The Magic Of Winter Light

Forty-five minutes ago the clock rolled over and it officially became December 21st, the winter solstice. Although my calendar says December 20th was the first day of winter, I can't help but always think of the 21st as being the longest night of the year.

I realize, given the inaccuracies inherent in our system of measuring the passage of time, that dates jump around a bit. When your year is 365 days and a quarter long, there are bound to be some variables that even a leap year can't correct. Since the difference in the length of the day on the 20th or 21st is so minimal, I don't feel too badly for adhering to the date I've always associated with the event.

Don't get me wrong, it's not that I'm about to go out and enact some archaic ritual to commemorate the event - I'll leave that to those who feel the need to do those things. It's just that I've always found this time of year to be extremely magical in a way that has nothing to do with the Christmas season.

One of the things I appreciate about living in a small city is the fact that there are very few small building to cut off my view of the sky and the ability to see large swaths of it at once. Because of this, I get to experience one of the great pleasures of living in an area where there is a noticeable shift in the earth's position in terms of the sun and the quality of light.

Near the end of August is when I usually first begin to notice that the days have started to run out of steam and the sun has started to set earlier. By the time the end of October roles around and we set the clocks back an hour, the sun has pretty much set by six o'clock in the evening.

It's not until near the end of November that the real magic begins. As the earth has spun on it axis and taken the part of the world I live in further below the sun's line of sight, the quality of our light has started to change. Not only do we receive less of it over the course of a twenty-four hour period, what we do receive comes to us at an angle such that it seems to cut across the path of the planet instead of shining right on to us.

Article Author: Richard Marcus

Richard Marcus is the author of the What Will Happen In Eragon IV? and The Unofficial Heroes Of Olympus Companion, both published by Ulysses Press. He has had his work published in print and online all over the world including the German edition of Rolling Stone Magazine and www.Qantara.de. …

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