Winter solstice

For the episodes, see Winter Solstice Part 1: The Spirit World and Winter Solstice Part 2: Avatar Roku

The Winter Solstice is a natural phenomenon that occurs when the sun is at its greatest angular distance from the equator. It is also the shortest day of the year. In the Avatar World, as the solstice approaches, the natural world and the Spirit World grow closer together until the line between the two is blurred. During the solstices and equinoxes, the spirits can exert incredible power in the natural world. This is also the ideal time for people (with the ability) to enter the Spirit World.

History


Around the time that this solstice took place, Aang had to stop Hei Bai from destroying Senlin Village, the town next to the once great Senlin forest, which was burned down by the Fire Nation as a result of battle. The Spirit of the Forest, Hei Bai, had already abducted several villagers and now took Sokka, so Aang gave chase. He was able to grab Sokka's hand just as Hei Bai crossed over to the Spirit World and unknowingly journeyed along with them. Since his bending abilities don't work in the Spirit World, he was no longer able to glide and plummeted to the ground. He ffell unconscious next to Hei Bai's statue. Once Aang realized he was in the Spirit World, he called out to Roku for help. Following this event, Fang appeared and brought him to Roku's temple on Crescent Island at the fringe of the Fire Nation, and showed Aang that he could contact Roku when the light of the winter solstice touched the Roku statue's eyes. Aang returned to the normal world and confronted Hei Bai. He succeeded in calming the spirit down by saying that the forest will grow back eventually. Hei Bai released his hostages and returned to the Spirit World. They then travelled to the Fire Temple so Aang could meet Roku. On the exact moment of the solstice, the light hit Roku's eyes and they began to glow, enabling Aang to talk to his precedessor. Roku enlightened him of Sozin's Comet and how it will give all firebenders the absolute height of power, enough to finish the war. As a result of this, Aang is obligated to master all four elements by summer's end or else he will not be able to restore balance to the world. By the end of the solstice, Roku assured Aang a safe route out of his temple.

Avatar Roku once used the energy from the sun during the Winter Solstice to aid him in mastering the Avatar State. On the day of the solstice, he aligned his eyes with a beam of light coming from the sun. The method initially proved to be a success, but Roku was stuck in the Avatar State as a result of the overwhelming power he received. He destroyed the top half of the Avatar Temple on Crescent Island, before Kaja was able to remove Roku from the Avatar State.

Connection

 * The Dōngzhì Festival or Winter Solstice Festival (Chinese: 冬至; Pinyin: dōng zhì; The Extreme of Winter) is one of the most important festivals celebrated by the Chinese and other East Asians during the Dongzhi solar term on or around December 22 when sunshine is weakest and daylight shortest; i.e., on the first day of the Dongzhi solar term.

Trivia

 * The Sun Warriors apparently had a strong spiritual connection to the solstices, seeing as they have a shrine only accessible via a Sunstone that would open the door on the solstices. The Fire Sages, whose temples were derived from Sun Warrior culture, also make use of a sun stone.