Tonight, December 21, marks the Longest Night of the Year
also known as the Winter Solstice.
In the Northern Hemisphere the sun goes down at 4:37 pm and
will rise again tomorrow at 8:43 am.
This gives us just over 17 hours of darkness.
Why does the Solstice occur?
The winter solstice occurs at the moment the Earth's tilt
away from the sun is at a maximum.
The Earth's axis is tilted 23.5 degrees relative to its orbit
the Earth will be at the point in its orbit when the North Pole is tilted at
its maximum away from the sun. In the Arctic (within 23.5 degrees of the North
Pole) the day will be completely in darkness.
The people on the other side of the world, in the Southern
Hemisphere, are celebrating this day as
their summer solstice with the longest day of the Year
People have been celebrating the Longest Night of the year
for more than 4000 years.
This event goes by many different names such as Midwinter,
Yule, Yailda Night, Midvinterblot & Jolofferfest.
In Neolithic times the longest night was used as a calendar
guide to sow crops, monitor winter reserves of food, the mating and
slaughtering of animal. This also marked
the time when the beer and wine put up earlier in the year would be ready to
drink and what better time to enjoy the fruits of your labour then a family get
together. Traditions typically include gathering around a fire with family and
eat, drink and read. Poetry was often
read aloud at many gatherings.
Because the event was seen as the reversal of the Sun's
ebbing presence in the sky, concepts of the birth or rebirth of sun gods have
been common and, in cultures which used cyclic calendars based on the winter
solstice, the "year as reborn" was celebrated with reference to
life-death-rebirth deities or "new beginnings" such as Hogmanay's
redding, a New Year cleaning tradition. Also "reversal" is yet
another frequent theme, as in Saturnalia's slave and master reversals.
Many people gather at Stonehenge each year to mark this
special time. The Winter Solstice is the most important day of the year at
Stonehenge and a truly magical time to be there. It's an ad hoc celebration
that brings together England's New Age Tribes (neo-druids, neo-pagans, Wiccans)
with ordinary families, tourists, travelers and party people - 100's of them!
For many the impulse to arrive at Stonehenge in time for the
Solstice is a little like all those people drawn to the strange rock in Close
Encounters of the Third Kind. It's akin to a spiritual experience. Anyone who
has witnessed the crowd become silent as the sky begins to brighten can attest
to that.
The Longest Night of the Year is a special time in the flow
of the seasons. We hope you enjoy yours!