Winter
Solstice
What is the Winter Solstice?
The Winter Solstice is the solstice that happens
in winter and usually occurs around 21st / 22nd December each
year. It is the shortest day of the year when
the Sun is at its most southern point -
when the Sun is appearing at noon at its lowest
altitude above the horizon.
Since the Winter Solstice lasts only a moment in time other terms have
come into use for the day on which the Winter Solstice occurs. These include:
midwinter / the longest night / the shortest day / the first day of winter /
Yule.
Worldwide interpretation of the Winter Solstice varies from culture to
culture with many cultures in the Northern Hemisphere recognising the Winter Solstice
as “a celebration of rebirth” which involves holidays / festivals / gatherings
/ rituals and other celebrations around that time.
History
The Winter Solstice has been part of the annual cycle of the year since
Neolithic times. During ancient times – astronomy determined both agricultural
and religious events such as: mating of animals / sowing of crops and metering
of winter reserves between harvests.
This is verified by the physical remains of the layouts of late
Neolithic and Bronze Age archaeological sites such as: Stonehenge in
Britain and New Grange in Ireland. Stonehenge is aligned in a sight-line
that points to the Winter Solstice sunset whereas New Grange points to the Winter
Solstice sunrise and also the Goseck circle which is aligned to both the sunset
and sunrise.
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| Goseck Circle |
Part of the reason the Winter Solstice may have been immensely important
is because communities were not certain of living through the winter and would
have prepared for the winter months during the previous nine months. Starvation was
common in winter between the months of January and April which were also known
as "the famine months". In mild
climates the midwinter festival was the last feast celebration before deep
winter set in. Most of the cattle were slaughtered so they would not have
to be fed during the winter - it was almost the only time of year when a supply
of fresh meat was available and the majority of wine and beer that had been made
during the year was finally fermented and ready for drinking during
this time.
Celebrations at Stonehenge
It is believed that the Winter Solstice was more important to the
people who built Stonehenge than the Summer Solstice and with this in mind each
year early on the morning of 21st December people from around the
world gather at Stonehenge to mark the Winter Solstice and welcome the sunrise
above the stones.
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| Sunrise at Stonehenge on the day of the Winter Solstice |
It appears to be a truly magical time to be at Stonehenge and the
ad-hoc celebration brings together England’s New Age tribes (neo-druids /
neo-pagans / Wiccans) with ordinary families / party people / travellers and
tourists. With hundreds of people at Stonehenge to celebrate the Winter
Solstice you would think the noise the crowd made would be thunderous however
it has been documented that the crowd become silent as the sky begins to
brighten and they all share this spiritual experience.
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| Celebrating the Winter Solstice at Stonehenge |
If you want more information about Stonehenge Tours please check out details at: http://www.visit-stonehenge.co.uk/index.html
Written by: Andria Owen
