Winter Solstice Comes Out Of Darkness

Winter Solstice 2020 arrived at 5:02A EST & tonight another special astronomical event will take place. A rare ‘double planet’ conjunction as Jupiter & Saturn will be in alignment appearing closer together in the evening sky than they have in nearly 800 years & won’t appear this close again until 2080. Winter Solstice is the shortest day of the year with only 9 ½ hours of sunlight here in the northeast. Though we may have a little relief knowing that as the Winter Solstice marks the shortest day of the year & the longest night days will be getting longer & in less than a month this presidential darkness will end. Just one year ago we dealt with Trump’s impeachment & one year later the light at the end of the tunnel is beginning to appear as we approach January 20th. But let's return to the Winter Solstice also known as Yule with a little history about solstice as witches & warlocks celebrate this date as the birth of the Sun God since from this point forward the days get longer. Wiccan celebrations include Yule logs, Yule trees & Mistletoe which all sounds a lot like our traditional Christmas celebrations. There are many customs associated with the Winter Solstice that derive from stories of a mighty battle between the dark & the light. Very similar to what we are still experiencing here in America. As our LGBTQ community celebrates our Yuletide Gay the shortest day & longest night whether alone or with pandemic social distancing measures in the northern hemisphere just remember that the southern hemisphere is basking in sunshine & enjoying the first day of summer. Happy Solstice!