Yesterday was solstice–winter solstice here in the Northern Hemisphere, summer solstice in the Southern. I admit, I prefer winter solstice to summer, because it means the daylight hours will be increasing. I don’t like getting off work when it is dark. I can’t get outside to work in the yard or take a walk with the dog. And I’m getting to the age where I don’t care to drive at night if I can avoid it. So I feel shut in at times, a bit out of touch with the world of nature. But the solstice brings the promise of more sunlight, even though many months of rain–with perhaps some snow and sleet thrown in for the fun of it–still loom before warm weather will arrive.
Summer solstice, on the other hand, not only means that the daylight hours begin to wane, but also that the hottest months are still ahead. And heat limits my time outdoors almost as much as darkness. If it were up to me, I would lengthen spring and fall and shorten the cold and the heat. Of course, it’s not up to me, so I try to appreciate all the seasons. And now I sit in my quiet home, enjoying the lights on the Christmas tree, glad for the warmth of the heater and the woodstove, thinking about making Christmas cookies. I have gifts to finish making–cinnamon rolls and cream cheese braids and the calendar that my dear aunt expects each Christmas. I have some work to finish. And in just a couple days it will be Christmas, which comes with a promise that no other day can match.
So how about you? What do you think of solstice?
Sparrow Thoughts 
It’s been my custom to joke with American visitors about how silly they are to celebrate Christmas in the depths of winter. Everyone laughs. But it’s an odd sort of joke. Human culture is not natural. It is a result of choices that we make over time. Christmas only remains a winter festival because people continue to celebrate it. You can clearly see how this happens if you live in the southern hemisphere. Christmas has unravelled in different ways.
What you say about winter underpins the persistence of the winter Christmas. But I find it odd. You prefer the hope of something to the thing itself. Plus you are slightly mistaken about the shortening of days. It doesn’t happen quickly, that being to do with the non-circular nature of the earth’s orbit. Hence the expression “endless summer”. In Australia the summer holidays tend to last from Boxing Day to Australia Day, the full month. Christmas just kicks that off. And bushfire season.
Of course, it is inappropriate for me to comment on winter celebrations. We don’t really have a winter in Sydney. Last August we had a week of cold weather where I had to put on a cardigan and socks just to keep warm. I’m not sure many people from other parts of the world would count that as a winter.
C S Lewis wrote that in Narnia it was always winter and never Christmas. But isn’t that how life is normally? I could never see what he was getting at.
I don’t think I prefer the hope of a thing to the thing itself; rather, the hope keeps me going until the hoped-for thing arrives. Winters in Oregon can get discouraging at times–day after day of cold, wet, gray skies. The increasing light, even if the change is slow, lets me know spring is coming.
I think, had the Christian culture developed first in the Southern hemisphere, that we would most likely celebrate Christmas in June, because Christmas is all about that hope, about light coming to the darkness. Unfortunately for people “down under,” that tradition developed in the northern parts, so it is out of synch with your seasons. I’m sure that must be quite annoying at times. But I do appreciate hearing your point of view, as that gives me a larger view of the world.
Holy Days (holidays) come from two separate sources: nature and history. The nature is the cycles of the year, hence the solstice. The history is events, such as the birth of Jesus. When a holiday combines both of these aspects it is partcularly strong and enduring. Think Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving.
What has happened over my lifetime in the southern hemisphere is that the bundle of Christmas has come apart. Those who prefer the Dickensian (winter) Christmas actually celebrate it on 25 July. This is to have the maximum chance of snow or at least cold weather.
What is left out in this kind of celebration is Jesus. There are people who argue that we can leave behind the religious aspects of our northern hemisphere heritage because our seasons show that they are not universal. That’s the downside of tying Jesus too tightly into the natural yearly cycle.
I’m looking forward to our discussion at Easter, which is or course the last great autumn festival before winter really sets in. There are aspects to it in the south which suggest that it is the equivalent of the North American Thanksgiving.
Interesting. I had wondered if anyone celebrated Christmas in July, so you have answered that question. And according to what I have heard, there is little chance that Jesus was actually born in December–or July. I have heard spring or fall dates suggested, but have never done any thorough research into it.
I can imagine how easily Easter in the Southern Hemisphere would become tied in with a harvest festival such as Thanksgiving. That would fit better than daffodils and eggs. I look forward to learning more!
I’ve never seen Easter connected with the idea of harvest in any way. It’s just something about the shape of the holiday which is similar. Both are late autumn events, which is what generates the similarity.
But we shall see. I’ll look at Easter a lot more closely this year. Only a few more months till that Easter bilby comes hopping in.