Happy Winter Solstice

"Happy"

Thus begins the suns northward journey in the sky once more - the birth of the Son. The closing of one epoch (Bush) and the dawning of another (Obama). Today is the shortest day of the year; the longest night of the year; the returning of the light; the first day of winter (and half the country is already buried under tons of snow and ice, and has been for days now).

Learn all about the solstice here. It's too damn cold to go out dancing in the woods this year!

Here's a Happy Winter Solstice from a conspiracy theorist:

Forget December 25th. 12 noon on Saturday, 21st December marks the moment when the New Year begins, in the sense that for those of us living in the northern hemisphere it begins a process when our part of the Earth begins moving closer to the Sun and the hours of daylight gradually and continually increase.

This begins the seasonal process of Spring and Summer in succession, before going back to the Autumn and Winter periods again.

So what is Xmas about? It is largely an invention of Charles Dickens and the Coca Cola Company. Following Oliver Cromwell’s outlawing of Xmas, December 25th was just another working day – unless it fell on a Sunday. When Dickens’ A Christmas Carol was published, December 25th was just another working day.

Dickens book, together with general social change movements, brought about a desire for one day in the year which could be special for families.

Coca Cola invented the character we now know as the fat, jolly, red-coated Father Christmas in order to boost sales of their product during the colder winter months.

I will be spending December 21st thinking about my friends and family members. December 25th will be – for me – just another working day at home.

Also here.