Winter Solstice 2022

Winter Solstice 2022

In Columbus, Ohio, USA: Wednesday, December 21, 2022 at 4:48 pm EST

The winter solstice is the time of year when the sun reaches its lowest point in the sky, also known as Yule.

Yule is a time to celebrate the hope of returning light and life.

The Earth's axis is angled away from the sun that causes the northern hemisphere to receive the shortest duration of sunlight. This means that we have arrived at the shortest day and the longest night of the year.

Troll the ancient Yule-tide carol

Deck the halls with boughs of holly Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la 'Tis the season to be jolly Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la Don we now our gay apparel Fa-la-la, la-la-la, la-la-la. Troll the ancient Yule-tide carol Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la.

See the blazing Yule before us. Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la Strike the harp and join the chorus. Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la Follow me in merry measure. Fa-la-la, la-la-la, la-la-la. While I tell of Yule-tide treasure. Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la Fast away the old year passes. Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la Hail the new year, lads and lasses Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la Sing we joyous, all together. Fa-la-la, la-la-la, la-la-la. Heedless of the wind and weather. Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la

The Shortest Day

by Susan Cooper

And so the Shortest Day came and the year died And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world Came people singing, dancing, To drive the dark away. They lighted candles in the winter trees; They hung their homes with evergreen; They burned beseeching fires all night long To keep the year alive. And when the new year’s sunshine blazed awake They shouted, reveling. Through all the frosty ages you can hear them Echoing behind us—listen! All the long echoes, sing the same delight, This Shortest Day, As promise wakens in the sleeping land: They carol, feast, give thanks, And dearly love their friends, And hope for peace. And now so do we, here, now, This year and every year. Welcome, Yule!

The Solstice Stone at Merry Mount

The longest night has come once more,

the sun has set, and darkness fallen.

The trees are bare, the earth asleep,

and the skies are cold and black.

Yet tonight we rejoice, in this longest night, embracing the darkness that enfolds us.

We welcome the night and all that it holds, as the light of the stars shines down upon us.

On this shortest day, we light these candles and ask for a return from darkness to light.

We rejoice as we sit by the warmth of a Yuletide fire.

Winter Solstice

Stop and Observe.

Discover the moments

between Winter and Summer.

Embrace the perpetual change.

The distance between

two points in time

is always

Now.

CPW