Bah Humbug - It's December again! 4 days to go!

Bah Humbug. 



And, Bah Humbug again. 

Now there are only four more days. I have no oven, I am sure I have forgotten a million and one Christmas cards. 

But then again, that presupposes I have a million and one friends. 



Thankfully, I don't.



Which reminds me of Stonehenge and that today is the Winter Solstice.



Why on earth do we have solstices? There's one in the summer too. It is marked as the shortest day of the year, the start of Winter - although meteorologically, the start of winter is 1st December - along with Advent and the start of me and my Bah Humbugging. 




The solstice is not the actual day, as many would believe, but the specific moment when the sun is over the Tropic of Capricorn. It is the moment when the sun stands still. Well, it seems to, anyway. The Romans thought the sun had stopped, and called it solstitium. 




There's a piece of information to wow your guests with at the dinner table.



The Chinese call 21st December, Dōngzhì. They consume copious amounts of glutinous rice balls, so I am told. I can't blame them, if I was that cold, I'd want to eat copious amounts of glutinous rice balls.



But today, December 21st is not the earliest sunset of the year - that happened a couple of weeks ago. 

Nor is it the coldest day of the year. 

Gosh, if it is supposed to be the coldest day of the year - the rest of the year is going to be boiling hot. 

Even the cat hid behind the plant pots today.




And what has Stonehenge got to do with it all? What has Stonehenge got to do with Christmas for that matter?




As all the news is filled with Druids at Stonehenge, here's a photo I snapped earlier - devoid of Druids.



Bah Humbug, it was too darned hot 1 degree north today.




Some interesting sites with more information about the Solstice:

The winter solstice

Ten things about the solstice

Dongzhi

The Winter Solstice  (there's a great infographic in this article explaining about the equinoxes)

Stonehenge and the Winter Solstice  (in pictures)

Bah Humbug! It's December, again - 15 more days to go

There are no chimneys in Singapore

Actually, I probably lie, there are chimneys in Singapore, but not ones connected to fireplaces. Theoretically, I am probably lying again, but I argue that these fireplaces, feeding the chimneys that do exist, are not the chimneys and fireplaces meant for Santa, nor for roasting chestnuts around.

So, supermarkets, will you please cease and desist from playing Nat King Cole with his chestnuts around the open fire. Not least because it would be considered dangerous and contrary to health and safety.

And so, back to chimneys again.

The origin of Santa Claus climbing down the chimney is shared by many Europeans, and is thought to have originated from a Norse tradition. Odin entered homes on the winter solstice, climbing down chimneys or smoke holes to mark the beginning of winter.

In old traditions, the hearth (or fireplace stone) was believed to be sacred and a place that brought the family together. And the 17^th century Dutch artist Jan Steen painted a family looking up the chimney at Christmas. Which shows that Santa Claus was climbing down chimneys all over the world.

St Nicholas, as many like to call him, visited houses at Christmas, throwing coins in through open windows, however, when the windows were locked, he would throw coins down the chimney instead. 

Most likely, he found the door locked.

As winter was cold and freezing, St. Nicholas was eventually welcomed into houses, and children would leave nuts and fruit for him. It was probably around 1800 that Santa Claus and clambering down the chimney was exported to the US and the rest is commercialised - Bah Humbug.

As I finish my bah-humbugish commercialisation of chimneys, there is the rather heated issue of how Santa and his immense mass, was able to squeeze down the chimney and avoid singeing his backside.

And so, here are the first two pages of a little ditty, sketched out and ready for publishing, next year ....

DOWN THE CHIMNEY ©

 

It’s Christmas Day, without the gifts,

Did Santa get our lists?

Dad said, ‘It’s cold, I’ll get a log,

While mother feeds the dog.’

I looked around the Christmas tree,

In search of gifts for me,

My brother searched with all his might,

There was nothing there in sight.

http://people.howstuffworks.com/culture-traditions/holidays-christmas/santa-chimney.htm

http://www.americanchimneyservices.com/katy/117-the-history-of-santa-claus-and-chimneys.html

http://www.unmuseum.org/santa.htm

BAH HUMBUG! It's December again and now only 4 days to go

Bah Humbug, it's 21st December.

That means two things.

Only 4 more days to Christmas, and

IT'S THE WINTER SOLSTICE!

I should be sitting wrapped up in a million coats and blankets watching the sun rise over Stonehenge. But I am not. Instead, I am wrapped up listening to the rain beating against the windows and the glass roof and running around with buckets to collect the dripping water because the man never came back to reseal the roof.

Well, I can water the plants later with the bucket water. Only, that does not quite make sense as the plants will probably be a tad tipsy from their over indulgence in rain water over the past few weeks.

Back to the Winter Solstice. Strange to talk about Winter when you live in a place where the seasons are rainy and hot and rainy and rainy. I never thought I would say this, but I miss the darkness of getting up in the morning, the short days and the cold.

Christmas lunch in shorts simply is missing something (unless of course your are from the Antipodes).

The Winter Solstice, an astro phenomenon that marks the moment when the North Pole is furthest from the sun and therefore results in the shortest day of the year. It is the time when druids descend on Stonehenge and await the rising of the sun so they can celebrate the turning of the short days and long nights into earlier sunrises, longer days and shorter nights.

Ah, ha! but the sun does not immediately start to rise earlier! All this logically explained in the BBC article: Why do mornings still get darker after the Winter Solstice? - All to do with the fact that a normal day is not exactly 24 hours long. That's why we have to have a leap year every four years.

So why on earth do we celebrate the idea that days will be getting longer?

Mistakenly, many people celebrate the Winter Solstice all through the day. This is not correct. The solstice in Winter (and in Summer) happens at a specific time of the day and will vary depending upon where on earth you are located. When the sun is exactly over the Tropic of Capricorn marks the exact moment of the solstice. So if you want to make sure you get this correct for where you live, here is a link to help you calculate what time you need to wave at the sun and say: "Happy Winter Solstice me old plum!"

The Winter Solstice has been celebrated in many cultures for longer than time can remember (I made that bit up!).

The Romans celebrated the festival of Saturnalia, honouring the father of the gods, Saturn. They gave gifts of fruit and toys and decorated their doors with greenery - ah ha! that's why we hang wreaths and green and red garlands on our doors - a sigh of festivity.

The Scandinavians celebrated the Feast of Juul - God Juul. This was a pre-Christian pagan festival when people lit fires to celebrate the return of the sun. A Yule log was burnt to honour Thor. (Lots of god honouring at this time). The same was done in England and other parts of Europe where some countries kept the ashes and used them as fertiliser or charms and medicine.


That explains the chocolate Yule log!


The Incas celebrated the solstice worshipping the sun until the Spanish conquistadors banned them, in Pakistan Kalash Kafir celebrate Chaomos and in Iran, Yalda is a celebration of the shortest day and longest night when family and friends eat and drink and read poetry together.

I suppose for all those who Bah Humbug or counter Christmas for being a pseudo pagan Christian festival, this time of the year is a moment when those who wish can worship, but more importantly it is a time for bringing people together, being kind and giving.

So, whether you are religious or not, whether you want to sit under the standing stones of Stonehenge in the cold watching the sun rise, give someone a smile and some happiness, a mark of warmth and sunshine.



BAH HUMBUG

Some interesting sites about the Winter Solstice:

December Solstice

Calculate the time of the Winter Solstice 

Winter Solstice, what is it?