The Shortest Day of the Year

"Just think what it must have been like for our distant ancestors, long before the invention of electric lamps, yearning for the return of the light. Many an hour they would have spent gathered around the warmth of a welcoming hearth fire, sharing stories, telling tales, and singing songs to while away the long and chilly nights. Might not our tradition of gathering family and friends together at Yuletide be echoes of those past times?

"The key to all this, of course, lies in the fact that this is the time of year when we celebrate the rebirth of the light at the winter solstice, when the Northern Hemisphere is positioned furthest from the warming rays of the sun, and the nights are long and chilly. This is a significant moment, as the sun appears to stand still in the heavens before slowly, but inexorably, making its 'ascent into the light.'"

Ark Redwood, "The Simple Things," December 2012