Halcion is the name of one of the first benzo’s, a class of drugs used to treat insomnia, anxiety, opioid withdrawal, and other issues.
But the name Halcyon has a much deeper and more ancient meaning. There is a reason it was chosen as the name of a drug that brings peace.
The Winter Solstice, marked when the Sun is over the Tropic of Capricorn (it’s southernmost point) is an astronomical event. On this day the hours of daylight and darkness are equal; it is considered the first day of Winter in the Western Calendar. From this point onward, the hours of daylight lengthen.
The phrase “Halcyon Days” comes from the ancient belief that fourteen days of calm weather were to be expected around the Winter Solstice, when the Halcyon Bird calmed the surface of the sea in order to brood her eggs on a floating nest.
These 14 (or so) days accounts for the “Christmas Spirit” or peaceful, loving, happy energy we may feel during before (and after Christmas). It also explains the 12 Days of Christmas, a song referring to strange presents over 12 days that can’t otherwise be explained. The Halcyon Days fall between December 14th and December 27th; 7 days before and 7 days after the Solstice.
MYTHOLOGY
In Greek Mythology, “Alcyone” also pronounced “Halcyone”, was the Goddess of the Sea, the Moon, Calm and Tranquility, and daughter of Aeolus.
The Greeks tell the story of Alcyone, a nymph (unmarried young woman) who was the lover of the god Poseidon. Poseidon is also Ea, Enki, the goat god who rules this month, and bore him several children.
There is another more well-known Greek story of Alcyone and Ceyx, where they were turned into birds by the gods. There are several versions of this story, but ultimately, they are all about eternal love, where Alcyone lays and gestates her eggs during this time.
The name Alcyone was interpreted to mean either “strong-helper” from alkê + oneô (oninêmi) or “kingfisher” from alkyôn. Bird references can also be found in the name Pleiades, which translate as “doves,” and Merope as the “bee-eater bird.”
A medieval Biblical legend names the Kingfisher as the second bird Noah sent out from the Ark to look for land after the rain had stopped. The originally grey bird flew so carelessly high into the sky that her back turned blue and so close to the sun that she scorched her breast. To this day, the female kingfisher has a rust-coloured band across her breast and a blue upper body.
THE PLEIADES
The Pleiadean star system has been one of the most revered cosmic objects in history, poetry and 
mythology across all cultures. According to the cultural traditions, the seven visible stars of the Pleiades have been referred to by many names, such as the Seven Sisters, Krittika, Kimah, Flock of Doves, Hens, Virgins of Spring, Sailor’s Stars and the seven Atlantic Sisters.
One of its stars, Alcyone, has been called by many names:
The early Arabs called it Al Jauz, the Walnut;
Al Jauzah or Al Wasat, the Central One;
and Al Na’ir, the Bright One,
and thaur al Thurayya, which, literally the Bull of the Pleiades.
In Babylonia it was called Temennu, the Foundation Stone.
In India, Alcyone was the junction star of the nakshatras Krittika and Rohini, and individually Amba, the Mother.
In earlier literature it was Arundhati, wedded to Vashishtha, the chief of the Seven Sages, as her sisters were wed to the six other Rishis of Ursa Major.
Every newly married couple worshiped them on first entering their future home, as symbolic of the Sacred Union of Male and Female.
The Mayan
The Mayan’s sacred calendar, The Tzolkin, is based on the cycle of the Pleiades (Tzab-ek–“Rattle Snake’s Tail”). Most notably, the cycle of our Solar-system in relation Alcyone. The cycle lasts for 26,000 years and was divided to make years of 260 days.
Since the beginning, the Maya believed that their origins were from the Pleiades, and they, as well as many other ancient cultures had dubbed Alcyone the “Central Sun ” of our Galaxy.
Alcyone is also linked to prophesies of 2012, the year when the Mayan calendars ends and the Earth is supposed to undergo massive changes on both the physical planes and the immediate astral & spiritual planes vibrating most closely to Earth. (Not the anti-climax of the end of the physical world, but a shift in spiritual worlds.)
According to this, it will begin on December 21st 2012–when the Earth, Sun, Alcyone, will align. An extremely rare event that occurs only once in every 26,000 years. The Pleiades Star System is referred to as the seven sisters and our sun aligns with Alcyone every 52 years.
A very important event is the Great Flood, the moment when the Anunnaki’s tried to destroy mankind. Christ, The Force of Love, is waiting until somebody finds the lost Cup, The Grail, The Pleiades. This Force will return when the three cycles of the Sun (Mitrash, Church of Rome), the Pole Star (The Star of the Shaman in Siberia) and the Pleiades (The Mother Goddess) are balanced. According to the Mayas this will happen in 2012.
Spiritual Meaning
Many ancient traditions state that Alcyone was the Central Spiritual Sun, the Mother Sun that emits Creative Light, that which births great teachers of Light into the world. It was believed to be the centre of the Universe around which our own solar system revolves.
Goddess
Across many nations, the Winter Solstice is associated with the Mother Goddess, womanhood, and a celebration of life and death. The astrological symbol for the Sun has always been a dot inside a circle, which can be seen as the spark inside the womb from which life emerged. It is birth of the Light, from the Darkness.
Before the Patriarchal times, it was the Mother Goddess who was revered in many forms. Ancient mythology tells of Innana, Queen of Heaven, and the Sun Goddess in Japan, Siberia, and Australia.
Other cultures see the Goddess as the mother of the Sun. According to Maori myth, the sun dies each night and returns to the cave/womb of the deep to bathe in the maternal uterine waters of life from which he is re-born each morning. The Hindu Fire God, Agni, is described as “He who swells in the mother.”
On the Winter Solstice, the daylight begins to lengthen and strengthen, the Mother Goddess gives birth to her Sun, who grows. Many stories have the Mother giving birth on this day: Jesus was born of Mary (Mariamne), the Egyptian Mother Goddess, Isis, gave birth to Her son Horus, the Sun God; the Greek goddess Leta gave birth to the bright, shining Apollo; Demeter, the Great Mother Earth Goddess, gave birth to Dionysus.
It is the birthday of the Invincible Sun in Rome, Dies Natalis Invictis Solis, as well as that of Mithra, the Persian god of light and guardian against dark evil.
Egyptians. It was also symbolic. Black was the color of fertility, the color of the rich, black silt that the Nile deposited on Egyptian fields during the Inundation. Black was the color of the healing statues that were carved with magical formulae and over which sufferers poured water, then drank the magically infused water as a medicine. Black is the color of the heavens at night, from which the Goddess descends to us as a Nubian. Black is the colour of the dead, as the resins used in mummification turned dark over time.
When the worship of Isis passed into Hellenistic (Greek) lands, black was associated with death and the underworld, thus it was the Greek color of mourning. As Isis is a mourning Goddess, She was often depicted wearing robes of black and Melanophoros, “Wearer of the Black,” became one of Her manes.
The dawning of the sun on the winter solstice, arising out of the darkest point of the year, tells us of the dawning of the light out of darkness on the first day of creation.
Among the less well-known parts of the Chanukah story, tell that during these 7 days, the original Light of Creation is available.