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Winter solstice

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Astronomical phenomenon
This article is about the astronomical phenomenon. For other uses, seeWinter solstice (disambiguation).

Winter Solstice
Sunset atStonehenge in England during the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere
Also calledMidwinter; the Shortest Day; the Longest Night
Observed byVarious cultures
TypeCultural, astronomical
SignificanceBeginning of lengthening days and shortening nights
CelebrationsFeasting
DateDecember 21 or December 22
(Northern Hemisphere)
and June 20 or June 21
(Southern Hemisphere)
Related toWinter festivals
UT date and time of
equinoxes andsolstices on Earth[1][2]
eventequinoxsolsticeequinoxsolstice
monthMarch[3]June[4]September[5]December[6]
yeardaytimedaytimedaytimedaytime
20202003:502021:432213:312110:03
20212009:372103:322219:212115:59
20222015:332109:142301:042121:48
20232021:252114:582306:502203:28
20242003:072020:512212:442109:20
20252009:012102:422218:202115:03
20262014:462108:252300:062120:50
20272020:252114:112306:022202:43
20282002:172020:022211:452108:20
20292008:012101:482217:372114:14
20302013:512107:312223:272120:09
Theseasons with the transition points of theJune solstice,September equinox,December solstice, andMarch equinox

Thewinter solstice, orhibernal solstice, occurs when either ofEarth'spoles reaches its maximumtilt away from theSun. This happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere (Northern andSouthern). For that hemisphere, the wintersolstice is the day with the shortestperiod of daylight and longest night of the year, and when the Sun is at its lowestdaily maximum elevation in the sky.[7] Eachpolar region experiencescontinuous darkness ortwilight around its winter solstice. The opposite event is thesummer solstice.

The winter solstice occurs during the hemisphere'swinter. In the Northern Hemisphere, this is theDecember solstice (December 21 or 22) and in the Southern Hemisphere, this is theJune solstice (June 20 or 21). Although the winter solstice itself lasts only a moment, the term also refers to the day on which it occurs. Traditionally, in manytemperate regions, the winter solstice is seen as the middle of winter, "midwinter" is another name for the winter solstice, although it carries other meanings as well. Other names are the "extreme of winter", or the "shortest day".

Since prehistory, the winter solstice has been a significant time of year in many cultures and has been marked byfestivals andrites.[8] This is because it is the point when the shortening of daylight hours is reversed and the daytime begins to lengthen again. In parts of Europe it was seen as the symbolic death and rebirth of the Sun. Some ancient monuments such asNewgrange,Stonehenge, andCahokia Woodhenge are aligned with the sunrise or sunset on the winter solstice.

History and cultural significance

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There is evidence that the winter solstice was deemed an important moment of the annual cycle for some cultures as far back as theNeolithic (New Stone Age). Astronomical events were often used to guide farming activities, such as the mating of animals, the sowing of crops and the monitoring of winter reserves of food. Livestock wereslaughtered so they would not have to be fed during the winter, so it was almost the only time of year when a plentiful supply of fresh meat was available.[9]

The winter solstice is the reversal of the Sun's apparent ebbing in the sky; the daytime stops becoming shorter and begins to lengthen again. In parts of ancient Europe, this was symbolized as the death and rebirth of the Sun, or of aSun god.[10][11][12]

Neolithic Europe

[edit]
Sunlight entering the passage ofNewgrange in Ireland on the winter solstice

Some importantNeolithic and earlyBronze Age archaeological sites in Europe are associated with the winter solstice, such asStonehenge in England andNewgrange in Ireland. The primaryaxes of both of these monuments seem to have been carefully aligned on a sight-line pointing to the winter solstice sunrise (Newgrange) and the winter solstice sunset (Stonehenge). It is significant that at Stonehenge the GreatTrilithon was oriented outwards from the middle of the monument, i.e. its smooth flat face was turned towards the midwinter sunset.[13]

Ancient Egypt

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Several ancient Egyptian temples are aligned with the winter solstice sunrise, including theTemple of Amun-Ra atKarnak, the chapel ofRa-Horakhty atAbu Simbel, and theMortuary temple of Hatshepsut atLuxor.[14]

Plutarch wrote in theMoralia (first century AD) that the Egyptians believed the goddessIsis gave birth toHarpocrates (Horus the Child) at the winter solstice.[15]Macrobius wrote in the fourth century that the Sun appears small at the winter solstice, and on this shortest day, the Egyptians brought a child Sun god out of a shrine.[16] In hisPanarion, also from the fourth century,Epiphanius of Salamis wrote that the winter solstice was celebrated on 25 December inAlexandria as theKikellia. Epiphanius says that thirteen days after the solstice, on 5–6 January, they celebrated the birth ofAion, son of the virgin goddessKore. At the temple of Kore (theKoreion) in Alexandria, an all-night vigil was held, and at dawn an idol of the child god was brought out of an underground chapel. This idol was carried around the temple seven times, accompanied by music, hymns and revelry.[17][18]

Ancient Roman world

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In the ancient Roman calendar, December 25 was the date of the winter solstice.[19][20]Marcus Terentius Varro wrote in the first century BC that this was regarded as the middle of winter.[21] In the same century,Ovid wrote in theFasti that the winter solstice is the first day of the "new Sun".[22] The Calendar ofAntiochus of Athens,c. second century AD, marks it as the "birthday of the Sun".[23] In AD 274, the emperorAurelian made this the date of the festivalDies Natalis Solis Invicti, the birthday ofSol Invictus or the 'Invincible Sun'.[20][24] Gary Forsythe, Professor of Ancient History, says "This celebration would have formed a welcome addition to the seven-day period of theSaturnalia (December 17–23), Rome's most joyous holiday season since Republican times, characterized by parties, banquets, and exchanges of gifts".[20]

Liturgical historians generally accept that the winter solstice had some influence on thechoice of December 25 as the date ofChristmas.[25] A widely-held theory is that the Church chose it as Christ's birthday (Dies Natalis Christi) specifically toappropriate the Roman festival of the sun god's birthday (Dies Natalis Solis Invicti).[24][20][26] According to C. Philipp E. Nothaft, a professor atTrinity College Dublin, a historically Protestant University, though this "is nowadays used as the default explanation for the choice of 25 December as Christ's birthday, few advocates of this theory seem to be aware of how paltry the available evidence actually is".[27]

Germanic

[edit]
Main article:Midwinter
Neolithic site ofGoseck circle in Germany. The yellow lines indicate the directions in which sunrise and sunset are seen on the day of the winter solstice.

Discussing theHeruli, the Greek historianProcopius wrote in thesixth century that the people of Scandinavia (which he callsThule) held their greatest festival shortly after the winter solstice, to celebrate the return of daylight.[28]

InAnglo-Saxon England the winter solstice was generally deemed to be December 25, and inOld English,midwinter could mean both the winter solstice andChristmas.[29][30] In the eighth century,Bede wrote that thepagan Anglo-Saxons had celebrated the festivalMōdraniht ('Mothers' Night') at the winter solstice, which marked the start of the Anglo-Saxon year.[30]

TheNorth Germanic peoples celebrated a winter holiday calledYule. TheHeimskringla, written in the 13th century by the IcelanderSnorri Sturluson, describes a Yule feast hosted by the Norwegian kingHaakon the Good (c. 920–961). According to Snorri, the Christian Haakon had moved Yule from "midwinter" and aligned it with the Christian Christmas celebration. Historically, this has made some scholars believe that Yule originally was a sun festival on the winter solstice. Modern scholars generally do not believe this, as midwinter in medieval Iceland was a date about four weeks after the solstice.[31] During theChristianisation of the Germanic peoples, Yule was incorporated into the Christmas celebrations and the term and its cognates remain used to refer to Christmas in modern Northern European languages such as Swedish.

Albanian

[edit]

Albanian traditional festivities around the winter solstice celebrate the return of the Sun (Dielli) for summer and the lengthening of the days.[32][33][34][35] The Albanian traditional rites during the winter solstice period are pagan, and very ancient. AlbanologistJohann Georg von Hahn (1811 – 1869) reported that Christian clergy, during his time and before, have vigorously fought the pagan rites that were practiced by Albanians to celebrate this festivity, but without success.[36]

The old rites of this festivity were accompanied by collective fires (zjarre) based on the house, kinship or neighborhood, a practice performed in order to give strength to the Sun according to the old beliefs. The rites related to the cult of vegetation, which expressed the desire for increased production in agriculture and animal husbandry, were accompanied by animal sacrifices to the fire, lighting pine trees at night, luckdivination tests with crackling in the fire or with coins in ritual bread, making and consuming ritual foods, performing various magical ritualistic actions in livestock, fields, vineyards and orchards, and so on.[36][37][38]

Nata e Buzmit, "Yule log's night", is celebrated between December 22 and January 6.[39] Buzmi is a ritualistic piece of wood (or several pieces of wood) that is put to burn in the fire (zjarri) of the hearth (vatër) on the night of a winter celebration that falls after the return of the Sun for summer (after the winter solstice), sometimes on the night ofKërshëndella on December 24 (Christmas Eve), sometimes on the night ofkolendra, or sometimes onNew Year's Day or on any other occasion around the same period, a tradition that is originally related to the cult of the Sun.[40][37][38]

East Asian

[edit]
Main article:Dongzhi Festival
Japanese Sun goddessAmaterasu emerging from a cave (byKunisada)
Sunlight directed through the 17 arches of Seventeen Arch Bridge,Summer Palace,Beijing around winter solstice

InEast Asia, the winter solstice has been celebrated as one of theTwenty-four Solar Terms, calledDongzhi (冬至) inChinese. InJapan, in order not to catchcold in the winter, there is a custom to soak oneself in ayuzu hot bath (Japanese:柚子湯 = Yuzuyu).[41]

Indian

[edit]
Main article:Makar Sankranti

Makara Sankranti, also known as Makara Sankrānti (Sanskrit: मकर संक्रांति) or Maghi, is a festival day in theHindu calendar, in reference to deitySurya (sun). It is observed each year in January.[42] It marks the first day of Sun's transit intoMakara (Capricorn), marking the end of the month with the winter solstice and the start of longer days.[42][43]

Iranian

[edit]
Main article:Yaldā Night

Iranian people celebrate the night of the Northern Hemisphere's winter solstice as, "Yalda night", which is known to be the "longest and darkest night of the year".Yalda night celebration, or as some call it "Shabe Chelleh" ("the 40th night"), is one of the oldest Iranian traditions that has been present in Persian culture from ancient times. In this night all the family gather together, usually at the house of the eldest, and celebrate it by eating, drinking and reciting poetry (esp. Hafez). Nuts, pomegranates and watermelons are particularly served during this festival.

Judaic

[edit]

AnAggadic legend found in tractateAvodah Zarah 8a puts forth thetalmudic hypothesis thatAdam first established the tradition of fasting before thewinter solstice, and rejoicing afterward, which festival later developed into the RomanSaturnalia andKalendae.

When theFirst Man saw that the day was continuously shortening, he said, "Woe is me! Because I have sinned, the world darkens around me, and returns to formlessless and void. This is the death to which Heaven has sentenced me!" He decided to spend eight days in fasting and prayer. When he saw the winter solstice, and he saw that the day was continuously lengthening, he said, "It is the order of the world!" He went and feasted for eight days. The following year, he feasted for both. He established them in Heaven's name, but they established them in the name of idolatry[44]

Observation

[edit]
UT date and time of
equinoxes andsolstices on Earth[1][45]
eventequinoxsolsticeequinoxsolstice
monthMarch[46]June[47]September[48]December[49]
yeardaytimedaytimedaytimedaytime
20202003:502021:432213:312110:03
20212009:372103:322219:212115:59
20222015:332109:142301:042121:48
20232021:252114:582306:502203:28
20242003:072020:512212:442109:20
20252009:012102:422218:202115:03
20262014:462108:252300:062120:50
20272020:252114:112306:022202:43
20282002:172020:022211:452108:20
20292008:012101:482217:372114:14
20302013:512107:312223:272120:09

Although the instant of the solstice can be calculated,[50] direct observation of the moment byvisual perception is elusive. The Sun moves too slowly or appears to stand still (the meaning of "solstice"). However, by use ofastronomical data tracking, the precise timing of its occurrence is now public knowledge. The precise instant of the solstice cannot be directly detected (by definition, people cannot observe that an object has stopped moving until it is later observed that it has not moved further from the preceding spot, or that it has moved in the opposite direction). To be precise to a single day, observers must be able to view a change inazimuth or elevation less than or equal to about 1/60 of the angular diameter of the Sun. Observing that it occurred within a two-day period is easier, requiring an observation precision of only about 1/16 of the angular diameter of the Sun. Thus, many observations are of the day of the solstice rather than the instant. This is often done by observing sunrise and sunset or using anastronomically aligned instrument that allows a ray of light to be cast on a certain point around that time. The earliest sunset and latest sunrise dates differ from winter solstice, however, and these depend on latitude, due to the variation in the solar day throughout the year caused by the Earth's elliptical orbit (seeearliest and latest sunrise and sunset).

Holidays celebrated on the winter solstice

[edit]

Other related festivals

[edit]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^abAstronomical Applications Department ofUSNO."Earth's Seasons - Equinoxes, Solstices, Perihelion, and Aphelion". RetrievedAugust 1, 2022.
  2. ^"Solstices and Equinoxes: 2001 to 2100".AstroPixels.com. February 20, 2018. RetrievedDecember 21, 2018.
  3. ^Équinoxe de printemps entre 1583 et 2999
  4. ^Solstice d’été de 1583 à 2999
  5. ^Équinoxe d’automne de 1583 à 2999
  6. ^Solstice d’hiver
  7. ^Shipman, James; Wilson, Jerry D.; Todd, Aaron (2007). "Section 15.5".An Introduction to Physical Science (12th ed.). Boston:Houghton Mifflin. p. 423.ISBN 978-0-618-92696-1.
  8. ^"Winter Solstice celebrations: a.k.a. Christmas, Saturnalia, Yule, the Long Night, the start of Winter, etc". Religious Tolerance.org. August 5, 2015 [December 3, 1999].
  9. ^"History of Christmas". History.com. RetrievedJanuary 2, 2017.
  10. ^Krupp, E C.Echoes of the Ancient Skies: The Astronomy of Lost Civilizations. Courier Corporation, 2012. pp. 119, 125, 195
  11. ^North, John.Stonehenge. The Free Press, 1996. p. 530
  12. ^Hadingham, Evan.Early Man and the Cosmos. University of Oklahoma Press, 1985. p. 50
  13. ^Johnson, Anthony (2008).Solving Stonehenge: The New Key to an Ancient Enigma.Thames & Hudson. pp. 252–253.ISBN 978-0500051559.
  14. ^Magli, Giulio (2021).The Oxford Handbook of Light in Archaeology. Oxford University Press. pp. 272–275.
  15. ^Plutarch.Moralia, with anEnglish translation by Frank Cole Babbitt. Harvard University Press, 1936.
  16. ^Beck, Roger (2008).A Brief History of Ancient Astrology.Wiley. p. 57.
  17. ^Bradshaw, Paul (2011).The Origins of Feasts, Fasts and Seasons. Liturgical Press. p. 23.
  18. ^Roll, Susan (1995).Toward the Origins of Christmas. Kok Pharos Publishing. p. 120.
  19. ^O'Neill, William Matthew (1976).Time and the Calendars. Manchester University Press. p. 85.
  20. ^abcdForsythe, Gary (2012).Time in Roman Religion: One Thousand Years of Religious History. Routledge. pp. 113, 123, 141.
  21. ^Forsythe, Gary (2012).Time in Roman Religion: One Thousand Years of Religious History. Routledge. pp. 123, 182.Varro places the equinoxes and solstices at the midpoints of the seasons ... His dating for the beginnings of the four seasons are as follows: February 7 for spring, May 9 for summer, August 11 for autumn, and November 10 for winter.
  22. ^Ovid,Fasti, translated by A. Wiseman and P. Wiseman. Oxford University Press, 2013, p.5
  23. ^Beck, Roger (2006).The Religion of the Mithras Cult in the Roman Empire: Mysteries of the Unconquered Sun. Oxford University Press. pp. 209–210, 254.
  24. ^abBradshaw, Paul (2020). "The Dating of Christmas". In Larsen, Timothy (ed.).The Oxford Handbook of Christmas. Oxford University Press. pp. 4–10.
  25. ^Roll, Susan (1995).Toward the Origins of Christmas. Kok Pharos Publishing. p. 107.
  26. ^Nothaft, C. P. E. (December 2012)."The Origins of the Christmas Date: Some Recent Trends in Historical Research".Church History.81 (4):903–911.doi:10.1017/S0009640712001941.ISSN 0009-6407.S2CID 145151430.
  27. ^Nothaft, C. Philipp E. (2013). "Early Christian Chronology and the Origins of the Christmas Date".Questions Liturgiques/Studies in Liturgy.94 (3).Peeters: 248.doi:10.2143/QL.94.3.3007366.Although HRT is nowadays used as the default explanation for the choice of 25 December as Christ's birthday, few advocates of this theory seem to be aware of how paltry the available evidence actually is.
  28. ^Gunnell, Terry (2005). "The Season of the Dísir: The Winter Nights and the Dísarblót in Early Scandinavian Belief".Cosmos: The Journal of the Traditional Cosmology Society.16:121–122.
  29. ^Karasawa, Kazutomo (2015).The Old English Metrical Calendar (Menologium).Boydell & Brewer. pp. 36–37.
  30. ^abParker, Eleanor (2023).Winters in the World: A Journey through the Anglo-Saxon Year. Reaktion Books. pp. 69–71.
  31. ^Nordberg, Andreas (2006).Jul, disting och förkyrklig tideräkning: Kalendrar och kalendariska riter i det förkristna Norden. Acta Academiae Regiae Gustavi Adolphi (in Swedish). Vol. 91. Kungl. Gustav Adolfs Akademien för svensk folkkultur. pp. 120–121.ISBN 91-85352-62-4.ISSN 0065-0897.
  32. ^Xhemaj, Ukë (1983). "Zjarri në besimet popullore shqiptare" [The Fire in Albanian Folk Beliefs]. In Mark Krasniqi, Ukë Xhemaj (ed.).Trashëgimia dhe tranformimi i kulturës popullore: materiala nga sesioni shkencor, mbajtur në Prishtinë më 7-8 shtator 1979.Albanological Institute of Prishtina. pp. 104–121.
  33. ^Qafleshi, Muharrem (2011).Opoja dhe Gora ndër shekuj [Opoja and Gora During Centuries].Albanological Institute of Pristina.ISBN 978-9951-596-51-0. pp. 43–71.
  34. ^Tirta, Mark (2004). Petrit Bezhani (ed.).Mitologjia ndër shqiptarë (in Albanian). Tirana: Mësonjëtorja.ISBN 99927-938-9-9. pp. 249–251.
  35. ^Poghirc, Cicerone (1987). "Albanian Religion". In Mircea Eliade (ed.).The Encyclopedia of Religion. Vol. 1. New York: MacMillan Publishing Co. pp. 178–180.
  36. ^abTirta 2004, p. 250.
  37. ^abXhemaj 1983, pp. 104–121.
  38. ^abQafleshi 2011, pp. 43–71.
  39. ^Tirta 2004, pp. 249–251.
  40. ^Tirta 2004, p. 282.
  41. ^"Goin' Japanesque!: Japanese Winter Solstice Traditions; A Day for Kabocha and Yuzuyu". Archived fromthe original on August 7, 2019. RetrievedMarch 3, 2018.
  42. ^abKamal Kumar Tumuluru (2015).Hindu Prayers, Gods and Festivals. Partridge. p. 30.ISBN 978-1-4828-4707-9.
  43. ^James G. Lochtefeld (2002).The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism: A - M. Rosen Publishing Group. p. 411.ISBN 978-0-8239-2287-1.
  44. ^"Avodah Zarah 8a:7".
  45. ^"Solstices and Equinoxes: 2001 to 2100".AstroPixels.com. February 20, 2018. RetrievedDecember 21, 2018.
  46. ^Équinoxe de printemps entre 1583 et 2999
  47. ^Solstice d’été de 1583 à 2999
  48. ^Équinoxe d’automne de 1583 à 2999
  49. ^Solstice d’hiver
  50. ^Meeus, Jean (2009).Astronomical Algorithms (2nd English Edition with corrections as of August 10, 2009 ed.). Richmond, Virginia: Willmann-Bell, Inc.ISBN 978-0-943396-61-3.

Further reading

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