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Winter Solstice celebrations: a.k.a.

Christmas, Saturnalia, Yule, the Long

Night, start of Winter, etc.

Overview:

Everywhere in the world, people observe various seasonal days of celebration during the month of December. Most are religious holy days, and are linked in some way to the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere. On that day, due to the earth's tilt on its axis, the daytime hours are at a minimum in the Northern hemisphere, and night time is at a maximum.

In the southern hemisphere, the summer solstice is celebrated in December, when the night time is at a minimum and the daytime is at a maximum. We will assume that the reader lives in the Northern hemisphere for the rest of this section.

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Copyright © 1999 to 2015, by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance

Originally written: 1999-DEC-03

Latest update: 2015-AUG-05

Author: B.A. Robinson

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