On the 21st December 2011, the Sun will appear to stand still and is the marker for Winter and Summer in both the Northern and the Southern Hemispheres of our planet.

The earth turns on its own axis and also orbits the Sun. However, it does this on a 23 degree tilt from the vertical – and this is what creates the seasons. So, on 21st December in the North we have the shortest day, with the Sun at 0 Capricorn; on 21st March we have Spring, with the Sun is at 0 Aries, and equal day and night (or Equinox); on 21st June it is the longest day with the Sun at 0 Cancer or High Summer; and the second equinox is on 21st September, beginning of Autumn, at 0 Libra.

And the seasons all reverse below the equator.

Christmas is the remnant of a pagan/Roman festival, dedicated to the planet Saturn, as the ruler of Capricorn. This ancient feast celebrated the coming of the light i.e. the shining of the Sun out of the Winter’s darkness, with wine, song and revelry. It has been observed since human beings were first able to give order to their skies many millennia ago. Such knowledge was important for hunter gatherers and farmers to predict when the seasons would occur in order that they could plan ahead and organise their food sources.

This ancient Winter festival or Bacchanalia was all about renewal after a period of darkness, of hope and of joy at the Sun’s rising. It had such a strong hold on the populations of Europe that when the Church was organising its own special day, i.e. the birth of Jesus, it had to fall as close as possible to the old traditional day otherwise they would have lost their followers very quickly. It was ever thus – people like to party!! Many astrologers suggest that the biblical description of the Nativity suggests that the birth of this wondrous child would more likely have been in the Spring of 4 BC rather than in the December 4 years later. And in those days people followed the movements of the planets much more closely than most of us do today. The Priest Kings, the Magi, knew by reading the skies, when and where this special child would be born and so set off to welcome him.

The odd thing is that this coming of the light is still celebrated on 25th December worldwide, even though for those nations South of the Equator it is their High Summer, and it seems to render the festival somewhat obsolete. Again I have to say that people like to party.

I wish you all a very Happy Festive Season, however you worship, and very Prosperous New Year.

For an interesting website on the solstice of 2012 please take a look at the amazing celebrations being organised in Ireland. Go to www.ireland2012.ie

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