Our BetterMost Community > The Holiday Forum
Celebrating the Winter Solstice
brianr:
Actually last June 21 I was in New York , having had dinner with Chuck and Cindy the night before :)
So I have had 2 summer solstices this year.
Next June 21 I should be in Dunedin but I will be in Vienna until June 9.
Sorry to gloat ;D
Jeff Wrangler:
--- Quote from: Front-Ranger on December 15, 2014, 05:08:48 pm ---I probably asked this before, but do you think of the solstice as marking the beginning of winter, or midwinter?
--- End quote ---
Tell you what, when I googled "midwinter day," what came up at the top of the list was the Wikipedia article on the winter solstice.
I thought I remembered reading that Imbolc was more or less halfway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox--which strikes me as more "midwinter"--and apparently in this instance my memory was correct:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imbolc
But then this article also describes Imbolc as a festival celebrating the beginning of spring (!), so go figure. ???
CellarDweller:
Solstice is coming up soon!
CellarDweller:
Saturnalia was an ancient Roman festival in honor of the deity Saturn, held on the 17th of December of the Julian calendar and later expanded with festivities through to the 23rd of December. The holiday was celebrated with a sacrifice at the Temple of Saturn, in the Roman Forum, and a public banquet, followed by private gift-giving, continual partying, and a carnival atmosphere that overturned Roman social norms: gambling was permitted, and masters provided table service for their slaves. The poet Catullus called it "the best of days."
In Roman mythology, Saturn was an agricultural deity who was said to have reigned over the world in the Golden Age, when humans enjoyed the spontaneous bounty of the earth without labor in a state of social egalitarianism. The revelries of Saturnalia were supposed to reflect the conditions of the lost mythical age, not all of them desirable.
Front-Ranger:
Happy Solstice! There was a thin hopeful light when I arose at 7 am this morning! And I'm looking forward to the rich dark night to celebrate the Solstice with a roaring fire...in the fireplace of my new home!
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