The longest night and the shortest day – the winter solstice. It wasn’t until I reached my thirties that the winter solstice became meaningful to me. More on that in a minute, but first, three brief notes on the winter solstice:
- The Northern Hemisphere’s winter solstice falls between December 20th and 23rd, when the path of the sun is farthest south in that hemisphere, with the sun shining at noon directly over the Tropic of Capricorn. This year, it’s today, December 21st (in my time zone, at 10:27 p.m. to be precise, but you can use this link to find the hour and minute of the winter solstice in your time zone).
- Historical accounts of winter solstice celebrations date as far back as 10,200 BCE. Traditions related to the winter solstice can be found on every continent and are significant for Indigenous Peoples across the globe.
- According to Lonely Planet, the seven best places to witness the winter solstice in 2023: Stonehenge (England); St. Lucia’s Day, Festival of Lights and Yule (Scandinavia); winter solstice at Newgrange (Ireland); the fires of Lohri (India); Tojī traditions (Japan); Burning the Clocks, Brighton (England); and the Winter Solstice Lantern Festival in Vancouver (Canada).
I have very fond memories of taking my young daughters to the lantern festival (growing up, they would be with me for winter solstice, then with their dad for Christmas). The festival, organised by the Secret Lantern Society, is now in its thirtieth year.
Whether you have a lantern in hand tonight or not, starting tomorrow, we’ll have a little more light every day … until the summer solstice.
a few words ... from Montréal 