365 Days of Fun and Chillaxation – Blog#67 – Heading into the Heart of Winter Solstice
Oh oh! How exciting! In this very moment, as the darkness settles in here in Aotearoa we are heading into the longest night of the year. Winter Solstice is upon us aka ‘mid-winter’. Some call it the beginning of winter, but no, we’re actually officially half-way through. Although some times it feels as if the season needs a little time to catch onto the fact that it’s supposed to start warming up. So Winter Solstice officially hits us at 11.28 tonight. This is wikipedia‘s lowdown on Winter Solstice:
” The Winter Solstice occurs exactly when the Earth’s axial tilt is farthest away from the sun at its maximum of 23° 26′. Though the Winter Solstice lasts only an instant in time, the term is also colloquially used as Midwinter or contrastingly the first day of winter to refer to the day on which it occurs. More evident to those in high latitudes, this occurs on the shortest day, and longest night, and the sun‘s daily maximum position in the sky is the lowest.[1] The seasonal significance of the Winter Solstice is in the reversal of the gradual lengthening of nights and shortening of days. Depending on the shift of the calendar, the Winter Solstice occurs on December 21 or 22 each year in the Northern Hemisphere, and June 20 or 21 in the Southern Hemisphere.[2]
Worldwide, interpretation of the event has varied from culture to culture, but most cultures have held a recognition of rebirth, involving
holidays, festivals, gatherings, rituals or other celebrations around that time.”
So if you’ve been feeling like staying in and taking it easy around this time of the year, you’re not alone. I say go for it. Chillax. Right now all around you, nature’s hard at work doing nothing. Everythings dead, a sleep, or it’s gone underground. World-wide this moment in the year has traditionally been the time to rest and take it easy. It’s the time to let the dust settle so to speak while we gather our energy for the days ahead as they lengthen into Spring and then Summer. Over in the Northern Hemispere right now it’s Summer Solstice and at Christmas time (which is their mid-winter) they traditionally feast on winter’s harvest. So I’m feasting tonight (in a humble version of Christmas), soup, garlic bread, baked yams and kumara and a salad. And I’m thinking of my friend – Lolly – who is about to go into labour, and of the people over at the Sandcastle who are gathering to share their Winter Solstice evening together and of all the other people in the Southern Hemisphere who are celebrating winter solstice. May you rest.
Today’s rating 9/10
365 Days of Fun and Chillaxation (as I raise my gorgeous son and grow my good news website to a subscription base of 100,000 people). The Low Down on this Blog.
Check out yesterday’s blog.
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