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Original poster

Happy Solstice but if you are celebrating is it today or tomorrow?

42 replies

BerthaFlapjack · 21/12/2023 09:08

Happy Solstice to those who like to mark the darkest point of the year.

The actual time is 3.27 am tomorrow morning so will you celebrate tonight or tomorrow? Or stay up late for the exact time? Interested to hear what others to to celebrate too.

OP posts:
TheDandyLion · 21/12/2023 09:23

We're having a mini feast tonight for dinner and will spend the night cosy probably reading a book then I'll get up early to watch the sunrise from around 7ish. If the winds haven't calmed down I'll watch it on the live feed from Stonehenge or if it's calm enough and not cloudy I'll grab some a warm flask of something and walk out to a local viewpoint to watch the sunrise over the local valley.

TheTecknician · 21/12/2023 09:26

Is the point of the winter solstice to welcome back the sun or is it something else ?

solsticelove · 21/12/2023 09:33

Celebrating today in our homeschool group by having a fire with marshmallows and hot drinks. We’ll do some crafts and then we usually do a fire ‘ritual’ where each person writes their own intention down on a scrap of paper for the coming part of the year (& burns it in the fire). Someone will maybe read a poem on the subject too.

Tonight at home we will eat a nice meal and light candles to mark the shortest day and the return of the sun. I love to celebrate the nature/seasons. It means more to me than any religion ever could.

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Events & celebrations
solsticelove · 21/12/2023 09:36

TheTecknician · 21/12/2023 09:26

Is the point of the winter solstice to welcome back the sun or is it something else ?

The solstice doesn’t have a point as such. It’s an astronomical event which means we have either the most daylight (summer) in the year or the least (winter).

solsticelove · 21/12/2023 10:08

But yes our ancestors would mark the event by celebrating the return of the sun (or son if you’re Christian and want to appropriate the festival!)
In the past making it through winter alive was celebrated.

Original poster
BerthaFlapjack · 21/12/2023 19:57

Good to know I'm not the only one celebrating.

solsticelove I agree, to me it is far more meaningful than any religion could be.

I will go outside and have a quiet moment or two soon.

OP posts:
zigzag716746zigzag · 21/12/2023 20:04

I would have celebrated it tonight, but DH insists it is tomorrow. I’m afraid we are somewhat less spiritual about it. When the kids were young we would keep quiet about what day it was until evening, but would have secretly put their “christmas” bedding on their beds and laid out new pyjamas. We then have a nice dinner and toast marshmallows. For us it’s about cozy nights. We have an owl ornament that is brought out for the occasion.

gocompare · 21/12/2023 20:16

How nice is that. Just celebrating as it's just what it is. I think I'm going to look more into this as a religion or way of life or whatever.

"The solstice doesn’t have a point as such. It’s an astronomical event which means we have either the most daylight (summer) in the year or the least (winter)."

Gwraigygof · 21/12/2023 20:20

I kind of acknowledge it over today and tomorrow... Just take a little longer noticing nature and it's changes on walkies with the dog, or around the fields with the other animals. Unable to watch the sunrise as am always in work from stupid o'clock, but do try to spend a bit longer than usual outside, just noticing

VolvoFan · 21/12/2023 20:28

The actual event is the point at which the sun is nearest to the southern hemisphere and furthest from the northern hemisphere, which is around 3am tomorrow, so technically it's tomorrow, but not an issue to celebrate it today.

GoatsareGOAT · 21/12/2023 20:29

Tomorrow for us (although I'm a bit thrown by it being the 22nd this year!)- sun bread, yellow soup (haven't decided which yet), gather greenery, mulled apple to drink, keep candles burning (& make a spiral), feed the birds, make & eat Yule log

Inextremis · 21/12/2023 20:35

I'm not religious in any sense of the word, but I do love the solstice - (which is always on the 21st for me, no matter what the actual sun is doing). Time to look forward to things growing, the return of the light and warmth etc. etc. Just got to trudge through January and February first!

pictoosh · 21/12/2023 20:37

We celebrate the winter solstice because we love being outdoors and it marks the days getting longer.

Ponderingwindow · 21/12/2023 20:39

The solstice is today, the day with the shortest length of time between sunrise and sunset.

we can’t really mark the day properly because in my country it is a day of serious exams for my child.

pictoosh · 21/12/2023 20:39

gocompare · 21/12/2023 20:16

How nice is that. Just celebrating as it's just what it is. I think I'm going to look more into this as a religion or way of life or whatever.

"The solstice doesn’t have a point as such. It’s an astronomical event which means we have either the most daylight (summer) in the year or the least (winter)."

Oh exactly. Our noting of it isn't spiritual or religious, it's just for its own sake. More daylight, more options.

AlisonDonut · 21/12/2023 20:54

I celebrate by sowing the first of next year's seeds. Onions mainly.

Willmafrockfit · 22/12/2023 06:27

it was 3.47 am this morning.

AvenueCornelius · 22/12/2023 06:32

So yesterday was the shortest day? So when the sun rises this morning ...?

bare · 22/12/2023 06:40

English Heritage are live streaming the sunrise at Stonehenge, starting at 7am

KnittedPond · 22/12/2023 06:42

AvenueCornelius · 22/12/2023 06:32

So yesterday was the shortest day? So when the sun rises this morning ...?

Daylight tomorrow will be something like five seconds longer than it was yesterday. If I look up my local timings for sunrise and sunset, daylight on the shortest day is eight hours and 57 minutes less than it is at the June solstice.

AceofPentacles · 22/12/2023 06:45

I'm celebrating this morning, have lit a candle and will watch the sun rise at Stonehenge online.

AvenueCornelius · 22/12/2023 06:49

Thank you, @KnittedPond

I'm got Wintering by Katherine May on my gift list as I want to get more in touch with the seasons, natural rythmns of life, if you know what I mean.

Lifeasiknowitisout · 22/12/2023 06:56

Doing both.

I had a lovely evening. Candle lit. Cooked dinner and baked. I was on my own. It me a night of introspection for me. Time to think about the last year. What’s happened, what’s changed. And what I want for next year.

Tonight both my kids (they are older) are back so we are cooking together and watching a movie on the sofa.

AvenueCornelius · 22/12/2023 07:05

I was visiting a friend yesterday and saw is nacreous clouds - absolutely magical.

Decafflatteplease · 22/12/2023 07:08

AvenueCornelius · 22/12/2023 06:49

Thank you, @KnittedPond

I'm got Wintering by Katherine May on my gift list as I want to get more in touch with the seasons, natural rythmns of life, if you know what I mean.

Wintering is a lovely book @AvenueCornelius . Have you read Nigel Slater Christmas chronicles that's a really good book about embracing winter there's a lovely long running thread on here about it each year