When daylight arrives. When day equals night
WINTER SOLSTICE
On the winter solstice, the sun rises to its lowest point on the horizon. Every year Winter sun standing occurs between December 21 and 22. The winter solstice is the shortest day and the longest night of the year. Now the nights are getting shorter and the days longer.
December 22, 2011 at 09:30 according to Moscow time, the Sun will descend as much as possible into the southern hemisphere of the sky, that is, moving along the ecliptic, it will reach its lowest declination - 23 degrees 26.457 minutes (in the constellation Sagittarius) and astronomical winter will come. On December 22, the Sun begins to rise up the ecliptic, beginning its journey to the vernal equinox when it crosses the celestial equator.
Solstice - Birthday of the Sun
solstice- the ancient Russian name for the day of the solstice. Corresponded to the moment of the Sun's turn for profit or loss of the day. in Russia and in many European countries day winter solstice celebrated as the celebration of the birth of the sun.
Almost all European peoples held sacred mysteries on this day: a symbolic spectacle of the death and rebirth of the Sun was played out. Light conquers Darkness. Let the miracle be invisible for now, but we know that it happened, and this is a harbinger of that great miracle, the miracle of the Transfiguration, which our world is waiting for: the final victory of good over evil, the complete triumph of Light.
And among the Slavs and other peoples of Europe, the winter solstice marked the beginning of a new life and the renewal of nature. Children and adults jumped over the fire, danced round dances, the boys competed in strength and ingenuity. Daylight is increasing, which means that spring is just around the corner.
At this time, the ancient Slavs celebrated a multi-day winter holiday - Christmas time. It began in the last days of December and ended in the first days of January (approximately from December 25 to January 6). Christmas time was accompanied magical rites, on the eve of Christmas, carols were sung, mummers walked around the villages, festive feasts were held in every house, girls guessed at their betrothed.
In the 16th century in Russia, a special ceremony was associated with the winter solstice. The bell warden of the Moscow Cathedral, who was responsible for the chiming of the clock, came to bow to the tsar. He reported that from now on the sun turned to summer, the day is added, and the night is reduced. For this good news, the king rewarded the headman with money.
In Europe, the days of Christmas celebrations coincided with the twelve-day cycle of pagan festivities dedicated to the winter solstice, which marked the beginning of a new life and the renewal of nature. That is why in different countries The Christmas holiday was filled with ancient rites and folk beliefs . These include carols - costumed processions with a star and chants, which are still held in countryside, an evening meal on Christmas Eve, consisting of 12 meatless dishes. In the ritual meal of this day, it was customary to leave food for the deceased family members. What if it's Christmas happy man enters the house first, then the whole year happiness will not leave its walls.
On the day of the winter solstice in Scotland, it was customary to launch the Christmas sun wheel - "Solstice" - a barrel was coated with burning tar and let down the street. The wheel is a symbol of the Sun, the spokes of the wheel resembled the rays of the star, the rotation of the spokes during movement made the wheel alive and similar to its solar prototype.
Over the past millennia, spirits and gods have been replaced by other prophets, who are now considered to be pagan religions Christianity and Islam came, trying to adapt their holidays to the beliefs of the newly converted flock. However, the deep meaning of the holidays has not changed: the gods are still born in winter and resurrect in spring, so that after summer solstice slowly fade into darkness, and then be reborn again.
Kolyada - Sunny Christmas
On December 25, our ancestors celebrated the Christmas of God Kolyada. The nascent Sun appears in the form of a child. The baby is the disc of the Sun, called Kolo since ancient times. The baby Kolyada is captured by the witch Winter and turns him into a wolf cub. When will they remove from Kolyada wolf skin and burn it in the spring fire, Kolyada will appear in all its glory. And the Sun is sent south on a cart to meet spring.
“Once upon a time, Kolyada was perceived not as a mummer. Kolyada was a deity, and one of the most influential. They called the carol, called. New Year's Eve was dedicated to Kolyada, games were arranged in her honor, which were subsequently performed at Christmas time. The last patriarchal ban on worshiping Kolyada was issued on December 24, 1684. It is believed that Kolyada was recognized by the Slavs as the deity of fun, which is why he was called upon, cheerful gangs of youth called on New Year's festivities "(A. Strizhev " folk calendar»)
The day "for sparrows" has arrived and the winter sun begins to flare up, the Slavs celebrate Kolyada. On the eve of the New Year, the children were going to carol under the windows of rich peasants, called the owner in songs, repeated the name of Kolyada and asked for money. Sacred games and divination are the remnants of this feast of the ancients. The rites were preserved among the people, and in recent times are becoming more and more popular. "Carolers" dress up in clothes, depict animals, devils, with music, with sacks in which they collect treats, walk the streets, sing carols. Kolyada is a cheerful, desired deity.
Tur is commemorated at the feast by eating ritual cookies in the form of cows (loaf, bagels). Instead of a sacrificial lamb, they eat cookies in the form of a lamb's head (bagel, pretzel). You should definitely try uzvar and kutya. The holiday ends with games. Be sure to roll the burning wheel uphill with the words: "Roll uphill, come back with spring".
Shoryk Yol
Shoryk Yol- traditional New Year's celebration Mari people. It ends the old and begins the new year. In the past, the people associated with him the future well-being of their household and family, changes in life.
The name Shoryk Yol - "sheep's leg" comes from the holidays magical action - pulling the sheep's legs in order to "call" a large offspring of sheep in the new year. . In the past, early in the morning, householders built stacks of snow in the winter field in order to get the required amount of stacks of bread in the new year. Branches shaking in the garden fruit trees and shrubs, hoping to collect a rich harvest of fruits and berries. Pulling the sheep's legs was supposed to ensure the fertility of the sheep. Fortune-telling was associated with the prediction of fate, the well-being of the economy. The weather was used to judge what spring and summer would be like. Family prayers were held in every house in honor of the holiday of Shorykyol and the "owner" of the kudort house.
On the first day, children and girls walked around the yards, they congratulated the householders on the advent of the New Year and wished a prosperous family and economic life, the offspring of sheep. In the evening, a group of mummers led by the old man Vasily and his old woman - Vasli kuva-kugyza - harbingers of the future, went home. The mummers made a check economic activity, negligent owners scolded.
Surhiri
Surkhiri is a Chuvash holiday in the middle of winter. The word surkhuri itself also means "sheep's leg".
This is a holiday of youth, a holiday of boys and girls, it consists of continuous amusements, pranks and jokes. The very name of the holiday comes from a comic fortune-telling rite.
In connection with Surkhuri, there are a number of customs - various fortune-telling among the young, which are all held on the first evening of the holiday. The most significant of the rites, from which the holiday got its name, is "catching a sheep's leg" (surkhuri tytma). Boys and girls leave the house in turn and go to the barn. There, in the darkness, they catch the first sheep that comes across by touch, hold it by the leg with one hand, and pluck a tuft of wool from it with the other and bring it into the hut. And then they guess. Whoever catches the leg of a white sheep will have a fair-haired husband or wife. And who caught the leg of a black sheep - dark-haired.
dongzhijie
dongzhijie- Chinese Winter Solstice Festival. AT ancient China it was believed that from that time on the “male force” of nature rose, and a new cycle began. Therefore, the day of the winter solstice was considered a happy day. Dongzhijie is a celebration of optimism and faith in spring.
On this day, emperors went out of town to perform solemn rituals of sacrifice to Heaven, and ordinary people made sacrifices to their ancestors.
In some regions North China on the day of the Winter Solstice they eat soup with ears, in other regions - dumplings, because there is such a belief: having tasted dumplings on this day, a person may not be afraid of frost. Dough is kneaded from rice flour, figures of turtles, pigs, cows, sheep and other animals are molded from it, symbolizing happiness.
Yule
The ancient Scandinavians also celebrated New Year on the winter solstice on December 22. Yule- Celtic Festival of the rebirth of the Sun. The word Yule means rotation, torsion, wheel, turn.
Yule marks the point in the year when the sun returns, so sorcerers light candles and bonfires, inviting the sunlight back. On this day, it is customary to leave the lights on in the house, or at least a candle on the altar.
The house is always decorated with branches of evergreen trees. This symbolizes the eternity of life, and the protection of the inhabitants of the house is also attributed to this tradition. Yule's indispensable attribute is the sacred Yule Log. The log is intertwined with scarlet and green ribbons. The sacred log is lit first and part of the festive supper is cooked either on it or after it has been burned. Now the Yule Log is an attribute of the altar, it is decorated with candles and Yule is celebrated in their light. But even if the log burns in the hearth, a small piece of it will always be kept: this is the best amulet and protection of the whole house for the next year. The main attribute of the holiday is the Yule wreath. It is made from spruce branches in the shape of a circle. This is a symbol of the fact that everything in the world is cyclical: death and birth. A wreath means that everything in the world replaces each other, something dies, and something is born.
Yule - the days of the great feast and holiday, in which all members of the clan gathered together in order to meet the Sun again, which had risen from darkness, and to see the reborn world. The Yule celebration reminds people that each of us somehow participates in all the processes taking place in the universe without exception.
Christmas tree
Even the Romans began to bring evergreen trees into the house on the winter solstice and decorate them. There is a version that a Christmas tree decorated with apples and nuts symbolizes the "tree of paradise" (although in early Christianity, the custom of making and decorating a tree, to put it mildly, was not encouraged, and even banned in Europe, but was subsequently adopted).
Such a tree also symbolizes life and survival, especially in a cold climate, when all other trees stand naked and sleepy, it symbolizes fertility and immortality. Other symbols of the winter holidays are mistletoe, which not only preserves green leaves in winter, but also grows without touching the ground, and holly (holly), ivy. The holly is also decorated with red berries in winter, and mistletoe with white ones.
You can decorate Yolochka with cinnamon sticks and dried flowers (for example, roses), you can use cranberries and dried corn cobs, bags with aromatic herbs, apples, nuts, oranges, lemons. Old Soviet Christmas decorations in the form of fruits, fruits and vegetables, nuts and acorns will come in handy here. Wiccans hang letters with their desires on Yolochka.
Tinsel and toys can also be correlated with the images of the moon, the sun and the stars of heaven. "Rain" - as a symbol of rain - will be a symbol of fertility. Cones and acorns (symbols of oak) will also be appropriate. Shiny glass beads during the winter solstice capture the light of the newborn sun and send it back, acting as a magical tool to increase the energy of the sun. This idea was fully developed when they began to make a geometrically correct recess in a simple glass ball, which made it possible to capture and reflect light, be it soft, warm light candlelight or the pure white light of the resurrected winter sun.
As you know, the Sun participates in two types of movement across the sky. The first - daily - reflects rotation of the earth on its axis. In the morning, the Sun can be seen in the eastern part of the sky, at noon in the south, and in the evening in the western side. The second movement - much slower, with a period of 1 year - is the result of the earth's orbit around the sun. Due to the fact that the Earth moves around the Sun, our daylight during the year slowly changes its position relative to distant stars, traveling through the constellations(These constellations are called the zodiac).
Daily the path of the sun across the sky is close to the celestial equator, but during the year it passes either above or below it because the trajectory annual the movement of the Sun across the sky is inclined to the equator by 23.5°. Therefore, it is precisely this, the second movement of the Sun, superimposed on the daily one, that determines the duration daylight hours, as well as the height of the sun's rise above the horizon.
In this image taken in Bursa, Turkey in 2007-2008, we see the path of the Sun across the sky on the shortest day of the year (bottom), the equinox (middle), and the longest day of the year (top) ). These days, the author photographed the sun every hour from the same place. By counting the number of stars on each date, you can calculate the duration of daylight hours in Bursa in different times of the year. It is clearly seen that on the day of the equinox (without a difference, autumn or spring), the Sun stays above the horizon for 12 hours - exactly half of the day. A photo: Tunc Tezel
We all know very well that in winter the daylight hours are short, the Sun rises in the southeast, and sets in the southwest, and besides, it floats low above the horizon. In summer, on the contrary, daylight hours are much longer than the night, and the Sun rises in the northeast, rises high and reluctantly sets somewhere in the northwest. Between these extreme cases, there are dates when the day equals night, and the Sun rises strictly in the east and sets strictly in the west (we will not take into account the phenomenon refraction). There are two such days in a year. The first one is called day spring equinox , and the second day autumn equinox.
On the day of the equinox, the Sun crosses the point of the celestial equator, which means that its rays equally illuminate both the northern and southern hemispheres of the Earth . In other words, on this day, the Earth, rotating around its imaginary axis passing through the poles, and at the same time moving around the Sun, is in such a position with respect to the luminary that Sun rays fall vertically towards the equator. In the future, the Sun will begin to illuminate the northern hemisphere more, and there will come astronomical spring . In the southern hemisphere at this time will come astronomical autumn.
Let's summarize. All these interesting phenomena- the dates of the equinoxes and the change of seasons - occur due to the fact that:
- The earth rotates around its axis.(Therefore, there are dark and daylight hours on Earth.)
- The earth revolves around the sun.(Therefore, the Sun “travels” against the background of stars with a period of 1 year, lagging behind the daily movement by about 1 ° every day)
- The plane of the earth's equator is inclined by 23.5° to the plane of our planet's orbit around the sun. Because of this, the path of the Sun across the sky is inclined to the celestial equator by 23.5 °, due to which the Sun is half the year in the northern hemisphere of the sky, and the other half in the southern.
- The vernal equinox is the date the sun crosses the celestial equator as it passes from southern hemisphere to the north. Starting from this moment, astronomical spring begins in the northern hemisphere of the Earth, and the day becomes longer than the night (due to atmospheric refraction, the day becomes longer than the night a little earlier - on March 17). In the southern hemisphere, on the contrary, astronomical autumn begins, and the day becomes shorter than the night.
Seasons on Earth and their relationship with the position of the Earth in orbit. Notice the Earth's axis of rotation, which is tilted 66.5° to the plane of the orbit (or ecliptic). Because of this, the equator is inclined to the ecliptic by 23.5 °, which causes the change of seasons.
Twice a year, on the days of the autumn (September 22-23) and spring (March 20-21) equinoxes, the Earth turns towards the Sun in such a way that the sun's rays fall vertically on the equator. And then all over the globe - at the poles and at the equator, in temperate latitudes and in the tropics, the length of day and night becomes the same. It is curious that in Latin this event is called aequinoctium”, which translates as “equinox”. In this sense, Germans using the word " Tagundnachtgleiche” (“equality of day and night”) turned out to be more logical.
Autumn in the northern hemisphere. Artens | Shutterstock.com
On the day of the autumnal equinox, the Sun crosses the equator and moves into the southern half of the celestial sphere. From this moment on, astronomical autumn begins in the entire northern hemisphere of the Earth, and darkness takes more and more minutes from light every day! The shortest day of the year, which falls on December 21 or 22, marks the beginning of astronomical winter. After that, daylight hours gradually increase and by the beginning of the third decade of March it becomes equal to the night. On the day of the vernal equinox, autumn comes again on our planet, only this time in the southern hemisphere...
Yellowed leaves. Calin Stan | Shutterstock.com
An interesting fact is that autumn and winter in the northern hemisphere is a week shorter than the autumn-winter season in the southern hemisphere. Since the number of days from the spring equinox to the autumn equinox is 186, and the time interval from the autumn to the spring equinox is only 179 days! The fact is that in the winter of the northern hemisphere, the Earth moves around the heavenly body somewhat faster than in the winter of the southern hemisphere. Because in January Earth passes the closest point of the orbit to the Sun - perihelion. And at perihelion, as you know, line speed the planet is growing! Therefore, we residents northern latitudes, we are in a more favorable position than the inhabitants of the southern latitudes, whose dark and cold season is longer by as much as 7 days!
Spring is coming to Australia. Bui Viet Hung | Shutterstock.com
However, the moment is approaching when we are forced to pass the baton of spring and summer to the inhabitants of the southern hemisphere. This will happen tomorrow. In the meantime, let's enjoy the last hours of the outgoing astronomical summer, especially since the weather is conducive to this!
Twice a year, on the days of the autumn (September 22-23) and spring (March 20-21) equinoxes, the Earth turns towards the Sun in such a way that the sun's rays fall vertically on the equator. And then all over the globe - at the poles and at the equator, in temperate latitudes and in the tropics - the length of day and night becomes the same. It is curious that in Latin this event is called " aequinoctium”, which translates as “equinox”. In this sense, Germans using the word " Tagundnachtgleiche” (“equality of day and night”) turned out to be more logical.
Autumn in the northern hemisphere. Artens | Shutterstock.com
On the day of the autumnal equinox, the Sun crosses the equator and moves into the southern half of the celestial sphere. From this moment on, astronomical autumn begins in the entire northern hemisphere of the Earth, and darkness takes more and more minutes from light every day! The shortest day of the year, which falls on December 21 or 22, marks the beginning of astronomical winter. After that, daylight hours gradually increase and by the beginning of the third decade of March it becomes equal to night. On the day of the vernal equinox, autumn comes again on our planet, only this time in the southern hemisphere...
Yellowed leaves. Calin Stan | Shutterstock.com
An interesting fact is that autumn and winter in the northern hemisphere is a week shorter than the autumn-winter season in the southern hemisphere. Since the number of days from the spring equinox to the autumn equinox is 186, and the time interval from the autumn to the spring equinox is only 179 days! The fact is that in the winter of the northern hemisphere, the Earth moves around the heavenly body somewhat faster than in the winter of the southern hemisphere. Indeed, in January, the globe passes the closest point of the orbit to the Sun - perihelion. And in perihelion, as you know, the linear velocity of the planet increases! Therefore, we, the inhabitants of the northern latitudes, are in a more favorable position than the inhabitants of the southern latitudes, whose dark and cold season is longer by as much as 7 days!
Spring is coming to Australia. Bui Viet Hung | Shutterstock.com
However, the moment is approaching when we are forced to pass the baton of spring and summer to the inhabitants of the southern hemisphere. This will happen tomorrow. In the meantime, let's enjoy the last hours of the outgoing astronomical summer, especially since the weather is conducive to this!