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The time-honored tradition of Christmas and the holidays is a multi-layered and multi-dimensional experience that, at its core, is every bit as "new age" as it is old. The story of Christmas, the birth of the "Christ Child," is celebrated at the darkest time of the year, when the light of the natural world is at its dimmest and the days, the shortest in length.

But five days before Christmas, on the 20th of December, the march of the seasons shifts from fall to winter, and the solstice celebrated by many pre-Christian cultures marks the observance of the darkest day, while celebrating the incremental return of the light. In fact, pagans actually celebrated the solstice on "Sol Invictus," the 25th of December. Sound familiar?

In the Yucatan peninsula, at the Temple of Kukulkan, Chichen Itza, the ascending sculpture of a serpent rises up from its base, snaking up each level to its apex (365 steps including the top). On the winter solstice, the shadow of the plumed, serpent god Quetzelcoatl looms over the surface of the verdant jungle plain. Mexican sound sculptor Jorge Reyes perfectly captures the intensity of this phenomenon on albums like Bajo El Sol Jaguar and Comala.

Halfway around the world, at Newgrange in Ireland, catacombs in a megalithic passage tomb are connected to a tunnel that opens and corresponds to the rise of the December sun on the morning of the solstice, illuminating the chamber of buried souls laying deep within. New World artist Phil Thornton elegantly explores the power of the winter solstice on Solstice while "The Humanity Underneath" from Spore by Vidna Obmana is a dark, sonic allegory of the Newgrange alignment. Even modern astronomers have an interest in the stargazers of antiquity, as NASA explores the astro-syncronomy of ancient sites and the stars from Chaco Canyon on the 21st of December, this year.

What does any of this have to do with the holidays? Essentially, the winter solstice coincides (coincidentally?) with two of the most prominent observances of the Judeo-Christian tradition, Christmas and Hanukah. Perhaps the elders of our most common faiths had the wisdom and prescience of a savvy, 21st-century marketer and re-branded the solstice, wrapping it up in a shiny, new mythology for the greatest impact of consumption.

Pagan, Christian or Jew, the time of the equinox coinciding with the holiest of days is a reminder and a celebration of our connection to the source of all life (sun, Son, candlelight) and that we gather together to bask in its warmth and hope for peace in our lives and the lives of others on our planet.

Music has always played an integral role in helping us join as one in song, celebrating the birth of hope and light. From the classic Messiah by Handel to new age flautist Nicholas Gunn's contemporary take on Christmas Classics, the sound of the holidays represents everything that lies at the heart of the new age experience: wholeness, balance, connection to a higher consciousness, the recognition that we are all one and, ultimately, the beauty and promise of peace on earth.