Winter Solstice

I have friends for whom this time of year is not necessarily the most joyful. The syndrome Seasonal Affective Disorder "SAD" is now recognised in orthodox medicine and is likely to exacerbate considerably the symptoms of Clinical Depression.

It is therefore easy to imagine that in days of yore our hunting-gathering ancestors might have been terrified that the inexorably disappearing sunshine through the Autumn months would prove calamitous, never to return. Little wonder then that the moment that the sun reached its furthest point, during the longest night, thereby heralding another Spring after all, was cause for joyous celebration.

It was a time to lighten the darkest nights with candles and flames; to dip into the hidden stores of ale and cider; to sacrifice a fowl or two; to cook the richest of puddings and cakes; to make merry with dancing and seasonal song; to revere the holly and the ivy, the mistletoe, the yew tree and the pine, whose ever-greenery may have brought some comfort in the frosty morns; to exchange gifts and warm greetings; and of course to swear oaths of fertility to their loins, their sweethearts and their fields.

The exact time of the Winter Solstice is variable, but this year the point at which the sun is furthest is about 10.00pm on Thursday 21st December. The night of 21-22 December is therefore the longest. I shall commence my Solstice celebrations and rituals about now, you may follow them here, on my blog.

Of course, for a day or two on either side of the Solstice itself, the difference in day length is measurable only chronometrically. But a few days afterwards, typically about 25th December, the increment in the Sun's trajectory through the noontide sky becomes perceptible. That is when I shall indulge in the focus of my Solstice Celebrations. I shall joyfully embrace any fellow men and women who, for whatever reason, are also celebrating on that day.

Of course we must not wallow in "Northern Hemisphere Chauvinism" (thanks to Richard Dawkins for that term) and should have in mind our fellow bloggers Simon, Kiwi Nomad and Ju's Little Sister abiding "Down Under" and for whom this time signifies sunshine and the reaping of harvests.