Secular Humanist | Human Light | Solstice Luminary

This is the story of light, but it’s really a story about us.

When I designed this luminary, I wanted to capture something beautiful about being human: our curiosity, our persistence, and how we build knowledge together across generations. I also wanted to capture a shared celebration in winter, light.

As Isaac Newton said, “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”

This four-sided cardstock and vellum luminary celebrates that journey—each panel representing a step in our collective understanding. It’s perfect for HumanLight, winter solstice, or any secular celebration of human achievement and the natural world.

I also created a craft kit variation with colored tissue paper to create your own stained glass effect!

Side 1: Light from the Eyes Early humans, including ancient Greek philosophers, believed light shot from our eyes like tiny beams, illuminating everything we saw. It seemed logical – after all, we couldn’t see in the dark!

Side 2: Light as Waves Scientists observed light traveling to us in waves from objects themselves. They discovered how prisms could break those waves into rainbows of color, revealing the full spectrum. Light moved through space like ripples on water.

Side 3: Light as Particles Waves didn’t explain everything scientists observed. The particle theory described light as tiny bits traveling for our brains to interpret with vision.

Side 4: Light as Photons—Wave-Particle Duality Turns out, both were right. In 1905, Einstein introduced the photon, and today we understand light’s duality – it behaves as both wave and particle.

Light not included. You  add the electric light source of your choice. Please do not use with an open flame.