The MOST IMPORTANT Night of the Year: The Winter Solstice

The Winter's Solstice is not on a specific date, although normally around the same time every year, but why is the shortest day so important? This day has deep significance for those of traditional religions, especially across Eurasia.

🌍 Links

🧡 Please respect other's cultures and beliefs. Racism, discrimination or threatening speech will not be tolerated.

📑 Chapters
0:00 Introduction
0:43 Day follows Night
3:47 Agricultural Influence on Neolithic Farmers
5:27 Stone Circles
10:30 Paleolithic Beliefs
12:50 A Brief Word on Halloween
14:02 The Most Important Night of the Year

[ashleysma]

Happy Solstice to my fellow Pagans and Christians alike. May your sun burn brighter upon its return tomorrow. Blessed be.

[eardwulf]

Also celebrated on the evening of the 21st of December by our Saxon and Dane ancestors was
Modraniht in honour of our Mothers:
Mothers Night.
Light a candle in remembrance of all absent Mothers 🕯️

[alicefreist]

My mother taught us about the old pagan holidays of Winter & Sumner Soltice, plus the equinoxes.
She is gone now, and Solstice means more to me than it ever did before. It is a time to feast and be generous, to tell stories with friends and family, to contemplate the meaning of life, of death, and our place in the ever-renewing universe.
Despite fear of hunger, cold, darkness, and death, the light returns. Life goes on, and we can take comfort in the knowledge of eternal renewal.

[metalonmetal]

Hi, in Iran we've been celebrating the Winter Solstice for thousands of years.
It's called "Yalda". One of the most important festivities in the Iranian and Greater Iran calenders.
Families get together, enjoy pomegranates, watermelon, variety of nuts, etc; and stay awake until near dawn talking/partying.
Our New Year is at the "exact" moment of the Spring Equinox (by exact I mean calculated by the second), which is on March 21st unless we have a leap year.

[Alcy-]

Lara at the Sakro Sawel channel made a video about what the winter solstice meant to ancient people that came out a few days before this one. She mentioned it was the most celebrated time in the ancient world, discussed sacred sites and covered themes of death, rebirth, and creation, though with different meanings and interpretations.

[justalaborer]

Interesting that they believed darkness had a source and moved. We still say things like it grew dark and the darkness was very thick.

[moonpearl]

May your life grow brighter as the days grow longer.

[o.solaris]

Well said.
I'll be spending the night of the solstice in solitude and set the intention that the days ahead will be brighter, better.

[BardovBacchus]

I was a full grown adult, about a dozen years ago, when I learned that sunset pauses at the beginning of December and starts getting later, not on the Solstice, but on December 6th, what some call St Nick's night or Krampus Nacht. Sunrise, on the other hand, lingers later and does not fully reverse until Jan 6th, aka Twelfth Night

[antsquirly]

Solstice Blessings. Having lived in Alaska during my childhood, I learned the meaning of the seasons in an extreme way. The Equinox's were powerful but the Solstices taught you how to live. The winter solstice, for me, has always been my favorite, and as a child, I referred to it as the long night. I can't put into words the feelings experienced but I can say they are extreme, too. You go about your life in total darkness and as Imbolc draws near you wait outside in the cold for that spark of light. This is why I refer to Imbolc as First Light. You have to pay attention and keep your eye out on the horizon, but if you're diligent, you'll see that tiny spark of first light. It's a promise of things to come. - They say nothing is absolute, but I beg to differ, we have the Solstices and Equinoxes. They happen on their schedule, not men's.

[majidbineshgar]

Yalda ( Yule) in Iran is still celebrated .

[janerkenbrack]

Happy Solstice to you. May the days grow longer.

[Crowhag]

Thank you for the insightful video. And thank you for linking my video on Father Christmas at the end. I appreciate it very much. Blessed Solstice!

[littlebird]

Sending warm wishes to you from the most light of the year. Happy summer solstice to those of you experiencing the Winter darkness on the other side of our planet. ☀️🌙

[martemacdougall]

I received your Winter Solstice video this evening as I was about to light my candle on my altar of greens. Here on the west coast of Canada the Solstice began at 7:27 PST. There are no coincidences! Thank you for your video .❤ And Happy Holidays too. 🌲💚

[MichaelYoder]

Blessed Yul, Happy Solstice and Merry Christmas!

[Tymbus]

You might be interested to know that the city of Brighton & Hove has adopted a recently invented celebration of the Winter's Solstice called "Burning the Clocks". The event was invented in 1994 by Sam Sky and consists of a parade of 2, 000 people carrying paper and willow lanters that are, at the parade's end, thrown on a bonfire.

[jennaferknight]

As an observer of aceint traditions, I thank you

[Bjorn_Algiz]

Good tidings and winter solstice/yule to all! Hail! 😊 loved the video!

[RIXRADvidz]

here in America we have structures in the South West that align to the solstices over miles of terrain. Chaco Canyon has a few alignment structures that line up to the horizon to guarantee you know where the Sun is coming from for Solstice.(s) Thanks for this entertaining and education chat. Really nice.