Winter Solstice occurs around December 21 or 22 each year and is characterized as the shortest day of year due to the twenty-three and one half degree tilt of the earth in the sky in its annual revolution around the sun. Winter Solstice means the ’sun standing still.’ Solstice is really just a moment in passing, and is rich with intention and meaning. What a beautiful time of the year to stop, reflect and celebrate!

I am fascinated with the apparent position of the sun in the sky from various locations on earth. If you are on the equator at Winter Solstice you would see the sun rise in the east, travel in an arc overhead across the sky and be sixty-seven and one half degrees from the horizon at noon and then set in the west. At the other extreme, at the north pole the sun would not be visible and travel for twenty-four hours in a circle twenty-three and one half degrees below the horizon. Definitely a dark night. On the arctic circle, the sun would rise in the east reach twenty-three and one half degrees at noon in the south sky, then at sunset would reach the west horizon and continue its path and dip twenty-three and one half degrees below the horizon in the north at midnight. How high is twenty-three degrees? The moon in the sky is one-half degree so it would be forty-six diameters of the moon. Another way of looking at it is one-quarter between the horizon and straight overhead. Not very high. It is easy to figure your latitude at noon on Winter Solstice. Just measure the highest the sun rises in the south (usually around noon). If it is thirty degrees you are probably somewhere around San Antonio. Just south of Portland, Oregon the latitude is forty-five degrees, half way between the north pole and the equator. Here in Fort Collins, Colorado the latitude is a little over forty degrees. Having an understanding of how others are experiencing the changes in the seasons leads me to greater awareness of the ever-changing beauty of the earth.

Solstice is often considered a turning point as once the moment passes, the days gradually get longer. The light increases each day until the Spring Equinox (days and nights are equal) in March and even more towards the Summer Solstice in June when the day is the longest of the year. Ancient people began celebrating solstice rituals to ensure that the light would return to the world. What light and hope would you like to see return to your life and to the world. Many people celebrate Winter Solstice today as a time to share goodwill, forgiveness, love and honor the preciousness of the earth. As such, Winter Solstice offers a turning point of another kind.Perhaps this year you may gather friends and family for a Solstice Celebration. Light some candles to set a glowing stage, offer up forgiveness, spread some goodwill, and have each person at your celebration circle speak to honor something about the true nature of someone else in the group. I guarantee that no matter how dark and chilly it is outside, your Solstice Celebration will fill your soul with light and warmth.

Happy Solstice!

PS: At www.treegreetings.com, plant a tree for someone special and the earth with Solstice e-cards