A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.
A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.
Opinion
The winter solstice is a special time of the year. In New Zealand, it occurs on June 21 and 22 around Matariki.
Most non-Maori immigrants living in New Zealand come from cultures around the world where winter solstice has been celebrated for thousands of years. Festivals include the Dongzhi festivalin China and Asia, the Yule festival of Britain, Scandinavia and Germanic peoples, the ancient Roman festival of Saturnalia, the Persian Yalda festival, Hopi Indian Soyal, the Polish Gody, Greece's Brumalia and the Hindu Makar Sankranti celebration.
Winter solstice marked the symbolic death and rebirth of the sun as daylight hours gradually wane then grow again. The harvest was in, the past reflected on, the present celebrated with feasts, drinking, dancing, singing, sharing and planning for the future.
In Europe, Christianity changed all this as solstice festivals were seen as pagan.
The industrial revolution around 1760, brought about by abundant, cheap energy (through oil, gas and coal), radically changed lifestyles and civilisations, especially Great Britain. Science explained some of the mystery. People didn't need to be ruled by the seasons. The seasons lost their impact. A massive shift of people from the country to huge cities upended the social structure, with people no longer relating so much to the weather and seasons.
We all come from cultures that are aware of the climate and its impact on life. If you had a bad harvest, you could die or possibly have to go to war. With climate change, we are once again becoming aware of how the weather and seasons can dramatically affect our lives.
Rather than recklessly producing more, we could take time out to think about what is happening around us and discuss ways of dealing with it. We could do this by coming together during winter solstice to remember those who have lived before us, celebrate with those around us, and plan for a better future.
Call winter solstice festivals what you will, but take time out and observe this celebration in your own way in this special country.
