REASONS FOR THE SEASONS
Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home
The Earth revolves completely around the Sun in one year - this while rotating on its invisible axis.
The axis is situated on the two poles - North and South and tilts at a 23.5 degree angle away from the sun in winter in the Northern Hemisphere but it is opposite in summer. The direction of the Earth's tilt in relation to the sun, determine the season.
The Earth is divided in two by an imaginary line (equator) - that is where the Northern and Southern Hemispheres originates from. For two days each year, on or around 21 March and 23 September the sun is directly above the equator. Spring starts in the Northern Hemisphere on the March date and it is called the vernal equinox; while fall begins on the September date; on or around 21 June, summer will begin (the summer solstice). That is when the sun is directly above the equator, 23.5 north of the equator, which is called the Tropic of Cancer.
Winter begins on or around 21 December (the winter solstice). The sun is then above the Tropic of Capricorn, 23.5 degrees south of the equator. For the Southern Hemisphere, the opposite is applicable.
THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT
The summer solstice is one of the longest days of the year in the Northern Hemisphere—and the day when there is no sunlight at the South Pole. The winter solstice is one of the shortest days of the year in the Northern Hemisphere—and the day when there is no sunlight at the North Pole.
The idea that daytime and nighttime on the equinoxes are not equal, is a myth. Depending on the latitude, within a few days of each equinox, there is a day with nearly equal daytime and nighttime.
CELEBRATING THE CHANGES OF SEASON
For centuries, people have watched the sky for the changes of season and then celebrated with colorful rituals. In various countries change of season is celebrated in their own particular way.
SPRING
In India, the festival of Navroze, or “New Day,” on the spring equinox is celebrated by a lot of people. On this day, houses will be cleaned and painted, new clothes worn and jasmine flowers and roses are hanged on doors and windows.
SUMMER
In Sweden, women and girls in the olden days, would bathe in a river in the belief that this would bring plenty of rain for the crops, while village people would dance around a decorated tree.
AUTUMN
The end of summer is marked by the Chinese with the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival when the moon is at its brightest. Brightly lit lanterns are on display as people admire the full Moon, eating moon cakes, which are pastries with a whole egg yolk in the center symbolizing the Moon.
WINTER
Winter was welcomed by ancient Romans with the festival of Saturnalia, honoring Saturn, the god of agriculture. Houses were decorated with evergreen branches and lit lamps all night to ward off the darkness.
Spring, summer, autumn and winter is not only observed in nature. The human body also has its Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. One is born, grow up, be middle-aged and then comes the winter time in your life - when you have worked hard from Spring through Autumn and now can take a rest in the Winter of your lives. As the plants in nature loses their leaves and some dies, so does the human body.
Winter should not be a time to be afraid of, a time to dread. Winter is a time to take your life into retrospection and be able to enjoy the time that is granted to you. Winter is a time to rejoice, visit old friends, see places you never has had the opportunity to do in the Summer and Autumn of your life. If you meet your winter as a friend, it will treat you as a friend. There is nothing to be done but to accept the inevitable.