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Happy Winter Solstice Everybody!

It seems like only yesterday we were celebrating Mabon, but the time has now come to commemorate the winter solstice. Sunday morning marks the official start of winter, as the sun will be at its greatest angular distance from the Northern Hemisphere. For people like me, however, it also represents a hopeful, optimistic time, as it kicks off the official countdown to spring. Sure, the bulk of the cold weather is still ahead of us, but if we can just make it through tonight, we'll have survived the longest night of the year. Longer days and more sunshine are on the way.

People celebrate the milestone in various ways. In New York, fans of new age and spiritual music flock to the Cathedral of St. John the Divine for Paul Winter's annual Whole Earth Winter Solstice Celebration, an eclectic concert featuring music from the Gothic cathedral's impressive pipe organ as well as the rising of the "sun gong." Neo-druids and pagans make a pilgrimage to Stonehenge in England to watch the sun align perfectly through the stones, assuming the sun makes an appearance during this cloudy time of year. My Latvian relatives celebrate Ziemassvētki - the culmination of two weeks representing the "season of ghosts" - by burning candles and keeping a fire going in the fireplace to burn up any bad vibes accumulated during the previous year. I think that's pretty neat.

We don't have a fireplace, so instead we toasted the season with one-too-many martinis and some pizza from Sal's. And while we're paying the price right now, we're comforted by the thought that spring is just three months away.

[Photo: NASA]

Related Stories
· Winter Solstice Marks First Moment of Winter [citizen-times.com]
· Paul Winter's Whole Earth Winter Solstice Celebration [Official Site]
· Autumnal Equinox Travel: A Happy Mabon to All [Jaunted]