Credit for coining the catchy name 'Longerdays' for Winter Solstice goes
to our very own Serious Crayons!
Happy Longerdays, everyone!
Happy Longerdays to you all!
In regard to the question of why celebrate on the shortest (i.e., most depressing) day of the year, I think it's a combination of what Penth and others have said: It's expressing happiness about the days getting longer (both in ancient times and now), even though much of the cold has yet to come. And it's also a sort of "screw you, winter" -- people gather inside, by the fire, with lots of reassuring lights and food, exchanging gifts. I don't know if the gift tradition dates back to the Celts, but all the lights and Yule log and tree symbology suggest a defiant but affectionate atmosphere of light and warmth. They were celebrating not the bleakness and fear of the outdoors in winter, but their own ability to transcend it.
Nature must have held a terrifying power back then, when a bad hail storm in August might literally mean starvation in January. My biggest fears are things like getting my car stuck or being uncomfortable walking from door to parking lot. Is it any wonder humans hoped for/created/found deities who would help them, or that there are more doubters now? Every year, I wish fervently that the earth would decide not to turn on its axis, yet it always happens. But know for certain it will turn back to warmth -- did they? Sure, they'd studied the patterns of seasons, obviously, but without a larger concept of the solar system and the earth's place in it, mightn't they suspect there was room for capriciousness?
Yes, yes and yes. My overseas-twin.