Solstice: The sun stands still

By Kathy Hatfield
Correspondent

Colorado weather can be so mild in December that it's hard to tell if winter really is coming. But leaves changing color, elk bugling in the mountains and birds flying south are all signs that cold weather is on the way. One sure-fire way to tell winter is coming to the Northern Hemisphere is that there are fewer hours of daylight.

The reason for the seasons is based on the earth's position in space relative to the sun. As it travels around the sun, the earth rotates on its axis, tilted 23.5 degrees, always pointing roughly in the direction of the North Star. During our winter months, the Southern Hemisphere is more exposed to the sun than is the Northern Hemisphere.

On the first day of winter, the North Pole is tipped further from the sun than on any other day of the year and daylight hours are minimum. This is called the winter solstice. The word solstice comes from Latin and roughly translated means "the sun stands still." The sun's position at noon does not seem to change from day to day. The exact date may vary slightly from year to year because of leap years, but this year winter officially starts on Dec. 21. On this day, the sun never rises at the North Pole and it is the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. After this date, the daylight hours will gradually increase again. The earth's atmosphere acts as a blanket, retaining some of the earth's heat for a while, so that the coldest days of the year are about two months later than the date of the winter solstice.

In ancient times, the coming of winter was a difficult time. The growing season had ended and people were forced to live off stored food or whatever animals could be hunted. As the days became shorter, people feared they would be left permanently in cold darkness.

In Scandinavia, where the winters are especially long and dark, people encouraged the sun to return by building bonfires. They thought this would scare away evil spirits and give them the extra light and warmth they needed until the sun returned. As they began to recognize that the days were lengthening, many cultures planned festivals of light to celebrate the "return" of the sun. The practice of burning a Yule log, which comes from the Scandinavian winter festival called Juul, was said to help the sun shine more brightly.

One of the earliest festivals was called Saturnalia, after Saturn, the Roman god of the harvest, whose reign was referred to as the Golden Age. This generally fell somewhere during the third to fourth week of December, and was a time of unrestrained merrymaking, marked by the exchange of gifts and a break from work.

Many other cultures celebrated around the 25th of December, so that numerous symbols and practices we associate with Christmas are actually of pagan origin. Mistletoe, decorated Christmas trees, the Yule log and gift giving were all initially part of non-Christian festivities. This is the reason that Christmas celebrations were banned in England in the middle of the 17th century, and the Pilgrims brought this attitude with them when they came to the New World.

The most persistent Yule tradition is the Christmas tree. During pre-Christian times, the tree was thought to be sacred. The Romans decorated a sacred pine on the eve of a holy day. Using fruits, nuts, berries and flowers was a plea for spring and a prayer for survival through the bitter, cold winter. Ancient Greeks, Celts and Germans thought of evergreens as sacred because they remained green during the winter while everything around them turned brown and died. Evergreen trees appeared to have special powers that symbolized renewed life. In fact, the German word for Christmas tree, tannenbaum, means "sacred tree."

The winter solstice is a time full of traditions, and represents the cycle of the heavens that has been witnessed by humans for thousands of years, and venerated in many cultures. No matter how it's celebrated, it is a time to reflect on the old and anticipate the new.