Winter Solstice 2025

In the Andean tradition, winter solstice is the celebration of the shortest day and longest night and the new year or Willka Kuti (Return of the sun). In South America it’s celebrated around June 21^st and in North America around December 21^st each year. On this day, the sun travels its shortest and lowest path across the sky and never crosses the equator.

In the absence of light, we honor this sacred pause, as Pachamama holds her breath, and releases so we can create. We are called to surrender and dance with the darkness, that place of fertility and possibilities and to completely let go - of ways of being that no longer serve us, of old stories that have become irrelevant and we are called to honor what is ready to end and what is yearning to come forth. In this place of honoring and grace, we welcome the return of the sun. It’s not an ending, but a rebirth, the promise of new life emerging. Allow Pachamama to hold you as you are trusting to receive the blessings of the new year.

In this pivotal time in human existence, we gathered in community and celebrated in the Andean tradition with a sacred despacho ceremony that included everyone's prayers for themselves, the community and the world. We communed with each other in partnership over a meal, finding joy and munay in each other's presence, honoring.