December 23, 2016

Dear Folks,

Jacqui, Jacsun, and I held our Winter Solstice celebration yesterday morning, opening presents, feasting, and having a good time in general (the children celebrate Christmas with Gillian).

Many of you probably already know about the Winter Solstice, but for those who may not, here is a bit of history. Most of our European (and American Indian) ancestors observed some form of a Winter Solstice celebration for nearly 4,000 years (e.g., Stonehenge in England) before middle-eastern religions (especially Christianity) replaced the native Druid and Pagan religions by around A.D. 1000 across most portions of Europe. This celebration observes the shortest day of the year and the return of the Sun (or "rebirth of the Sun") from its lowest point on the horizon in late December to its eventual highest in the sky at the zenith in mid-June (at least in the northern hemisphere). The Winter Solstice heralds the return of warmer weather and the planting season soon to come (a very important natural event in the lives of our ancient peasant-farmer ancestors, striving to eke out an existence from Mother Earth).    

The Christian church was keen to convert the so-called Pagans of northwestern Europe and adopted many of their rituals in the Middle Ages in an attempt to do so. One strategic way was to intentionally place the birth of Jesus on December 25th at about the same time as the annual Winter Solstice celebration. There is no definitive documentation of the exact time of Jesus' birth, but based on the position of the stars and planets described in some old Christian manuscripts [Matthew and Luke] and/or oral tradition, some scholars (especially astronomers) believe that Jesus was actually born in the spring time.

This may be more than some care about, but as an archaeologist, I think that "the rest of the story, much of which has been long forgotten" is sometimes as fascinating, if not more so, than some modern folklore.

In any event, here's wishing everyone a Happy Holiday season, Merry Christmas, Winter Solstice, and ALL the BEST for 2017!

Love,
Jack