Today Is The Winter Solstice: What Is It? And Why Does It Matter?
Today is the shortest day of the year, which means that the winter solstice is finally upon us.
The winter solstice is an astronomical term referring to the two moments during the year when either of Earth’s poles reaches their maximum tilt away from the sun.
Today’s solstice occurs because the sun is farthest south in the Northern Hemisphere, meaning that it traveled the shortest path through the sky. Consequently, today we’ll have the least daylight and the longest night.
The winter solstice happens when the North Pole has tilted around 23.4° away from the sun. And although the solstice itself only lasts a moment, the whole day is celebrated as the beginning of winter which is followed by progressively longer days.
In Malta, the solstice causes the Mnajdra temples to line up with the sunrise because they were built in a specific way to ensure that this happens during both the winter and summer solstice.
Since prehistory, the winter solstice has been a significant time of year in numerous cultures – it symbolises death and rebirth which is celebrated through numerous festivals and rituals.
In fact, old solstice traditions have influenced current beloved holidays like Christmas and Hannukah.
Other, and more direct, celebrations of this day occur in northern Arizona by the Hopi Indians, Persia, and Scandinavia.
The other yearly solstice occurs on June 20th or 21st when the sun is in the Southern Hemisphere.
What will you be doing to celebrate today’s winter solstice?
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