From the earliest times, mankind has looked to the stars for
guidance. But not just any stars – our star, Sol, the sun. Barrelling around
the supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky way galaxy at
790 000 km/h, it has provided light and heat for the past 4.57 billion
years. Earth formed from its periphery, accreting from its solar nebula, and
blasts about its orbit at 107 000 km/h, once a year. And then 200 000
years ago, mankind first appears on Earth’s ovoid surface, spinning around it
at 1674 km/h, and looked up.
Because even though most of this movement happened in nearly
the same orbital plane to the ecliptic (the path of the sun in the celestial
sphere), the earth happened to have a bit of an axial tilt. Specifically, an
axial tilt of about 23.4 degrees – the cause of the seasons on earth. The axial
tilt changes the intensity of sunlight that reaches us during the year, causing
weather changes and making the sun appear higher or lower in the sky during
certain times of year.
From its early years, humanity has been economically
dependent on the seasons. Mating seasons of animals, planting seasons for
crops, and more. But in the cold climates of the northern hemisphere, one
season in particular spelled danger. The famine months, or winter, was
particularly harsh. Starvation was common, but with our eyes on the skies, we
could see the change in the position of the sun.
At the winter solstice, the sun reached its lowest point in
the sky, and started to rise again. With most cattle slaughtered so they don’t
have to be fed during the winter, and wine and beer made during the year
finally fermented and ready for drinking, the sign that the sun was once again
rising in the sky became a time for celebration. Ancient sites like Stonehenge,
built around 3000 to 2000 BCE, show evidence of this. Stonehenge’s great
trilithon was carefully aligned on a sight-line on the winter solstice sunset,
indicating that the sun would rise again the next day, and a year was reborn. This
has resulted in a great many feasts traditionally celebrated around the
solstice.
Indeed, the midwinter feast has become a centrepiece for
many a culture. The Roman Republic held its feast of Saturnalia from as early
as 497 BCE. With a sacrifice at the Temple of Saturn, then followed by a public
banquet, and private gift-giving, with continual partying and a carnival
atmosphere, it is no wonder that the poets called it “the best of days.”
Saturnalia lasted from 17 to 23 December, with the ceremony of renewal of light
by Sol Invictus (Dies Natalis Solis Invicti), the Roman sun god, following on 25 December.
In Sri Lanka, the Buddhists have been celebrating the
solstice since 200 BCE. On the full moon in December, the Unduvapa Poya
festival kicks off, commemorating Theri Sangamitta’s day of arrival from India
to establish the Order of Nuns and marking her bringing a sapling of the sacred
Bodhi-Tree from Bodh Gaya and planting it in Aunradhapura. On this day,
Sanghamitta Day, ten ordained nuns initiate the festive celebrations every
year. And even in China, they’ve been celebrating the solstice via the Dōngzhì
Festival, celebrating the yin and yang philosophy of balance and harmony in the
cosmos.
Of course, it was in 325 CE when the solstice festival was
incorporated into a religious festival about a teenage pregnancy that was
successfully delivered in a stable, due to the lack of any social care. This
child would become an icon in this religion, and it is why this time is now
known as Christmas. Christianity – perhaps you’ve heard of it? It’s apparently
quite popular around these parts.
But Christianity was not immediately popular, and even up to
the 14th century, the Germanic peoples of northern Europe continued
their solstice festival traditions, called the yuletide, celebrated with feasts
of meat and toasts. Toasts to Odin "for victory and power to the
king", to the gods Njörðr and Freyr "for good harvests and for
peace", and to the king was drunk. Toasts to departed family were also
common. It is from the Yule that the Christmas traditions of a tree and a
wreath come from.
Even in Muslim countries, the winter solstice is celebrated.
In Iran, Shab-e Yaldā is celebrated on the "longest and darkest night of
the year," and friends and family gather to eat, drink and read poetry.
Red coloured fruit and nuts are eaten, symbolizing the red hues of dawn and the
glow of life.
The latest in the long line of solstice celebrations, of
course, is Festivus. Originally a family tradition of the O’Keefe’s in the
United States, it became a popular celebration after being televised in the
sitcom Seinfeld. Described as "the perfect secular theme for an
all-inclusive December gathering," it presents itself as an alternative
for the commercialisation of Christmas. It’s “a Festivus for the rest of us.”
Here in Namibia, of course, we’ll be experiencing the summer
solstice, but we’ll still be celebrating. After all, humanity has become one
big family over the years, and now we all celebrate together. So on Tuesday, 22
December 2015, at 06h49, the sun will be directly above the tropic of
Capricorn, the solstice will have occurred. Feast, and have a toast with the
family you’ve still got, remembering those you’ve lost.
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