Winter Solstice Celebration
The Winter Solstice marks the return of lengthening daylight hours. It typically falls on December 21st of each calendar year. On that calendar date the night is at its greatest length in hours.
The Winter Solstice is celebrated in many nations around the globe with feast and ceremonies which often include candles and bonfires to guide and illuminate the way for the sun to return. Traditional foods served on the holiday often contain seeds; in ancient times the Solstice was also associated with both fertility and harvest. Cooked grains and seeded cakes should be part of the holiday meal.
Remembrance, Life, Mother Nature and Faith
Solstice Sowing Ceremony
Contact
A Winter Sower's
Solstice Sowing
The Winter Sowing season starts on the Winter Solstice. Winter Sowers can celebrate the day by sowing four sets of seeds. Each seed set will honor Remembrance, Life, Mother Nature and Faith.
Seeds of Remembrance
Seeds of Remembrance should be seeds of flowers that remind us of someone we knew and loved but is now gone from our lives forever.
Seeds of Life
Seeds of Life should be seeds of plants that make fruit or nectar and invite birds and butterflies to our gardens.
Seeds of Faith
Seeds of Faith should be seeds for plants from a zone that is beyond ours in warmth. It will help us to remember that we accept the "Leap of Faith" in our hearts and know that Mother Nature is capable of miracles. WinterSown Educational is in zone seven and will 'Solstice Sow' seeds of faith for plants that are only hardy to zone eight.
Seeds of Trees
Seeds of Trees should be sown to honor Mother Nature. Trees will help clean the air we breathe, reduce excess sun on the soil, and provide shade for our heads on a hot summer's day.
Tip suggests these links for further study.
USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map
The United States National Arboretum
USNA.USDA.Gov
Winter Solstice Celebration
Wikipedia.Org
Winter Solstice
Lore and Rituals
by Selena Fox
Celebrating the Seasons
CircleSanctuary.Org
Winter Solstice Traditions ~ "The Unconquered Sun"
by Janet Shotwell
The Kharma Dzong Banner
Vol. 111, no. 11, December 1991, Halifax, Nova Scotia
The Winter Solstice
Arthur: Sue Ellen's Scrapbook
PBSKids.Org
YPOP Solar Classroom
Yohkoh Public Outreach Program
Solar Physics
Montana State University
Weather, Weather Everywhere
Solar System Exploration ~ Science Feature
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Nasa.Gov
Solstice Memory
How Our
Ceremony Began