Winter Solstice Day: rituals, omens, what not to do on the shortest day in 2024
Throughout the year, the length of the daylight hours keeps changing. Saturday, December 21, 2024, will be the shortest day of the year, and the celestial luminary will be at its lowest position. From an astronomical point of view, it is on this day in the Northern Hemisphere winter comes. Even in ancient times, peoples observed the Sun and celebrated the passage of time. Read more about this phenomenon, prohibitions, traditions, rituals associated with it, as well as the astrological significance of this day - in the material "Izvestia".
Winter Solstice Day 2024: the shortest day and the longest night
Winter Solstice - astronomical phenomenon, which from year to year falls on December 21-22.December 22. In 2024, the event will occur on Saturday, the 21st. On this day in the Northern Hemisphere it will be possible to observe the lowest position of the Sun relative to the horizon. The daylight hours will be the shortest, and the night, on the contrary, the longest. It is also important to note that it is on the winter solstice comes astronomical winter. It will last until March 20, 2025, when the vernal equinox occurs. In the Southern Hemisphere on December 21 will come summer.
In addition to the winter solstice there is a summer solstice. In 2025 it will occur on June 21. Then the Sun will reach its highest point in the sky, the daylight hours will be the longest, and the night will be short.
Attention was paid to the change in the duration of the daylight hours in antiquity. So, in 45 BC, the greatest Roman commander Gaius Julius Caesar in the calendar, later called Julian, established for the European continent December 25 as the day of the winter solstice. Subsequently, due to the mismatch of the length of the calendar year and the solar year, there was a shift. Thus, in a few centuries the day of the winter solstice already fell on December 12. This inaccuracy was corrected already in the Gregorian calendar, and in modern times the astronomical phenomenon occurs annually on December 21-22.
Thus, in 2024 astronomical winter will come on December 21 at 12:20 Moscow time. According to the Moscow Planetarium, at the latitude of Moscow on this day the height of the Sun above the horizon will be at a maximum of 10°39′ degrees. Dawn is expected at 8:59 Moscow time, and sunset - at 15:58 Moscow time, so the duration of the daylight hours in the capital will be 6 hours and 59 minutes. In other cities of Russia its duration will be different:
- in St. Petersburg - 5 hours and 53 minutes;
- in Sochi - 8 hours 56 minutes;
- in Yakutsk - 5 hours 9 minutes;
- in Salekhard - 2 hours 13 minutes.
- in Polyarnye Zorya - 17 minutes.
Winter Solstice: rituals, what can and cannot be done
Solstice days thousands of years ago were of great importance for all peoples living on Earth. People realized that astronomical events affect their lives. Orienting on the Sun, for example, our ancestors planted and harvested crops, offered prayers to the gods.
For many ancient cultures it was especially important to mark the very fact of time flow, for this purpose festivals were held and various constructions were built. One example of this is the famous Stonehenge in Great Britain. The main version about its purpose says that it was connected with the movement of the Sun and represented a kind of calendar, in which the stones corresponded to the days. The arrangement of stones of an ancient monument, as it is considered, corresponds to two important events of a solar cycle - winter and summer solstices.
Winter for people in ancient times could mean the time of fear and danger, because the days became colder and shorter. Therefore, the return of warmth and light was awaited with impatience. And since the winter solstice meant the victory of light over darkness - because from that moment the day began to increase - the holiday was given a lot of attention.
Excavations show that this day was an important and large-scale celebration for the Neolithic people who erected the stones of Stonehenge.
There are many examples of celebrating the day of the winter solstice. This day was also called the Day of the Invincible Sun, its rebirth - the Sun began its journey to spring, when nature revives and everything blossoms.
In ancient Rome, the holiday Saturnalia (from the god Saturn - the patron saint of agriculture) fell on the winter solstice. Scandinavians in these days celebrated a holiday called Yule (wheel), also symbolizing the course of the Sun in the sky. In China, the winter solstice is the Dongzhi festival. This festival also has a long history, and its idea comes from the concept of the balance of yin and yang, on which cosmic harmony depends.
Slavs began celebrating the festival in honor of the winter solstice back in pagan times, then it was named in honor of the winter sun god Kolyada (in modern times, kolyada is the folk name for Christmas Eve).
Kolyada was considered the personification of the returning Sun, and he was born on the day of the winter solstice. Thus, this deity symbolized the beginning of a new annual cycle.
In honor of the holiday, the Slavs held many events. They installed a wheel with eight spokes, which necessarily had to be painted, in its center lit a candle or torch. Everyone dressed smartly, went to dances, fortune-telling. Round dance and songs were also an obligatory part of the holiday. It was considered important to gather at one table, visit each other and sing a song (carol) to the neighbors. For this they were to be given some kind of treat as a gift. Young people also made masks for themselves so that they could not be recognized.
An important part of the holiday was a large ritual bonfire, which symbolized the Sun. It was around it that people would dance and sing. It was also customary to jump over the flames.
It was not without special baked goods. Housewives prepared pies in the shape of the Sun, as well as ceremonial cookies in the shape of cow bagels or pretzels and lambs - symbols of the sacrificial lamb.
Winter Solstice: prohibitions
Since ancient times, around important holidays have formed their own prohibitions. So, the following are associated with the day of the winter solstice:
-You can not be sad, otherwise the whole coming year will be sad;
- you mustn't quarrel;
- oneshould not clean and do hard labor, otherwise the whole year will pass the same way. All cleaning had to be finished the day before;
- you shouldn't offend others. Then they will offend you;
- you shouldn't let your hair down. Girls were forbidden to do it, so as not to lose their feminine happiness;
- it's not recommended to be alone. Otherwise, the whole year will pass in loneliness.
The days before the celebration of Kolyada, or the winter solstice, were a period of preparation and completion of all started affairs: repayment of debts, resolution of conflicts. Everything that was forbidden on the solstice day itself should have been finished the day before, while the celestial luminary was in its "old" state. Before Kolyada it was necessary to clean the house thoroughly, go to the bath. To make the next year better and more successful, it was necessary to write down all the bad things that had happened during the year, and burn the sheet.
Rites for the winter solstice, astrological meaning
In ancient times during the Kolyada fortune-telling took a special place. Girls believed that it was at this time that they could find out their future, their fiancé or wedding date:
- A girl had to put a candle in front of her and ask her questions. A good sign was a light and calm flame. If it flickered and smoked - there could be trouble;
-on the log, which was chosen with closed eyes, you could get a little more information about the future husband. A flat and smooth surface meant a stately husband. If it was rough - ugly and even with some defects (strabismus, lameness). A thin log - the husband will be poor, thick - rich;
- throwing a boot over the gate. If it fell so that the sock is turned to the house, then the wedding in the near future should not wait. If it is directed away from the house, the bridegroom will come from there;
- by the rooster. Having scattered things on the floor, maidens let the bird go to them. Depending on what thing it would approach, it would be the husband. By money - will play a lot, by grain - rich, by water - drink a lot, by ash - smoking;
- by material. The girls filled a sieve with groats and threw four rings into it, then stirred the contents and scooped it with the palm of their hand. If a girl got a metal one, her husband will be poor, of silver - from a simple family, of gold - a merchant, with a stone - a boyar's husband. If the girl got only groats, there will be no marriage.
Subsequently, after the adoption of Christianity in Russia, although the church tried to get rid of pagan rites, rituals and divinations, they are deeply rooted in the everyday life of our ancestors and largely survived for many years.
In the XIX century, rituals were not resorted to everywhere, but, as astrologer Tatiana Ermolina notes, the day of the winter solstice is still the time of their fulfillment. Psychological practices aimed at obtaining positive emotions and increasing the life resource have also become important.
- Rituals of this day are associated with the symbol of the Sun. For example, you can put the image of the Sun on the screen saver of your phone or desktop. If conditions allow, go outside in bright weather to enjoy the sun's rays. These actions will help to energize yourself for the next three months, improve your health and emotional state, - says the astrologer.
In the past, girls used to guess at their soulmate, the emphasis on relationships remains to this day. According to Tatiana Yermolina, the day is ideal for meeting important people, dating or making professional agreements. It opens new horizons in interpersonal relationships and interaction with others.
Tatyana Yermolina considers important that this phenomenon represents the lowest energy point, a kind of "basement" of the year. It is a period of significant energetic decline, characteristic of December.
- The three months between the solstice day and the equinox allow a person to "revive". A new level of energy and readiness for accomplishments appears. However, traditionally, the time is accompanied by an increased number of health problems and emotional devastation, - concludes the astrologer.
Omen December 21, the day of the winter solstice
Important holidays have always been accompanied by observations of the weather, Kolyada is no exception:
- frost promised a good harvest for the coming year;
- a clear and starry night - to the harvest;
- warm weather heralded good luck in cattle breeding;
- cattle are calm on this day - the year will be prosperous;
- if the wind blows from different directions, the bins will be full.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
