Officially the first day of winter, the winter solstice occurs when the North Pole is tilted 23.5 degrees away from the sun.
This year, the event occurs today, on Thursday 21 December 2017.
It is the shortest day of the year, meaning the days will get progressively longer and lighter as we approach the summer solstice in 2018.
During the winter solstice, the sun is closer to the horizon than any other time of the year.
Winter solstice is celebrated by many as the beginning of the return of the sun, darkness turning into light, birth and rebirth.
- Longest night of the year was Wednesday 20 December, with the sun not rising until 8.04am on Thursday.
- Daylight on Thursday 21 December will last 7 hours, 49 minutes and 41 seconds – 8 hours and 49 minutes shorter than the summer solstice.
- The solstice officially occurs on Thursday 21 December at 4.28pm.
Its celebratory tradition can be spanned back thousands of years.
Until the 16th century, the winter months were a time of famine in northern Europe. Most cattle were slaughtered so that they wouldn’t have to be fed during the winter, making the solstice a time when fresh meat was plentiful.
Most celebrations of the winter solstice in Europe involved merriment and feasting. In pre-Christian Scandinavia, the Feast of Juul, or Yule, lasted for 12 days celebrating the rebirth of the sun god and giving rise to the custom of burning a Yule log.
In ancient Rome, the winter solstice was celebrated at the Feast of Saturnalia, to honour Saturn, the god of agricultural bounty. Lasting about a week, Saturnalia was characterised by feasting, debauchery and gift-giving. With Emperor Constantine’s conversion to Christianity, many of these customs were later absorbed into Christmas celebrations.
One of the most famous celebrations of the winter solstice in the world today takes place in the ancient ruins of Stonehenge. Thousands of druids and pagans gather there to chant, dance and sing while waiting to see the spectacular sunrise.
Pagan author T. Thorn Coyle wrote in a 2012 HuffPost article that for many contemporary celebrants, solstices “are a chance to still ourselves inside, to behold the glory of the cosmos, and to take a breath with the Sacred.”
In the Northern hemisphere, friends gather to celebrate the longest night. We may light candles, or dance around bonfires. We may share festive meals, or sing, or pray. Some of us tell stories and keep vigil as a way of making certain that the sun will rise again. Something in us needs to know that at the end of the longest night, there will be light.
In connecting with the natural world in a way that honors the sacred immanent in all things, we establish a resonance with the seasons. Ritual helps to shift our consciousness to reflect the outer world inside our inner landscape: the sun stands still within us, and time changes. After the longest night, we sing up the dawn. There is a rejoicing that, even in the darkest time, the sun is not vanquished. Sol Invictus ― the Unconquered Sun ― is seen once again, staining the horizon with the promise of hope and brilliance.