Lucina was an early Italian goddess of light who became an aspect of Juno or Diana. Saint Lucy was a fourth-century Sicilian girl who consecrated her virginity to God and was martyred. Vikings liked the stories they heard about Lucy while they were conquering Sicily and northern Italy and took them home. Before the calendar was reformed, Lucy’s feast day was the longest night of the year. People lit Lucy candles and Lucy fires, which guided the sun back to the sky, and children wrote the word Lussi on fences, walls, and doors to inform the demons of winter and darkness that their reign was ended.

Do your own Lucy’s Night ritual with your circle by safely lighting many candles and shining the light into all possible dark corners, real and imagined. Laugh and play and recite this silly rhyme:

Lucy, Lucy, shining bright,
Banish all the shadows of the night.