Winter Solstice
Dec. 21st, 2004 08:47 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sun_set_bravelyI'm in Texas, and all is well. I escaped the cold Northeast weather by a few days, and I'm grateful for that, although I sometimes feel displaced from the winter experience when I leave for Christmas. I've felt the rest of fall and winter approaching the Solstice, so to experience it in 50 degree weather is a bit strange.
Stay warm and protected up there, folks.
In the northern hemisphere, today is the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year and the longest night. It's officially the first day of winter and one of the oldest known holidays in human history. Anthropologists believe that solstice celebrations go back at least 30,000 years, before humans even began farming on a large scale. Many of the most ancient stone structures made by human beings were designed to pinpoint the precise date of the solstice. The stone circles of Stonehenge were arranged to receive the first rays of midwinter sun.
Ancient peoples believed that because daylight was waning, it might go away forever, so they lit huge bonfire to tempt the sun to come back. The tradition of decorating our houses and our trees with lights at this time of year is passed down from those ancient bonfires.
In ancient Egypt and Syria, people celebrated the winter solstice as the sun's birthday. In Ancient Rome, the winter solstice was celebrated with the festival of Saturnalia, during which all business transactions and even war were suspended, and slaves were waited upon by their masters.
Henry David Thoreau said, "In winter we lead a more inward life. Our hearts are warm and cheery, like cottages under drifts, whose windows and doors are half concealed, but from whose chimneys the smoke cheerfully ascends."
Stay warm and protected up there, folks.
In the northern hemisphere, today is the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year and the longest night. It's officially the first day of winter and one of the oldest known holidays in human history. Anthropologists believe that solstice celebrations go back at least 30,000 years, before humans even began farming on a large scale. Many of the most ancient stone structures made by human beings were designed to pinpoint the precise date of the solstice. The stone circles of Stonehenge were arranged to receive the first rays of midwinter sun.
Ancient peoples believed that because daylight was waning, it might go away forever, so they lit huge bonfire to tempt the sun to come back. The tradition of decorating our houses and our trees with lights at this time of year is passed down from those ancient bonfires.
In ancient Egypt and Syria, people celebrated the winter solstice as the sun's birthday. In Ancient Rome, the winter solstice was celebrated with the festival of Saturnalia, during which all business transactions and even war were suspended, and slaves were waited upon by their masters.
Henry David Thoreau said, "In winter we lead a more inward life. Our hearts are warm and cheery, like cottages under drifts, whose windows and doors are half concealed, but from whose chimneys the smoke cheerfully ascends."
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no subject
Date: 2004-12-21 03:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-25 03:02 am (UTC)2. I am excited to be back in our home together.
3. Have I ever told you how great that picture of you is? Its very evocotive of your je ne sais qoui.
no subject
Date: 2004-12-25 08:31 am (UTC)2. ME TOO! It's so weird to end each day without sitting back to back at our computers, and then climbing the ladder to sleep.
3. Thank you; you've never told me that about that picture. I like it, too. And it's good to know that I have je ne sais quoi. I never quite articulated it that way.
oh that? that's French baby.
Date: 2004-12-25 04:41 pm (UTC)