Darlings!
Wow. Christmas is truly around the corner. I'm happy to say that every, last one of my Christmas cards is finished and ready to be taken to the post box. Hallelujah! Now I just need to finish up some super, secret last minute knitting and wrap those gifts, make another plate of 'Xmas Crack' and perhaps think about cleaning the house. Fantastic.
Today is Winter Solstice! Apparently on the East coast it happens today and for the west coast it was yesterday. Regardless of where you live solstice marks the first day of winter in the Northern Hemisphere and it is the shortest day of the year. The sun is closer to the horizon than any other time of the year and we get the least amount of daylight. "Solstice" is derived from the Latin word "sun stands still". If you are a numbers person put 23.5 in your cooker. That is the degree to which the earth is tilted as it orbits the sun. However, we are constantly in motion and what goes down must go up so this means that the days will start to (albeit SLOWLY) get a little longer too.
Since ancient times folks have marked the winter solstice with countless cultural and religious traditions.
Massive prehistoric monuments such as Ireland's mysterious Newgrange tomb (video) are aligned to capture the light at the moment of the winter solstice sunrise.
Germanic peoples of Northern Europe honored the winter solstice with Yule festivals—the origin of the still-standing tradition of the long-burning Yule log.
The Roman feast of Saturnalia, honoring the God Saturn, was a weeklong December feast that included the observance of the winter solstice. Romans also celebrated the lengthening of days following the solstice by paying homage to Mithra, an ancient Persian god of light.
Many modern pagans attempt to observe the winter solstice in the traditional manner of the ancients. Apparently there is a resurgent interest due to ecological motives.
In a number of U.S. cities a Watertown, Massachusetts-based production called The Christmas Revels honors the winter solstice with an annually changing lineup of traditional music and dance from around the world.
I hate to burst your bubble but scholars aren't exactly sure of the date of Jesus Christ's birthday, the first Christmas. Eastern churches traditionally celebrate Christmas on January 6, a date known as Epiphany in the West. The winter date may have originally been chosen on the basis that Christ's conception and Crucifixion would have fallen during the same season—and a spring conception would have resulted in a winter birth.
Christmas soon became co-mingled with traditional observances of the first day of winter. As the Christmas tradition moved West the date of winter solstice became available for conversion to the observance of Christmas. In an attempt by early church leaders to attract pagans to Christianity they added Christian meaning to existing winter solstice festivals. It makes for an interesting play on words because in several languages people have traditionally compared the rebirth of the sun with the birth of the son.
Enjoy these dark days darlings. Dim the lights, light more candles and put on the woolies!
XOXO
PS-I know I'm yearning for snow but I know a lot of people who are stranded around the Denver area because of the blizzard and people who are under winter storm watch. Sure, they are hearty out west but massive snow storms are still massive snow storms. If you are out west and reading this stay safe and have an extra cup of cocoa!
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