The Ancient Wonder of Winter Solstice
- Emily
- Dec 20, 2022
- 3 min read
The sun rises tomorrow on Winter Solstice, Wednesday 21.12.22, we celebrate and welcome with open arms all that it brings...
What is Winter Solstice?
Winter solstice marks the shortest day and the longest night of the year.
This is when the world is tilted furthest from the sun. It happens twice a year, once in each hemisphere.
After the winter solstice, days will start to become longer until the summer solstice, the longest day of the year.
WS Astronomically marks the beginning of lengthening days and shortening nights and sparks winter festivities around the globe.
People regard WS as mystical and mark its attachment as an ode to winter and rebirth.
Ancient sites said to celebrate WS:
Theories delve into the alignment of the lines with WS, with suggestions that they could have been used as an astronomical calendar.
-A vast circular structure, that is about 5000 years old. Making it older than Stonehenge and the pyramids. Newgrange aligns with the WS.
People of this period are said to have worshiped this time to give thanks for accrediting the seasons to their survival, from farming and inspiring religious beliefs.
A renowned ancient site synonymous with WS.
‘On June 21, the winter solstice in the southern hemispheres a beam of light shines through a window on a temple celebrating the sun god, forming a rectangular shape on a slab of granite.’ - B.I.*
Built more than 4,000 years ago. Many visit the temple to see the sun rise in alignment with the structure.
An ancient tomb in Qubbet el-Hawa, Egypt, (revealed this year)
‘Light filters into tomb, seen above and his the back on the day of the winter solstice. When it was built in around 1830 BC, a statue of the local governor would have been placed in the alcove.’ - B.I.
The settlement appears to be in alignment with the WS and may indicate how the people of its time would have been informed as to when to prepare for the coming winter months.
The Hovenweep castle was an ancestral Puebloan settlement, inhabited until the early 14th century.
‘It is thought that the openings on the face of the castle would line up with the equinox and winter-and-summer-solstice sun to allow Puebloans to trace a calendar as the light shone on the wall.’
Home to the Puebloan people until 1540, they relied on the markings of the sun to indicate when agriculturally was the best time to harvest.
Sun likes appearing on the rocks would be clear indicators of the seasons.
‘These prehistoric monumental buildings were built between 4,000 BC and 3,000 BC. One of these temples, called Mnajdra, is suspiciously aligned with the winter and summer solstice. However, scientists are still debating whether this was by design.’
Built for solstices, 5,000 years ago, (Neolithic period about 2500 BC), the iconic stones align with the sun on these special days of the year.
People travel from far and wide to reach Stonehenge on England's Salisbury Plain.
"Stonehenge was built to align with the sun on the solstices," Wexler, Stonehenge expert, told Insider.
"The winter solstice had particular resonance, a crucial time when the sun's return hung in the balance. Ideas of rebirth were intertwined with the celebrations just as they are with our own mid-winter celebrations," she said.
As both ‘henges’ align, dancing and feasts were part of the celebratory rituals on WS at that time. Festivities would begin at Woodhenge and then see people travel over to Stonehenge for sunset.
*Synopsis Inspired by B.I.
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