![]() ![]() Saturnalia continued into the third and fourth centuries AD. Slaves were given temporary freedoms, and moral restrictions were eased. The people enjoyed carnival-like festivities resembling modern Mardi Gras celebrations and even delayed their war-making. It honored Saturn, the Roman god of agriculture. In Ancient Rome, Saturnalia lasted for seven days. Newgrange, a prehistoric monument built in Ireland around 3200 BC, is associated with the Alban Arthan festival. ![]() Part of Druidic traditions, the winter solstice is considered a time of death and rebirth. It might be the oldest seasonal festival of humankind. In the Welsh language, “Alban Arthan” means for “Light of Winter,” according to the Farmers’ Almanac. As the planet moves around the sun, each hemisphere experiences winter when it’s tilted away from the sun and summer when it’s tilted toward the sun. What causes the winter solstice to even happen?īecause Earth is tilted on its rotational axis, we have changing seasons. It sits inside the Arctic Circle and won’t see a single ray of sunshine. ![]() But that’s downright generous compared with Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. Residents of Nome, Alaska, will be even more sunlight deprived with just three hours and 54 minutes and 31 seconds of very weak daylight. and set at 3:12 p.m., resulting in less than six hours of anemic daylight. The difference is more stark in frigid Oslo, Norway, where the sun will rise at 9:18 a.m. Much higher in latitude, Paris still logs in a respectable eight hours and 14 minutes of daylight to enjoy a chilly stroll along the Seine. The illuminated Pont Alexandre III spans the Seine, adding to the magic of Paris in winter. There, the December solstice marks the longest day of the year – and the beginning of summer – in places such as Argentina, Madagascar, New Zealand and South Africa. The situation is the reverse in the Southern Hemisphere, where only about 10% of the world’s population lives. The winter solstice marks the shortest day of the year and the longest night in the Northern Hemisphere, when the sun appears at its most southerly position, directly overhead at the Tropic of Capricorn. The science and timing behind a winter solstice Then we’ll explore some ancient traditions and celebrations around the world. How this all works has fascinated people for thousands of years.įirst we’ll look at the science and precise timing behind the solstice. Winter solstice 2022, the shortest day of year and the official first day of winter, is on Wednesday, December 21 (well, for a decent chunk of the world anyway). For the past six months, the days have grown shorter and the nights have grown longer in the Northern Hemisphere. ![]()
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