Winter solstice

The dead of winter, when the longest night of the year takes place, has traditionally been celebrated as a time of renewal and reverence.

[wrote Mahdavi](https://theconversation.com/a-persian-festival-yalda-celebrates-the-triumph-of-light-over-darkness-with-pomegranates-poetry-and-sacred-rituals-173969), who is now provost at the University of Montana. [The Conversation](https://theconversation.com) under a Creative Commons license. In this worship space and many others that Catholic missionaries built during the Spanish colonial period, the winter solstice “triggers an extraordinary rare and fascinating event,” [he explained](https://theconversation.com/a-sacred-light-in-the-darkness-winter-solstice-illuminations-at-spanish-missions-70250): “a sunbeam enters each of these churches and bathes an important religious object, altar, crucifix or saint’s statue in brilliant light.” “Ancient Persians believed that evil forces were strongest on the longest and darkest night of the year,” These missions were built to convert Native Americans to Catholicism – people whose cultures had already, for thousands of years, celebrated the solstice sun’s seeming victory over darkness. Rather, it’s when “the sun appears the lowest in the Northern Hemisphere sky and is at its farthest southern point over Earth,” Its winter solstice will arrive June 21, 2023, the same day the Northern Hemisphere celebrates its summer solstice. “These events offer us insights into archaeology, cosmology and Spanish colonial history,” Mendoza wrote. But it’s also traditionally been a time of renewal and celebration – little wonder that so many cultures mark major holidays just around this time. Many Native American communities have long held solstice ceremonies, If you’ve already spend hours shoveling snow this year, you may be dismayed to realize that technically, it’s not yet winter. 21, 2022](https://aa.usno.navy.mil/calculated/seasons?year=2022&tz=5&tz_sign=-1&tz_label=false&dst=false&submit=Get+Data): the shortest day of the year, known as the winter solstice.