Winter Solstice

December 21, 2010 winter officially begins in North America.  Snow has been on the ground for weeks and temperatures today are up to a balmy 23 degrees, tropical compared to the weekend temperatures of 8 degrees.  I always look forward to the winter solstice knowing that here in Alaska it means that the days are going to start getting a few more seconds of light each day.  Today, Juneau will have 6 hours and 22 minutes of daylight with the sun coming up at 8:46 and setting at 3:08 pm.   A lot warmer and more daylight than the northern part of the state where temperatures have been below freezing and the sun only peaks above the horizon for an hour or so, or in Barrow Alaska where the sun set in mid November and will not rise again until mid January. 

My neighbor,before relocating use to have a Winter Solstice celebration.  A great idea if you're looking for another idea to have a party this time of year.  The Winter Solstice has been celebrated in world cultures for over 1000s of years and in such places as  Stonehenge in Britain, Newgrange in Ireland even as far as Machu Picchu, Peru.  I'm all for celebrating the rebirth of the sun so I thought I'd google Winter solstice celebrations and see what sort of world wide customs there were.  Celebrations are there from Amaterasu in Japan to Zagmuk in ancient Mesopotamia.  Everything from costume parties, drying wreaths, lighting candles, decorating trees, gift giving, using the colors of red, green and white to partying for days on end and feasting.  Easy to see where our traditional December Holidays are derived from.

I like the idea of the Inti Raymi or Festival of the Sun but since I don't live in the Southern Hemisphere or have a hitching post to tie the sun to  I might have to pass on that one.  For those interested in celebrating two Winter solstices you  can visit Sacsayhuaman near Cusco on June 24 and see a theatrical representation of the Inti Raymi.

 
Beiwe Festival which is celebrated by the Saami, the indigenous people of Finland, Sweden, Norway and Russia worship Beiwe the sun goddess of fertility and sanity.  She travels through the sky in a structure made of reindeer bones to bring back greenery for the reindeer to eat.  Must be their answer to SAD.

Of course we have our Christmas celebrations which are derived from a mix of early pagan holidays from several European countries and the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ which Christianity celebrates on the Roman winter solstice.

I've read that even in Antarctica that parties are given on the Winter Solstice since it marks the 1/2 way point of duty  for those working.  Remember winter solstice occurs in June there.  So  if a winter solstice party sometime sounds like a great idea, choose a theme   and   time and go for it.  You'll have A to Z to choose from!  As for me,  I'm looking forward to those longer days of sunlight!