Solstice Feast & Famine

Though the creeping cold and its halting starts have teased us through the waning autumn, here in the Mid-Atlantic, winter seems to be settling in at last. The trees are mostly bare, and the last of the hardy, fresh produce is being gleaned from the fields & gardens. This is the time of the Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year. For those of our ancestors who farmed in four-season climates, the Winter Solstice also ominously marked the beginning of the ‘famine months’, when they would subsist on that which they had managed to preserve from earlier harvests -- and that for which they could hustle & trade in real time. The Solstice has also historically been a time to slaughter the livestock the people could not afford to feed over the long winter. As such, at this beginning of the long winter’s journey, the Solstice marks one more feast day of the year.

We too seem to find ourselves approaching a time of deep famine, politically & culturally, as our so-called president-elect approaches inauguration -- and the cultural & social systems that fostered the moment grow in their boldness. Like the peasants who clutched children to their breasts, not knowing who might be lost to starvation & sickness this season, we too find desire to cling to one another. We know not which of our friends or family might be harassed or worse in the street; die of poverty-related illnesses, slip through the cracks of a crumbling health system; or be deported from the Homes they’ve known.

While famine-time is not an unfamiliar burden, it remains debilitating to body & spirit nonetheless. Here it feels important to remember aloud that black, brown, & Indigenous people have disproportionately been enduring such famine since the so-called ‘New World’s’ colonial inception; and that privilege soothes & softens the pains of famine times. May all of us remember, no matter the privilege with which we walk, that those with less are feeling it more -- and may that inspire us each to live lives of greater compassion, grace & service.

Famine was not new to the shivering peasants of yore - it was a known, cyclical phenomenon that they spent the rest of their year preparing for. In the spring, they planted the crops and bred the livestock. In summer, they tended the fields & herds, and began to harvest. In fall, they preserved their surplus, so that the energy of the sun might carry them through the times of frozen ground. While political famines are perhaps less predictable, they are nonetheless regularly occurring and possible to prepare for. Like the farmers who slaughtered the animals they could not feed, we too must bid farewell to that which we cannot sustain. It is time to let go practices that suck our vital energy away from the work of building community, nurturing ourselves & our families, and resisting the oligarchs. We cannot afford to feed our addictions, our willful ignorance, or our abusive patterns that harm ourselves & our communities. It is time to respectfully offer a blessing to these parts of ourselves, and to release them so we may focus our resources on the work at hand.

Like the farmers who put-by food for the long winter, we too must gather in those resources that are available now, that they might feed us until the Earth is fresh & green again. It is time to shore up stores of food, water, warm clothes, survival supplies, money, friendships, art, & whatever else we need to sustain ourselves. We must remember that together, we have more. What one person does not have, their neighbor may have in abundance. Come together -- learn who in your community has what to share. If you have more than you need, offer up your surplus to communal stockpiles.
Last but not least, remember to celebrate the unfathomable miracle that is Life. This is a time of year when we gather together to feast upon the animals who were slaughtered -- to honor the Life that is taken so that others may keep living. Moreover, even though the Winter Solstice marks the longest nights, it also marks the return of growing light and the lengthening of days. In the dark & cold of winter, the sun is gathering strength, and will inevitably supplant the reign of the night. We too, can gather our strength & call upon the sun to help us not only survive this famine, but emerge ever more fierce & life-giving on the other side of it. Our spirits are our greatest strength, and we feed them when we celebrate Life together.



Written by K is for Kitchen (A project by PHLA collaborators Acorn and Frances Rose)