The Shortest Day
Spring is coming ...
This is the day in mid-winter for a quiet and determinedly non-commercial celebration.
There are many ancient monuments across Europe that are aligned with the midwinter sun, so marking the moment of the longest night … if in England, head to Stonehenge for 21 December, where there are two choices – the first is to go for the solstice sunrise, when English Heritage lets you stand in the middle of the stone circle and experience the joy of the sun rising at the end of its longest night. But Stonehenge was actually aligned to midwinter sunset, not the sunrise. You can’t get into the centre of the stones for the solstice evening, but you can still see the sun set through the main stone archway from some distance away.
To modern sensibilities at least, there’s something extraordinarily melancholy about bidding the sun farewell rather than welcoming it, and watching as its last rays – caught by the huge, uncanny stones – slip below the horizon before the longest, darkest night of the year.
But we are not in England, though you may well be. Consider joining us and adopting some of the St-Lucia celebrations in a small and personal manner even if the 13th, a week ago, was officially her special day. We don’t have a daughter to dress in white and offer us baked goods and coffee while wearing a crown of candles, but we can shift for ourselves in these matters and will have the white candles and, importantly, the cakes and coffee anyway but today, on the 21st. We just like the idea and there’s nothing wrong with adapting and building your own traditions … especially if they include cake.
The Winter Solstice
On the first day of Winter, the Green Man showed to me,
— A moonlit path beneath a snowy tree.
