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Solstice day
Dec. 21st, 2005 02:53 pmAbout 20 minutes drive up I-5 from my home, you’ll find a sign marking the 45th parrallel. At this point, it states, you are halfway between the Equater and the North Pole. Since I grew up in Salem, OR, the city in which this sign is situated, I have always associated the sign with Christmas. North Pole = Santa Claus, right? It’s there all year, but it takes on special significance this time of year.
Special indeed. Today marks the Winter Solstice. The shortest day of the year. The time when the Earth, from the persective of the Northern Hemisphere, is tilted at its most extreme away from the sun. It means that we get about 8 hours of sun today at the most. We won’t actually see the sun at all – it started out foggy and now it’s raining. That’s not going to clear up in the near future.
Solstice is significant for many of us because it marks Yule, an ancient celebration. Yule in general is a time for family and friends to come together to feel each other’s warmth and love. It is a passing of light, one to another. I like to think that when people speak of passing the Spirit of Christmas to each other, they are speaking of the Yuletide tradition of passing the light. It is an honor to spend the night tending a yule log, making sure the light does not go out. The act is symbolic of keeping the light in our hearts for the entire year, that the love and compassion we have for our family and friends may not die, but flourish year round.
Happy Solstice!
Special indeed. Today marks the Winter Solstice. The shortest day of the year. The time when the Earth, from the persective of the Northern Hemisphere, is tilted at its most extreme away from the sun. It means that we get about 8 hours of sun today at the most. We won’t actually see the sun at all – it started out foggy and now it’s raining. That’s not going to clear up in the near future.
Solstice is significant for many of us because it marks Yule, an ancient celebration. Yule in general is a time for family and friends to come together to feel each other’s warmth and love. It is a passing of light, one to another. I like to think that when people speak of passing the Spirit of Christmas to each other, they are speaking of the Yuletide tradition of passing the light. It is an honor to spend the night tending a yule log, making sure the light does not go out. The act is symbolic of keeping the light in our hearts for the entire year, that the love and compassion we have for our family and friends may not die, but flourish year round.
Happy Solstice!
