Last Night Of Winter
The stroy takes place in an old stronghold, at the last days of a great battle. You died, but your will was stronger than your body, so you woke up again, to continue the siege in a never ending night.
Last Night of Winter
The winter solstice occurs in December, and in the northern hemisphere the date marks the 24-hour period with the fewest daylight hours of the year. That is why it is known as the shortest day of the year, or the longest night of the year.
The shortest day lasts 7 hours 49 minutes and 42 seconds in London. This means that the length of day during the winter solstice is 8 hours, 49 minutes shorter than the summer solstice.
After the shortest day, the days start getting longer and the nights shorter. At the spring and autumnal equinoxes the day and night hours are around the same length, each lasting around 12 hours. The number of daylight hours peaks at summer solstice.
The world 'solstice' comes from the Latin solstitium meaning 'Sun stands still', because the apparent movement of the Sun's path north or south stops before changing direction. At the winter solstice, the apparent position of the Sun reaches its most southerly point against the background stars.
In Ancient Rome, the festival of Saturnalia began on 17 December and lasted for seven days. As the name suggests, the festival was celebrated in honour of Saturn, the father of the gods, the same deity after which the sixth planet in our solar system is named.
While both solstices are celebrated by modern day religions and tourists alike, the ancient civilisation that first built the monument most likely did so primarily for the winter solstice, perhaps to request a good growing season in the year to come. The main features of the Stonehenge site date from the centuries around 3500 BC.
Each December, the winter solstice marks the official start of astronomical winter in the Northern Hemisphere and the shortest day of the year. This year, the winter solstice occurs today, which means that from here on out, each day will be longer than the last for the next six months.
The winter solstice occurs on Wednesday (Dec. 21) at 4:48 p.m. EST (2148 GMT), according to Farmer's Almanac (opens in new tab). For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, the days will gradually begin to get longer and the nights shorter going forward into winter. The sun will begin rising earlier and setting later, and will appear lower in the sky at local noon. In fact, if you can make it outside around noon local time today, take a look at your shadow; it should be the longest noontime shadow of the year due to the low angle of the sun.
Seasons on Earth occur not because of our distance from the sun, but because of the planet's tilt. In fact, Earth's perihelion, or closest distance to the sun, comes in the middle of the Northern Hemisphere's winter. In 2023, it will fall on Jan. 4, according to In-The-Sky.org (opens in new tab).
The winter and summer solstices occur because Earth is tilted 23.5 degrees on its axis, and the moment of each solstice occurs when the axis is tilted in the direction of the sun. During the winter solstice, South Pole is tilted towards the sun, and during the summer solstice in June, the North Pole is tilted towards the sun.
Midwinter festivals have long been celebrated on the winter solstice each year by current and ancient cultures. In fact, many elements of the Christmas holiday were influenced by the Roman pagan midwinter festival Saturnalia, which celebrated the god of agriculture and time and fell near the winter solstice each year. According to History.com (opens in new tab), the winter solstice fell on Dec. 25 on the Julian calendar, which was used by the Ancient Romans; today we use the Gregorian calendar, which has the winter solstice fall on either Dec. 21 or Dec. 22.
The winter solstice, also called the hibernal solstice, occurs when either of Earth's poles reaches its maximum tilt away from the Sun. This happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere (Northern and Southern). For that hemisphere, the winter solstice is the day with the shortest period of daylight and longest night of the year, when the Sun is at its lowest daily maximum elevation in the sky.[7] Either pole experiences continuous darkness or twilight around its winter solstice. The opposite event is the summer solstice.
The winter solstice occurs during the hemisphere's winter. In the Northern Hemisphere, this is the December solstice (usually 21st or 22nd December) and in the Southern Hemisphere, this is the June solstice (usually 20th or 21st of June). Although the winter solstice itself lasts only a moment, the term also refers to the day on which it occurs. The term midwinter is also used synonymously with the winter solstice, although it carries other meanings as well. Traditionally, in many temperate regions, the winter solstice is seen as the middle of winter; although today in some countries and calendars it is seen as the beginning of winter. Other names are the "extreme of winter" (Dongzhi), or the "shortest day".
Since prehistory, the winter solstice has been a significant time of year in many cultures and has been marked by festivals and rituals.[8] It marked the symbolic death and rebirth of the Sun; the gradual waning of daylight hours is reversed and begins to grow again. Some ancient monuments such as Newgrange, Stonehenge, and Cahokia Woodhenge are aligned with the sunrise or sunset on the winter solstice.
The solstice may have been a special moment of the annual cycle for some cultures even during Neolithic times. Astronomical events were often used to guide activities, such as the mating of animals, the sowing of crops and the monitoring of winter reserves of food. Many cultural mythologies and traditions are derived from this.[citation needed] The winter solstice was immensely important because the people were economically dependent on monitoring the progress of the seasons. Starvation was common during the first months of the winter, January to April (northern hemisphere) or July to October (southern hemisphere), also known as "the famine months". In temperate climates, the midwinter festival was the last feast celebration, before deep winter began. Most cattle were slaughtered so they would not have to be fed during the winter, so it was almost the only time of year when a plentiful supply of fresh meat was available.[9]
Because the winter solstice is the reversal of the sun's ebbing in the sky, in ancient times it was seen as the symbolic death and rebirth of the sun or of a sun god.[10][11][12] In cultures which used cyclic calendars based on the winter solstice, the "year as reborn" was celebrated with reference to life-death-rebirth deities or "new beginnings" (such as Hogmanay's redding, a New Year cleaning tradition), and "reversal" (as in Saturnalia's slave and master reversals).[citation needed]
Some important Neolithic and early Bronze Age archaeological sites in Europe are associated with the winter solstice, such as Stonehenge in England and Newgrange in Ireland. The primary axes of both of these monuments seem to have been carefully aligned on a sight-line pointing to the winter solstice sunrise (Newgrange) and the winter solstice sunset (Stonehenge). It is significant that at Stonehenge the Great Trilithon was oriented outwards from the middle of the monument, i.e. its smooth flat face was turned towards the midwinter Sun.[13]
In East Asia, the winter solstice has been celebrated as one of the Twenty-four Solar Terms, called Dongzhi (冬至) in Chinese. In Japan, in order not to catch cold in the winter, there is a custom to soak oneself in a yuzu hot bath (Japanese: 柚子湯 = Yuzuyu).[14]
Makara Sankranti, also known as Makara Sankrānti (Sanskrit: मकर संक्रंत) or Maghi, is a festival day in the Hindu calendar, in reference to deity Surya (sun). It is observed each year in January.[18] It marks the first day of Sun's transit into Makara (Capricorn), marking the end of the month with the winter solstice and the start of longer days.[18][19] In India, this occasion, known as Ayan Parivartan (Sanskrit: अयन परवर्तन), is celebrated by religious Hindus as a holy day, with Hindus performing customs such as bathing in holy rivers, giving alms and donations, praying to deities and doing other holy deeds.[citation needed]
Iranian people celebrate the night of the Northern Hemisphere's winter solstice as, "Yalda night", which is known to be the "longest and darkest night of the year". Yalda night celebration, or as some call it "Shabe Chelleh" ("the 40th night"), is one of the oldest Iranian traditions that has been present in Persian culture from ancient times. In this night all the family gather together, usually at the house of the eldest, and celebrate it by eating, drinking and reciting poetry (esp. Hafez). Nuts, pomegranates and watermelons are particularly served during this festival.
An Aggadic legend found in tractate Avodah Zarah 8a puts forth the talmudic hypothesis that Adam first established the tradition of fasting before the winter solstice, and rejoicing afterward, which festival later developed into the Roman Saturnalia and Kalendae.
When the First Man saw that the day was continuously shortening, he said, "Woe is me! Because I have sinned, the world darkens around me, and returns to formlessless and void. This is the death to which Heaven has sentenced me!" He decided to spend eight days in fasting and prayer. When he saw the winter solstice, and he saw that the day was continuously lengthening, he said, "It is the order of the world!" He went and feasted for eight days. The following year, he feasted for both. He established them in Heaven's name, but they established them in the name of idolatry[20]
Sol Invictus ("The Unconquered Sun/Invincible Sun") was originally a Syrian god who was later adopted as the chief god of the Roman Empire under Emperor Aurelian.[21] His holiday is traditionally celebrated on December 25, as are several gods associated with the winter solstice in many pagan traditions.[22] It has been speculated to be the reason behind Christmas' proximity to the solstice.[23] 041b061a72