{"id":32364,"date":"2022-12-23T02:37:00","date_gmt":"2022-12-23T02:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=32364"},"modified":"2022-12-26T17:31:02","modified_gmt":"2022-12-26T17:31:02","slug":"why-winter-solstice-matters-around-the-world-4-essential-reads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/why-winter-solstice-matters-around-the-world-4-essential-reads\/","title":{"rendered":"Why winter solstice matters around the world: 4 essential\u00a0reads"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Molly Jackson<\/a>, The Conversation<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019ve already spend hours shoveling snow this year, you may be dismayed to realize that technically, it\u2019s not yet winter. According to the astronomical definition, the season will officially begin in the Northern Hemisphere on Dec. 21, 2022<\/a>: the shortest day of the year, known as the winter solstice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The weeks leading up to the winter solstice can feel long as days grow shorter and temperatures drop. But it\u2019s also traditionally been a time of renewal and celebration \u2013 little wonder that so many cultures mark major holidays just around this time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here at The Conversation, we\u2019ve rounded up four of our favorite stories on the solstice: from what it really is to how it\u2019s been commemorated around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Journey of the Sun<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

First things first: What is the winter solstice?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For starters, it\u2019s not the day with the latest sunrise or the earliest sunset. Rather, it\u2019s when \u201cthe Sun appears the lowest in the Northern Hemisphere sky and is at its farthest southern point over Earth,\u201d wrote William Teets<\/a>, an astronomer<\/a> at Vanderbilt University. \u201cAfter that, the Sun will start to creep back north again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Southern Hemisphere, meanwhile, Dec. 21, 2022 marks the summer solstice. Its winter solstice will arrive June 21, 2023, the same day the Northern Hemisphere celebrates its summer solstice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBelieve it or not,\u201d Teets added, \u201cwe are closest to the Sun in January\u201d: a reminder that seasons come from the Earth\u2019s axial tilt at any given time, not from its distance from our solar system\u2019s star.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

2. Ancient astronomy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Many Americans picturing winter solstice celebrations may immediately think of Stonehenge, but cultures have honored the solstice much closer to home. Many Native American communities have long held solstice ceremonies, explained University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign scholar Rosalyn LaPier, an Indigenous writer, ethnobotanist and environmental historian<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor decades, scholars have studied the astronomical observations that ancient indigenous people made and sought to understand their meaning,\u201d LaPier wrote<\/a>. Some societies in North America expressed this knowledge through constructions at special sites, such as Cahokia in Illinois \u2013 temple pyramids and mounds, similar to those the Aztecs built, which align with the Sun on solstice days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAlthough some winter solstice traditions have changed over time, they are still a reminder of indigenous peoples\u2019 understanding of the intricate workings of the solar system,\u201d she wrote, and their \u201cancient understanding of the interconnectedness of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Dazzling light<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Rub\u00e9n Mendoza, an archaeologist<\/a> at California State University, Monterey Bay, made an accidental discovery years ago at a mission church. In this worship space and many others that Catholic missionaries built during the Spanish colonial period, the winter solstice \u201ctriggers an extraordinary rare and fascinating event,\u201d he explained<\/a>: \u201ca sunbeam enters each of these churches and bathes an important religious object, altar, crucifix or saint\u2019s statue in brilliant light.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Winter solstice illumination of the main altar tabernacle of the Spanish Royal Presidio Chapel, Santa Barbara, Calif. Rub\u00e9n G. Mendoza, CC BY-ND<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

These missions were built to convert Native Americans to Catholicism \u2013 people whose cultures had already, for thousands of years, celebrated the solstice Sun\u2019s seeming victory over darkness. Yet the missions incorporated those traditions in a new way, channeling the Sun\u2019s symbolism into a Christian message.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese events offer us insights into archaeology, cosmology and Spanish colonial history,\u201d Mendoza wrote. \u201cAs our own December holidays approach, they demonstrate the power of our instincts to guide us through the darkness toward the light.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Victory over darkness<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Our next story goes halfway around the world, describing the Persian solstice festival of Yalda. But it\u2019s also an American story. Growing up in Minneapolis, anthropologist Pardis Mahdavi<\/a> explained, she felt a bit left out as neighbors celebrated Hanukkah and Christmas. That\u2019s when her grandmother introduced her to their family\u2019s Yalda traditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Millions of people around the world celebrate Yalda, which marks the sunrise after the longest night of the year. \u201cAncient Persians believed that evil forces were strongest on the longest and darkest night of the year,\u201d wrote Mahdavi<\/a>, who is now provost at the University of Montana. Families stayed up throughout the night, snacking and telling stories, then celebrating \u201cas the light spilled through the sky in the moment of dawn.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Yalda celebrates the sunrise after the longest night of the year. Jasmin Merdan\/Moment via Getty Images<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Editor\u2019s note: This story is a roundup of articles from The Conversation\u2019s archives. The article has been updated to include the date of the summer and winter solstices in the Southern Hemisphere.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Molly Jackson<\/a>, Religion and Ethics Editor, The Conversation<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Molly Jackson, The Conversation If you\u2019ve already spend hours shoveling snow this year, you may be dismayed to realize that technically, it\u2019s not yet winter. According to the astronomical definition, the season will officially begin in the Northern Hemisphere on Dec. 21, 2022: the shortest day of the year, known as the winter solstice. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":32365,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2450,3410],"tags":[218,1829,2275,388,12673,6610,424,4687,6561,5616,11995,423,9149],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32364"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32364"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32364\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32395,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32364\/revisions\/32395"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}