New Year of the South

Human communities from very ancient times knew that nature was cyclical. That natural phenomena were repeated after a certain period of time. They understood that all the beings that inhabited the world depended on these cycles, and they also knew that the rhythm of these changes depended on the sun. From the sun, from that star that shone more than anything, that illuminated, warmed, heated or burned according to the place and time of the year, which was ultimately the raison d'être of life and if it was not respected it could be the cause of death. Focusing on the sun, the peoples sought to interpret why this star moved in the celestial vault without ceasing, every day, as long as there was memory. What force was driving him? Because, in the fullness of the day, sometimes it reached high in the sky and shone brighter and at other times it was much lower, without so much strength, and it shone fainter. On those days when the sun reached its highest point at noon, the towns gave it great importance, named it and paid tribute to it. The Greeks called it the solstice or the still sun because it stayed in that same position for several days. That period was the time of plant growth, when there was more heat and more light. They used to be times of plenty. So that phase of life was called reiterating the Greek word summer solstice. Some time after that solstice occurred and many days passed there was a change in the sun's race that affected all human activities. The times of low light, lower temperature and low plant production are coming. Those days when the sun rises little and shines dimly was also called and called the solstice, but since it is winter time it is called a winter solstice. The period between two successive summer or winter solstices is called a year. Today we know that in that period between two analogous solstices an elliptical path of the Earth around the sun ends. Well, for all the towns the solstices were important moments. They tried to reference in time that moment, the one with the highest brightness or the one with the least brightness. Because those were the references of the time that helped them to sow, harvest, prevent or welcome the arrival of migratory birds, prepare for the cold or the heat. That is why many peoples celebrated their ceremonies on those dates. They were ceremonies that celebrated the sun when it began to rise again in the sky increasing the light, the heat, a time when plants grew and animals frolicked. Some of those towns thought that the year began when the sun rose again from its lowest, most extreme point in the sky. That is, the moment when that retreat from the sun was interrupted, which could be seen as a possible threat to life. In their tribute to the sun, sometimes asked for with the help of offerings, various religions created their own legends that often overlapped and syncretized over time. In many countries in Europe, the winter solstice celebrated by generations changed its legendary names and ended up calling it Christmas so that it was in accordance with the account of the religious authorities of the moment. And the name, backed by religious authority and of course also political authority, stuck to the ritual agenda of most European countries and others that were influenced by it. That was happening in the northern hemisphere. In the northern lands of the planet. There that solstice was called Christmas. It did not coincide in time, there was a small offset of 4 days, but in the dynamics of the still sun, which at that time moves very little, this offset is not noticeable. At the beginning of the year, which we call January 1, something similar happened to him. In Roman times it was also the origin of the year in the movement of the sun but it also suffered a phase shift that ended up being about 10 days. But remember that the solstice, Christmas, and the civil new year are all a variation on the time of the winter solstice. All this in the northern hemisphere. A long time later, when people from Europe came to give to the southern lands, what we call the American continent, on the occasion of colonization they brought with them those ideas of the cycles of time, the fixed idea of the winter solstice, of unchangeable Christmas and other related dates in their mythological or legendary stories. But there appears a kind of contradiction. To begin with, let us say that the native peoples of the south had also undergone a similar process. They also honored and still honor the rising sun on their own winter solstice. The contradiction was and is that the winter solstices in the north and in the south did not occur at the same time. On the calendar that Europeans developed on their own continent, the days of the solstice occurred at the end of that month of the almanac we call December. In the south, this was not the time of the winter solstice. On the contrary, it was the time of the summer solstice. It was not the date of the weak and rebirth sun but of the complete and bright sun, it was the days of light and heat, of animal and plant life, of food and light. But the Europeans and the Creole societies that succeeded them continued with their ceremonies on changed dates, although they had nothing to do with it, maintained and even continued to adopt traditions of cold, snow, low light, and nocturnal recollection, including exotic trees. and wacky sledding characters pulled by a few reindeer. But it is important that we recognize that in the south the native peoples had their own ceremonies. We know some of them. Like the Mapuches who celebrated and celebrate the winter solstice, which they call We Xipantu, and the Quechuas and Aymaras who call it Inti raymi. But most Creole authorities and societies ignored them and continue to ignore them. They continue celebrating absurd Christmases, with impossible Christmas trees, their most absurd legendary characters still, meals that do not adjust to the heat season. And they spend a lot of money buying gifts repeating those old ceremonies that are now completely out of place. They even assigned a saint to the southern solstice to obscure its true essence. They do all of this to hide the colonial nature that persists in their beliefs and attitudes. Out of time, out of place, time of year, out of context. Instead of paying tribute to the rising sun as all peoples of all time naturally did, they hide it behind foreign and foreign figures and stories. And good. It remains for us to say that the solstice must be celebrated when appropriate. That moment is the beginning of winter, in the final days of the month the Romans called June. At that time you have to celebrate the solstice, the new year. They are the moments in which you have to celebrate the sun that is reborn, the new cycle that begins, Those ceremonies that we must recover can be given some of the old names, We Xipantu or Inti Raymi or other native names. In reality, the name does not matter so much, as the awareness that when we identify ourselves with the winter solstice, with the rebirth sun we identify ourselves with nature and with the sky. Recognizing that the moment we do it we are carving the paths of the fertile earth, the paths of new life and the lights of truth.