the world, the church was built with cosmology in mind, aligned with the path of the Sun on the Winter Solstice. At sunrise on December 21, the first rays of the winter Sun shine directly down the center aisle and through a large second tier window, brightly illuminating the pathway leading to the altar and projecting the light from the window onto the back wall.

The church has started to light up. Excitement is building.

Local indigenous elders Elayne "Laynee" Silva Reyna and Chief Sonne Reyna first brought this phenomenon to the attention of the community several years ago. In conjunction with parish priests, they have been leading a Winter Solstice Illumination ceremony for the general public ever since. On a clear, crisp morning like today, the Sun provides quite an entertaining and inspirational show. It builds slowly starting about 6:45 a.m. and by 7:10 or so, the altar and center aisle are bathed in brilliant light.

 

It feels like a visitation from an old friend.

Eventually, the beam is brilliant and the church is full of light. People are transfixed.

You would have to be pretty jaded not to be positively and happily affected by the illumination experience at the Mission San Juan Bautista. More people show up for this special happening than for any Mass, even Christmas and Easter. The intensity and quality of light is never exactly the same, but it never disappoints. This morning brought a welcome, much-needed, and brilliant dawn, the start of a new loop around Earth's star. 

Creator bless us all.

Peace, Love, and Light It Up,

Jim