![]() They happen because of the tilt of the earth towards or away from the sun.īefore we understand them, we need to think of how the seasons happen. The solstice and equinoxes are times that the season changes. The solstice and equinoxes define seasons Let’s explore the solstice vs equinox days in the calendar. The equinox and solstices mark four key times in the yearly calendar that you may not be aware of. With the seasonal change, there are significant astronomical markers of earth’s position with the sun. In modern life, it’s easy to forget the yearly calendar relates to the movement the planet through the solar system. All systems on earth depend on the four seasons of our planet. Livestreaming will still be an option in 2021.ĬNN’s Katia Hetter and Autumn Spanne contributed to this article.For humans, the seasons and earth’s rotation around the sun is the basis of why we are alive. This year, they’re easing back in with in-person, but scaled-down, neighborhood events. In Canada, Vancouver’s Winter Solstice Lantern Festival is a sparkling celebration of solstice traditions spread across the Granville Island, Strathcona and Yaletown neighborhoods.įor 2020, the festival was a video-only affair. The society has set it up so you can livestream the sunrise at Stonehenge from the toasty comfort of home. Face masks are mandatory, and testing is encouraged. The English Heritage Society cautions that could be subject to change depending on the most recent health guidelines as the Omicron variant continues to rapidly spread. The in-person sunrise gathering was canceled in 2020, but it is being held this year. On the winter solstice, visitors traditionally enter the towering, mysterious stone circle for a sunrise ceremony run by local pagan and druid groups. The UK’s most famous site for solstice celebrations is Stonehenge. Oh, the glories of prepandemic times! A choir sings at Stonehenge to mark the winter solstice before words such as Covid and Omicron joined everyday vocabulary. Dumplings are usually eaten to celebrate in some East Asian cultures. Dongzhi marks the return yang – and the slow ascendance of light and warmth. Yin represents darkness and cold and stillness, thus the longest day of winter. They thought this was the apex of yin (from Chinese medicine theory). The name translates roughly as “extreme of winter.” The Dongzhi Winter Solstice Festival has its roots in ancient Chinese culture. It’s not just ancient Europeans who marked the annual occasion. It honored Saturn, the Roman god of agriculture.Īs the Roman Empire came under Christian influence and eventual rule, some of the festival’s customs were melded into celebrations surrounding Christmas and the New Year. In Ancient Rome, Saturnalia lasted for seven days. ![]() Newgrange, a prehistoric monument built in Ireland around 3200 BC, is associated with the Alban Arthan festival. Part of Druidic traditions, the winter solstice is considered a time of death and rebirth. ![]() It might be the oldest seasonal festival of humankind. In the Welsh language, “Alban Arthan” means for “Light of Winter,” according to the Farmers’ Almanac. There, the December solstice marks the longest day of the year – and the beginning of summer – in places such as Argentina, Madagascar, New Zealand and South Africa. The situation is the reverse in the Southern Hemisphere, where only about 10% of the world’s population lives. The winter solstice marks the shortest day of the year and the longest night in the Northern Hemisphere, when the sun appears at its most southerly position, directly overhead at the Tropic of Capricorn. The science and timing behind a winter solstice Then we’ll explore some ancient traditions and celebrations around the world. How this all works has fascinated people for thousands of years.įirst we’ll look at the science and precise timing behind the solstice. Winter solstice 2022, the shortest day of year and the official first day of winter, is on Wednesday, December 21 (well, for a decent chunk of the world anyway). For the past six months, the days have grown shorter and the nights have grown longer in the Northern Hemisphere.
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