HAPPY NEW YEAR!
The Winter Solstice is the Reason for the Season.
“Sunrise at Stonehenge at Winter Solstice in the style of Monet” (Painted by Chat GPT and me)
The Winter Solstice, at 10:03 AM Eastern this morning, is the real “reason for the season”—why so many holidays are celebrated in late December. It marks the point at which the descent of the sun, lower each day since the previous June, in the Northern Hemisphere sky reverses. It was considered the “birthday” or “rebirthday” of the sun. It was a cause for celebration, the beginning of a New Year. The fact that we mark the New Year on our calendar eleven days later is presumably due to some miscalculation.
The reason it was decreed that Jesus was born in late December (the Bible says nothing about the time of year he was born) was to coincide with pagan holiday marking the Winter Solstice. The same date had been chosen as the birthday of various other deities, including Zoroaster and Mithras.
So, whichever specific holiday you may be marking, enjoy the season. It’s a Festivus for the Rest of Us!
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