SELINSGROVE -- While Jewish people in the Valley will be spending tonight celebrating the first day of Hanukkah, groups of the nature-based Pagan and Wiccan religions will also be gathering together to mark the Winter Solstice, the longest, darkest night of the year.

The rituals performed by Pagans and Wiccans tonight call forth the sun on the longest night of the year.

"We also refer to the solstice as Yule, the rebirth of the sun to the earth," said Giles Wickham Jr., a practicing Pagan, who said he used to be a Wiccan.

"To me, Paganism is a religion and a lifestyle," he said. "And for us, this is one of the most important days of the year."

Pagans follow a broadly based polytheistic, pre-Christian religion; Wicca is a more narrow Pagan-based religion with spiritual roots in the earliest expressions of reverence for nature. Some major identifying Wiccan motifs are reverence for both the goddess and god.

The Pagan celebration of the Winter Solstice began at a time, thousands of years ago, when people were very reliant on the sun.

"People back then weren't always sure that when the nights grew longer, there would come a day when daylight would again become more prominent," Wickham explained. "It celebrates a day in the year after which the sun is closer to the earth, allowing for warmth, growth and planting of crops. It's a celebration of life, really."

Some of the same rituals practiced through the centuries, with modern variations, are practiced today.

"We will have what's called a bale fire. That's where the Yule log comes into play," Wickham said.

Part of the logs is saved to start the fire next year. Tradition says that brings good luck.

The ashes of the other logs are then ritualistically spread on the growing fields. It is said that the spreading of the ashes brings more fertility on earth.

"I have an organic farm outside of Sunbury, and I will spread the ashes on my farmland," Wickham said. "It's in keeping with our beliefs about looking after the earth and trying to promote the health of the planet."

Another part of the Pagan Winter Solstice ritual is to keep the lights off, with only natural candlelight, "to help observe the darkness," added Giles' wife Marcia.

"The time of darkness," she said, "is a time for us to contemplate what we want to bring out of ourselves, when the sun returns. It's sort of like a New Year's Resolution; it's what you want to give life to."

About 15 people will join the Wickhams tonight.