Winter Solstice (from the archive)

The Longest Night

Today marks the winter solstice. The North Pole reaches its furthest tilt away from the sun, making this the longest night of the year.

This night is a notable change for the life of deer. Day length is a main cue for their annual patterns and cycles. Their biology is triggered by these shifts in daylight. The winter solstice must bring a very solemn feeling in their world. The mating season is long over, and it’s when bucks are at their weakest, expending much of their energy fighting each other to attract a mate, and only having bits of bark and shrubs to eat all winter. Around the solstice they have a sharp drop in testosterone, causing their antlers to crack off, giving an even more feeble look to an already frail creature.

A Promise Of Spring

But with this loss comes the space needed for new growth. Antlers grow back each spring with an extra point, as a way of exhibiting a buck’s age and waxing strength. The monotone of winter amplifies the explosive colour of spring. Winter solstice is a turning point. Each day is longer from here on out.

You can trust there is a crowd forming around Stonehenge in Wiltshire, England today. This prehistoric structure dates back four thousand years and stands as the unofficial symbol of the winter solstice. It’s built as a massive lunar calendar with today’s sunset landing directly in line with the center bluestone. The Neolithic builders of Stonehenge used pickaxes fashioned from deer antlers to set the massive stones in place. These modified antlers have been found in excavations around the site.

A gathering for winter solstice at Stonehenge

A Antler Pick Axe found close to Stonehenge, dated to the Neolithic Era. (left) Japanese Buddhist Painting (right)

Oh Deer God

Not much is known about the people who built Stonehenge, but the traditions of these ancient Brits may not be totally lost. You can still find hints of pre-Christian customs scattered around the European countryside. The French photographer Charles Freger has been traveling around Europe documenting the elaborate costumes of pagan festivals in an ongoing photo series called ‘wilder man’.

The suits depict the wearer as half man- half beast. They suggest an alternative narrative to what our current culture leads us to believe. We don’t have a relationship with nature. We are nature.

For having such an ancient connection with deer, they have managed to stay elusive. They refuse domestication. Their elegant leaps, sudden appearances and swift disappearances make spotting a deer a psychic experience for even the most staunch materialist. To honor them with a wacky outfit makes perfect sense to me.

The winter solstice is a time of rest. Like deer, we are coming to terms with the reality of winter. The solstice isn't a chariot galloping into our lives, but the start of a slow march towards spring.

Antlers are shed and with time new ones slowly grow in their place.