17:23 Eastern Standard (New York) Time, 22:28 UTC (Greenwich)
Today, on the Winter Solstice (in the Northern Hemisphere), I like to take a moment to reflect on the significance of the holiday season.
Scientifically, the winter solstice marks the precise moment when the northern pole of earth's axis of rotation is titled furthest from the sun. At this precise moment, the angle of the axis of rotation is approximately 23.44 degrees from a line perpendicular to the plane of orbit about the sun.
Culturally, this event has played a significant role in the lives of people on earth.
A Time to Party
Respect for the solstice probably dates back to the beginning of agriculture... so 10 to 15 thousand years ago. An accurate calendar became an important factor in the planting of crops, storage of grain, management of cattle, etc.
Coldest, most barren days were known to follow after the solstice (winter), during which time villages would survive on stores of grain. To conserve resources, cattle were slaughtered in the days leading up to the solstice, and either eaten or preserved. Hence, around this time, fresh meat was available in abundance, large fires were built for warmth, and wines bottled the previous spring had fermented and were ready to drink -- time to party!
The time for planting (spring) was also scheduled as so many days following the solstice, as the spring equinox is more difficult to observe.
Ever-green trees were the mysterious survivors of the winter season, and were taken as symbols of life.
Observing the Solstice at Home
It is an easy event to observe. Simply drill a stick firmly into the ground, and mark the shadow every few days at noon (the point of minimum shadow that day). In the fall months, the shadow will get longer and longer, as the noon sun drops lower in the sky... until... one day, the noon shadow ceases to get longer, and then grows shorter again. Now the noon sun rises higher in the sky. The inflection point is the solstice. And there you have it - a simple DIY measure of the cycle of the year. (This isn't very precise, you might be off by a few days.. but close enough.)
After doing the DIY stick experiment for a few years, you might erect something more permanent to mark the position of the sunrise on the morning of the solstice.
The "SOL" of solstice
The word solstice derives from Latin for "Sun Stands [still]". On this day, the apparent descent of the noon sun towards the horizon ends, and, for a few days, to the naked eye, it appears to hold the same point in the noon sky, until reversing direction, and climbing to a higher point above the horizon every day. Hence, in ancient times, the solstice was seen as a "rebirth of the sun". Then, as now, humans depended on the sun for sustenance, but for ancient people, that link was more poignant. The day began and ended with light from the sun, and their whole system of survival was wrapped up in its cycles. So the "rebirth of the sun" was something to celebrate - the sign that longer days of fertility were coming (all though the coldest days of winter lay ahead).
There is also some indication of mythology around the falling sun.. that, without the intervention of humans via ceremony and sacrifice, that the sun might continue to drop lower on the horizon and eventually disappear altogether.. in which case.. yes, your sol-ebration worked again this year! crisis averted!
From there, concepts of birth and rebirth worked their way into the mythology.. as the sun was re-born again - for another year.
Holidays Around the Solstice
- Earliest formal celebrations of the season may have started in Egypt about 3000 BCE.
- Yalda Night - Persian/Iranian celebration of the longest night of the year, which marks the solstice
- There is something called "Blue Christmas" that occurs directly on the solstice, as opposed to the more popular date of December 25.
- Yule or Yuletide - a German tradition
- Saturnalia - an ancient Roman festival
- and many, many more.. name your favorite. Of the whole year, this season has the highest concentration of traditional holidays (and there is one original reason for that).
Saturnalia
Saturnalia may have been the first instance of the solstice being taken for other purposes. Sometime near 300 BCE, The Roman empire subjugated the holiday in favor of the agricultural deity Saturn (viewed as a greater deity than the sun). Saturnalia became a huge festival characterized by role reversal (masters would serve slaves), debauchery, and gift-giving. Wreaths from ever-green trees adorned homes and doorways to mark the festival, and to foreshadow the rebirth of green plant life and prosperity.
In 217 BCE, a major Roman defeat led to the introduction of Greek traditions into the holiday.
Santa Claus
Circa 270 AD, Nikolaos of Myra was born in modern-day Turkey. Historical facts of his life are limited, but legend has it that he was a giver of gifts to poor children. He would place gifts such as toys and food into socks and leave them at the homes of children in need. Legend has it one such gift included a large sum of money to the father of some young women who might otherwise have sold them into sexual slavery to pay a debt.
Nikolaos was a bishop in the Roman Christian church of the day, and, owing to his generous lifestyle, was later recognized as a saint... "Saint Nick" "Niko-LAOS", CLAOS, Claus, Saint Claos, Santa Claus, etc.
Best records show that Nikolaos died on December 6, 343. This date would eventually become a holiday to celebrate his gift-giving virtues.. a holiday actually not rooted in the winter solstice.. but rather in the coincidental fact that he died around that time of year. Of course, his iconography would eventually be sucked into the mega-holiday of Christmas.
Modern-Day Christmas
Some time between the years 200 to 400 AD, the debauchery and festivity of Saturnalia began to fall out of favor with the puritanical piousness of the expanding Roman Christian church. Through this period, the holiday was again subjugated for religious and political reasons, and was recast as a religious holiday. Although likely not historically accurate, it was said to be a celebration of the birth of the central Christian figure, Jesus of Nazareth, or "Christ".
As is common in lore and legend, somewhere along the way, words got a bit mixed up. What had been the "birth" or "rebirth" of the sun would later be subjugated by the church to honor the birth of the "son of god".
Ways to Observe
here are some ways to celebrate the solstice at home:
- Find a scenic area to view the sun-rise or sun-set.
- Look up the precise time of noon near you, and observe the sun's position at this time
- Throw a party! consume rich meats and wines - or prepare delicious nutritious feasts
- Give a gift to a child in need
- Donate to a charity for children in need
- Remember, the sun remains the original source of energy for our bodies and our technology
sources and references:
https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/december-solstice.html
http://blog.dictionary.com/summer-solstice/
http://www.crystalinks.com/wintersolstice.html
http://www.biography.com/people/st-nicholas-204635#death-and-legacy
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