Thursday, 20. December 2007
Winter Solstice arrives Friday
Happy Winter Solstice To You!

Lisa Thiel - Winter Solstice Song:



Chorus:
Enter the night and you’ll find the light,
That will carry you to your dreams.
Enter the night, let your spirit take flight,
In the field of infinite possibilities

On the longest night we search for the light,
And we find it deep within.
Open your eyes to embrace what is wise,
And see the light of your own soul shining.

(Chorus)
Wrap up in the cloak of starry darkness my child, And you’ll find the center of all things.
For from this space of the deepest dark place,
Life Eternal does spring.

(Chorus)
So when you find that spark
When you dream in the dark,
Hold it close to your heart and know.
All that you see is all that can be
When you give birth to the dreams of your soul.



And here are some interesting stories:


Tis the season for holidays other than Christmas and Hanukkah by Daily Titan.
Throughout America, Britain, African and all over the world people celebrate different holiday's with different meanings and different traditions, so many in fact that a lot of people don't even know that some exist. These celebrations cover a wide spectrum of wholesome ideas: from going to midnight mass, opening those presents first thing in the morning or lighting the menorah at grandmother's house. Though religions such as Christianity and Judaism do play a significant role this time of year, it does not dampen the spirit of other holidays: Yule, Eid al-Ahda, Boxing Day and Kwanzaa are all celebrated by devoted communities all around the globe.

The Winter Solstice: The Backbone of World Religious Celebrations by American Chronicle.
Many today still call the celebration of the Winter Solstice a pagan ritual full of sex, and while a bit of that is true, they don’t realize that the ritual that is Christmas is in itself drawn largely from the ancient ritual that celebrated the earth’s tilting on its axis, where the daytime hours are weaned to a minimum and the night is longer in the northern hemisphere {in the southern hemisphere it’s the opposite}. In 2007, the Winter Solstice takes place on December 22 at 6:09.

Marvel at winter solstice sunrise in Newgrange by The Telegraph.
If you are lucky enough to be one of the 50 people, plus partners, whose names were pulled out of a hat (or rather, a scale model of Newgrange) by local children in September, you will be in the tomb one morning next week, between Tuesday and Sunday, waiting nervously for the winter solstice sunrise. If it's fine, the sun will clear Red Mountain at precisely 8.58am on each of these days, pour through a rectangular slot above the tomb entrance and hit the floor at the back of the chamber. Then, as the sun rises, the beam will slide back down the passage towards the entrance. By 9.04am the chamber will be dark again.

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Age-old carvings guard the tomb entrance at Newgrange


Winter Solstice & the Cancer Full Moon 2007 by OpEdNews.
How did you grow and what have you learned since last Summer Solstice (when the Sun is in Cancer), which was also around the time of the last Neptune/Saturn opposition and Venus Retrograde? What did you learn about your values this year? What about our collective dreams – have we made any progress toward creating a more just world? Do you believe in yourself and your life’s purpose? Can you speak your truth? More importantly, are you living your truth? Do you realize that Winter Solstice is a time of Grace? Of freely being given the gift of Life again.

Where to celebrate the world's oldest holiday by The Independent.
What would the Stone- Age farmers who built Newgrange make of the giant television screens and webcams that will be installed there for the first time this Friday to bring the remarkable spectacle of the winter solstice to a wider audience? In the same way the ancient Egyptians must have turned in their pyramids at the sight of King Tutankhamun's leathery mummy being unravelled last month for all the world to see, they would probably find the whole affair rather unsavoury. But anyone who has witnessed the burial chamber at Ireland's most ancient treasure fill up with golden sunlight on December 21 will know there are few sights more beautiful and mysterious in the world.

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Baltray standing stone sunrise


The Reason for the Season by Emerald Coast.
It seems that no one can agree on what to call the period of time between the middle of December to just after the first of the year. People from many different races, faiths and creeds celebrate this season. It isn’t simply a time for Christmas trees and presents, or menorahs and dreidels, or even “first fruit” feasts, but all that and more. It is truly a holiday season, a season everyone celebrates in his or her own way. So, focus on your own reason for celebrating, and not just the celebration’s name. Here is a wish for a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and Happy Kwanzaa to everyone. The following is a bit of trivia and a very brief history of the three major celebrations this month.

Druids mark winter solstice, return of longer days by Mail Tribune.
For the valley's several dozen Druids, the big event of the holiday season comes when winter solstice arrives Friday and they gather in circles to honor the return of lighter and longer days, then feast together. That's what's important to Druids — nature and honoring markers like the shortest day of the year that promises a return to spring and warmth. And, although almost all written accounts of the ancient Druids have been lost, modern followers in three local groups (called "groves"), will gather to thank and celebrate the sun and all living things, then have songs and a potluck dinner.

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Local Druids demonstrate a ceremony in Ashland honoring the upcoming winter solstice




UPDATE: January 5, 2008

I'll admit, it is a little bit late, but better late than never - and nice to see to see!

Tyrrhenian Sea and Solstice Sky, found at Astronomy Picture of the Day:

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Click the picture for a larger view
Category: News & Stories Category: Time & Calendar




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