Winter Solstice

Celebrating the first day of winter makes some yearn for snow covered mountains and hot drinks by a fire. For others, the celebration has more to do with the knowledge that each day after this will have more daylight hours. It also means that we are closer to the end of the year, and the beginning of a new one.

Each year I impatiently await the winter solstice. The exceptionally long, dark days leading up to it seem to drain my energy making it difficult to accomplish anything other than the necessary daily chores. So, I remind myself that once the solstice has passed, each day will have just a little more daylight which will lift my spirits and energy. 

Earlier this week we celebrated the Winter Solstice. Even though this astronomical event receives an entire day of recognition, it happens in an instant. This year it arrived at 5:02 a.m. EST on Monday, December 21st when the North Pole was at its farthest tilt of 23.5 degrees away from the sun. 

On this day, the Northern Hemisphere experiences the fewest hours of daylight for the year, while the Southern Hemisphere experiences the longest hours of daylight on the December solstice. At the moment of the solstice the sun will reach its southernmost point in the sky in the Northern Hemisphere. After this moment, the sun will stop moving southward and begin heading northward in the sky; the "solstice" which means "sun stands still" in Latin.

Many cultures recognize the winter solstice; the most famous is in Stonehenge in England. As the sun sets on the shortest day of the year, the sun's rays align with Stonehenge's central Alter stone and Slaughter stone, which may have had spiritual significance to the people who built the monument.

In Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, the ancient, stonewalled Mayan city of Tulum also has a structure that honors the solstices. When the sun rises on the winter and summer solstices, its rays shine through a small hole at the top of one of the stone buildings, which creates a starburst effect.

Although the temperatures will remain cold after the winter solstice, the days will begin to get longer in the Northern Hemisphere. Every single moment of extended daylight will help us get through the winter months that remain. Somehow more daylight makes winter a bit more tolerable.