Winter Solstice Day: Everything You Need to Know About It

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Solstice is one of two days of the year when the sun's height above the horizon at noon is at its minimum or maximum. There are two solstices in a year - winter and summer. On the day of the winter solstice, the sun rises to its lowest height above the horizon.

In the northern hemisphere, the winter solstice occurs on December 21st or 22nd, with the shortest day and longest night. The moment of the solstice is shifted annually, since the length of the solar year does not coincide with the calendar time.

In 2017, the winter solstice begins on December 21 at 19:28 Moscow time. On this day, at the latitude of Moscow, the Sun rises above the horizon to a height of less than 11 degrees.

On these December days beyond the Arctic Circle (66.5 degrees north latitude), the polar night sets in, which does not necessarily mean complete darkness throughout the day. Its main feature is that the Sun does not rise above the horizon.

At the North Pole of the Earth, not only the Sun is not visible, but also the twilight, and the location of the star can only be recognized by the constellations. A completely different picture in the area of the South Pole of the Earth - in Antarctica at this time the day lasts around the clock.

For thousands of years, the day of the winter solstice has been of great importance for all the peoples of our planet, who lived in harmony with natural cycles and organized their lives in accordance with them. From the earliest times, people have venerated the Sun, realizing that their life on earth depends on its light and warmth. For them, the day of the winter solstice personified the victory of light over darkness.

So, in Russian folklore a proverb is dedicated to this day: the sun - for the summer, winter - for the frost. Now the day will gradually increase and the night will decrease.

The ancient Slavs celebrated the pagan New Year - Kolyada on the day of the winter solstice.

Kolyada is a baby sun, in Slavic mythology - the embodiment of the New Year's cycle.

Once Kolyada was not perceived as a mummer. Kolyada was a deity, and one of the most influential. They called Kolyada, called me. New Year's days were dedicated to Kolyada, games were organized in her honor, which were later performed on Christmastide. The last patriarchal ban on the worship of Kolyada was issued on December 24, 1684. It is believed that Kolyada was recognized by the Slavs as a deity of fun, which is why they called him, merry gangs of youth called him on New Year's festivities.

A. Strizhev "National Calendar"

The main attribute of the festival was a bonfire, depicting and invoking the light of the sun, which, after the longest night of the year, was supposed to rise higher and higher. The ritual New Year's cake - a loaf - also resembled the sun in shape.

In Europe these days began a 12-day cycle of pagan festivals dedicated to the winter solstice, which marked the beginning of a new life and the renewal of nature.

In India, the day of the winter solstice - Sankranti - is celebrated in Hindu and Sikh communities, where bonfires are lit on the night before the celebration, the heat of which symbolizes the warmth of the sun, which begins to warm the earth after the winter cold.

On the day of the winter solstice, it was customary in Scotland to launch the solar wheel - the "solar swirl". The barrel was coated with burning resin and let down the street. The wheel is a symbol of the sun, the spokes of the wheel resembled rays, the rotation of the spokes while moving made the wheel alive and like a luminary.

In ancient China, it was believed that from this time the male power of nature rises and a new cycle begins. The winter solstice was considered a happy day worth celebrating. On this day, everyone - from the emperor to the commoner - went on vacation. The army was put in a state of waiting for orders, border fortresses and trade shops were closed, people went to visit each other, gave gifts. The Chinese made sacrifices to the God of Heaven and their ancestors, and also ate porridge made from beans and glutinous rice to protect themselves from evil spirits and diseases. Until now, the day of the winter solstice is considered one of the traditional Chinese holidays.

Cosmic, or in other words, natural cycles associated with the sun - this is the basis on which almost all religious cults have been imposed. For example, the cult of the son of God is not an invention of Christianity. This is one of the modifications of the cult of Osiris, which was formed in Ancient Egypt.

This cult in Asia Minor was called the cult of Attis, in Syria - the cult of Adonis, in the lands of Romea - the cult of Dionysius, etc. Mithra, Amon, Serapis, Liber were also identified with Dionysus at different times.

In all these cults, the God-man was born on the same day - December 25. Then he died and was subsequently resurrected.

December 25 - the date tied to the winter solstice, the day becomes longer than the night - a new sun is born. For example, for the inhabitants of the village of Polyarnye Zori, which is located on the Kola Peninsula at a latitude of 67, 2 degrees north latitude, in December the Sun seems to die for three days, and then it seems to be resurrected.

God Mithra was called the Invincible Sun. And in Ossetia they still celebrate their New Year on December 25, ArtHuronwhich means Fire Solntsevich.

The Christian religion is a parody of sun worship. They replaced the sun with a man named Christ and worship him as they used to worship the sun.

Thomas Paine, writer, philosopher (1737-1809)