Winter is coming! And no, I’m not referring to Game of Thrones (sorry fans) I’m referring to the Winter Solstice. Even the words sound gloomy and dark (much like GoT) and with good reason because winter solstice means the shortest day of the year and marks the beginning of winter. This year it will happen on December 21st. The dates change every year but sticks to a time frame of December 20-23. It is interesting to note that those of us on the Northern Hemisphere will experience the shortest day, while those on the Southern Hemisphere will experience the longest day. And it’s just the opposite during the Summer Solstice.
Coincidently, this Decembers full moon (now known as ‘the full cold moon’) also rises on December 21st, so look outside for a Winter Solstice full moon. I’m sure it’ll be amazing!
Now, if we lived in Alaska (where you won’t see a sunrise until the end of January) this may not even be a big deal but in the South, particularly Charleston, losing any sunlight can be dreary, especially when you have children. Days are almost cut in half. Thankfully, after December 21st the days will slowly begin to get longer. Much like the Summer Solstice with longer days becoming shorter.
What is the winter solstice?
So what exactly is the Winter Solstice? Well, it has a pretty scientific explanation that I may lose you on, but in layman’s terms, the earth revolves around the sun, the sunlight reaches the earth at an angle, and this angle is different for winter and summer solstices. During the December (Winter Solstice) the Sun will be at a 23.5 degrees south and at the Southern Tropic, henceforth leaving all of us in the Northern Hemisphere in the dark. Isn’t Astronomy cool?!
For many other cultures,’ the Solstice is a celebration of life and death. The December Solstice being of death where many ancient cultures would see it as “the death of light” inducing starvation and coldness for months. Summer Solstice is looked at as the beginning of new life. To this day in other countries, the Solstice is celebrated with festivals and marked as an end or beginning of many things.
In Japan, they celebrate by bathing in fruit to protect their bodies from the common cold. In England, thousands flock to Stonehenge (which is known for its precise alignment with the sun) where people will watch the sunrise, dance, kiss the stones, and play instruments. In Austria, people will dress as Krampus (the half-demon, half-goat counterpart to Santa Claus) and terrorize and tease the crowd, especially kids, in horned masks, fur body suits and whips. Freaky, right? And those are only some of the fascinating rituals and festivals going on, there are many more spread across the world.
Can you imagine if in Charleston we decided to have a festival for the Winter Solstice? Most of us don’t even acknowledge the day and let it slip on by, but this day signifies much more than we think about and hopefully, you’ll look at it differently after you read this.
Some fun facts
Here are some fun/eerie facts about this day in history:
- ‘The Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth on December 21, 1620, to found a society that would allow them to worship freely.
- On the same day in 1898, Pierre and Marie Curie discovered radium, ushering in an atomic age.
- And on December 21, 1968, the Apollo 8 spacecraft launched, becoming the first manned moon mission.’ *Credit to Jane Rose of MentalFloss.com*
What will you be doing on the shortest day of the year? I plan on being outside (weather permitting) as long as I can with my kiddos and then making a delicious Winter Solstice recipe (there are some hearty wintery recipes out there dedicated to the winter solstice) I’ll (hopefully) be putting my kiddos to bed early (fingers crossed on the last part).
Enjoy the short days ahead!
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