Amazing things about Solstices

A solstice is different from an equinox, the two times each year when the sun is directly above the Earth's equator and day and night are of equal length. Equinoxes mark the beginning of spring (March) and fall (September).

1.‘Solstice’ comes from the Latin ‘sol’ (sun) and ‘sistere’ (stand still). The Sun seems to stand still at the solstices before reversing direction
Solstice loosely translated in Latin is "sun stands still". For several days before and after each solstice the sun appears to stand still in the sky, i.e., its noontime elevation does not seem to change from day to day.

2. The year’s two solstices are the moments when the sun appears lowest or highest in the sky.

3. The main axis of Stonehenge was aligned to point to sunset at the winter solstice.


4. Christmas feasts stem from the practice of slaughtering cattle at the winter solstice so they would not have to be fed during the winter.

5. The winter solstice usually falls on December 21 or 22 but very rarely is on December 20 or 23. When the sun appears at its most southerly position,directly overhead at the Tropic of Capricorn (23 degrees 27 minutes south latitude). The winter solstice is the shortest day of the year and marks the beginning of winter. It is the exact opposite in the Southern Hemisphere.

6. The last December 23 solstice was in 1903 and the next one will not be until 2303.

7. As the tilt of the Earth’s axis points towards the sun in the southern hemisphere during our winter,  the summer solstice in Australia.

8. This month, the UN declared the day of the summer solstice to be International Yoga Day.

9. The pagan festival of Yule was traditionally celebrated at the winter solstice. The pagans celebrate the solstice with symbols of fire and water.

10. Christ’s birthday was fixed as December 25 by the Council of Nicaea in AD 325 as that was then the date of the solstice in the Julian Calendar.

People have long believed that Stonehenge was the site of ancient druid solstice celebrations because of the way the sun lines up with the stones on the winter and summer solstices. While there’s no proven connection between Celtic solstice celebrations and Stonehenge, these days, thousands of modern pagans gather at the landmark to watch the sunrise on the solstice

11. The earth is actually at its farthest from the sun during the solstice.

You might think that because the solstice occurs in summer that it means the Earth is closest to the sun in its elliptical revolution. However, the Earth is actually closest to the sun when the Northern Hemisphere experiences winter and is farthest away during the summer solstice. The warmth of summer comes exclusively from the tilt of the Earth’s axis, and not from how close it is to the sun at any given time.

12. Ironically, the solstice marks a dark time in science history.

Legend has it that it was on the summer solstice in 1633 that Galileo recanted his declaration that the Earth revolves around the sun, and not the other way around.

13. An alternative calendar had an extra month named after the solstice.

In 1902, a British railway system employee named Moses B. Cots worth attempted to institute a new calendar system that would standardize the months into even four-week segments. To do so, he needed to add an extra month to the year. The additional month was inserted between June and July and named Sol because the summer solstice would always fall during this time. Despite Cots worth's traveling campaign to promote his new calendar, it failed to catch on.

14. In ancient Greece, the solstice festival marked a time of social equality.

The Greek festival of Kronia, which honored Cronus, the god of agriculture, coincided with the solstice. The festival was distinguished from other annual feasts and celebrations in that both slaves and freemen participated in the festivities as equals.

15. Ancient Rome honored the goddess Vesta on the solstice.

In Rome, midsummer coincided with the festival of Vestalia, which honored Vesta, the Roman goddess who guarded virginity and was considered the patron of the domestic sphere. On the first day of this festival, married women were allowed to enter the temple of the Vestal virgins, from which they were barred the rest of the year.

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