Solstice

Today is the Winter Solstice, the longest night and shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere.  It has been celebrated across the globe for thousands of years as a tribute to the returning sun as the days start to get longer.  This celebration of light and rebirth predates Christianity and has influenced much of what we celebrate today as Christmas.  In Scandinavia the Norse god Thor was honoured at the winter solstice celebration, The Feast of Juul/Jul (Yule) which means wheel, maybe in reference to the cyclical nature of dark and light.  I’ll drop a few links at the bottom of the post if you wish to read more.

Today was actually a rather pleasant day here, early morning rain gave way to winter sunshine and relatively warm temperatures (for December), certainly not the type of day that would spring to mind for mid December.


Solstice

solstice heralds spring
from long winter days
and new life is born
with the changing seasons

copyright © 2019 Karen Horsley

https://www.circlesanctuary.org/index.php/celebrating-the-seasons/celebrating-winter-solstice

https://www.goddessandgreenman.co.uk/yule

https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/december-solstice-customs.html