Skip to main content

Winter Solstice Trends in America Today, Sunday December, 21st

By


winter solstice pictures winter solstice pictures winter solstice ... 

The Winter Solstice is the shortest day of the year. It occurs when the sun's daily maximum height in the sky is at its lowest, and the North Pole is tilted furthest away from the sun. This results in the least number of daylight hours and the longest night of the year.
Winter solstice, falling this year on Sunday, Dec. 21, marks the first day of winter in the Northern Hemisphere. More precisely, winter officially begins at 6:03 p.m. ET — the moment when the Northern Hemisphere is pointed at its furthest distance from the sun. This means winter solstice boasts the longest night and the shortest day, and often colder temperatures, too.

Officially the first day of winter, the winter solstice occurs when the North Pole is tilted 23.5 degrees away from the sun. This is the longest night of the year, meaning that despite the cold winter, the days get progressively longer after the winter solstice until the summer solstice in 2015.
One of the most famous celebrations of the winter solstice in the world today takes place in the ancient ruins of Stonehenge, England. Thousands of druids and pagans gather there to chant, dance and sing while waiting to see the spectacular sunrise.
In ancient Rome, the winter solstice was celebrated at the Feast of Saturnalia, to honor Saturn, the god of agricultural bounty. Lasting about a week, Saturnalia was characterized by feasting, debauchery and gift-giving. With Emperor Constantine's conversion to Christianity, many of these customs were later absorbed into Christmas celebrations.
Germanic peoples would celebrate the winter festival by honoring the pagan god Odin. Many believed he would fly through the night sky (on a magical flying horse) and determine who would be blessed or cursed in the coming year. Many decided to stay indoors, fearing Odin’s wrath.

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tips for Emerging Successful in the English Proficiency Test of the Post Graduate School, University of Ibadan

By
A Focus on the Nature of the Test English proficiency test for the University of Ibadan Postgraduate school was a recent innovation by the Board of the PG School at ensuring quality of the students admitted to the school for postgraduate studies. They stated that they have noticed an unprecedented poor use of English among students of the University of Ibadan; that if such was the case with the students of the prided University of Ibadan, how much more students from other universities that belonged to the lower rung of ranking in academic excellence. They posited that English language was the language of instructions and as such, a test for proficiency for prospective students is to say the least, imperative. The test is a one hour exercise in which you are required to answer 100 questions. To be on a very safe side and finish before the time allowed elapses, you are therefore required to answer each question within 30 seconds. I bet this is challenging; so brace up against it i...
114 comments
Read more

Postgraduate (MSc) Programme of the University of Ibadan - Basic Information

By
Becoming a postgraduate student (MSc level) in the University of Ibadan is not difficult if you are a hardworking student. There are few things that you need to know. You are therefore in the right place in your search for information on this. This simple piece, will tell you some of the basic processes involved in it; how to emerge successful in admission and how to avoid falling victim of fraud by the bad eggs. Rough budget for the programme from the standpoint of my department, the department of political science will also be discussed. Basic Processes Involved
36 comments
Read more

LIMITATIONS OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS: A FOCUS ON THE UNITED NATIONS ORGANIZATIONS

By
Introduction International relations which was generally seen as relations among nations and entities in the international arena begets international organizations. An international organization is a union of actors in the international arena, formed to perform specified functions and/or solve identified problems for the members and/or non members. The concept of an international organization can also be seen on the one hand as a logical progression in the evolution of political entities from the basic family or tribal grouping of pre- and early historic times to the feudal arrangements of early Europe which emerged following Peace of Westaphalia in 1648 (Imber 1984). A second perspective on international organization is that as being something antithetical to the state in effect an external entity which may subsume or destroy the state. This latter view is held by many chauvinists and protectionists who find the economic, political and cultural mongrelization which they claim...
15 comments
Read more