Winter Solstice 2022
Happy Winter Solstice! This year marks the 23rd edition of artwork celebrating the spirit of the Winter Solstice (technically, the 2000 edition was a generic holiday greeting with Winter Solstice overtones, so it does not really count). Over the past year, life has been getting back to some semblance of normal with people going back out into the world again. While life has not returned to the way it was before the pandemic, there is hope for the future. The Winter Solstice illustration this year, which revolves around the female reindeer, could be considered as bringing hope and looking towards a brighter new year.
This year, we explore the Northern European folklore of the Deer Mother. The stories of the Deer Mother, who was revered in ancient times, are fragmented, and varied. In one tale, on the Winter Solstice, the Deer Mother takes flight on the darkest, longest night of the year carrying the light of the sun in her antlers, bringing the life-giving light of the sun back to the land. From Latvia and Lithuania, we have the tale of Saule, the goddess of light and the sun. Saule rides across the sky at midwinter in a sleigh pulled by horned female reindeer. She weeps her tears (sacred waters) and each tear is forged into pebbles of amber which she throws, like little bits of sun, down to the people along with apples (often associated with fertility and eternal life). From the British Isles, Scandinavia, Russia, Siberia, across the land bridge of the Bering Strait, the Deer Mother was a revered spiritual figure associated with fertility, motherhood, regeneration, and the rebirth of the sun (the theme of Winter Solstice). One questions which arises from these tales is why do female reindeer have antlers in winter? This is where we move on to a discussion about reindeer.
Reindeer, as there are referred to in northern Europe and Asia, are called caribou in North America and Greenland. Reindeer are slightly smaller than caribou and have been domesticated in northern Eurasia while their North American counterparts are large, wild, elk-like animals which have never been domesticated. Reindeer are unique among deer in that females may have antlers, although the prevalence of antlered females varies by species and subspecies. Females with antlers tend to be larger than the males and will retain their antlers through the winter. The tundra subspecies are adapted for extreme cold, and some are adapted for long-distance migration.
The cult of the deer stretches back 14,000 years and reaches across Asia, North America, and most of Europe. A number of goddesses from various cultures have been associated with deer who are seen as a mystical figure. The Deer Mother is so enduring she found her way into our modern myths and stories.
The reindeer was often shown leaping or flying through the air with outstretched neck and legs flung out fore and aft. Her antlers were frequently depicted as the tree of life, carrying birds, the sun, moon, and stars. Across the northern world, it was the Deer Mother who took flight from the dark of the old year to bring light and life to the new.
I hope everyone has a wonderful Winter Solstice and a happy holiday season. Please enjoy the artwork and, as always, I look forward to hearing everyone’s feedback.