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The winter solstice, that magical shortest day of the year when the sun resets its clock and starts to bring us longer and warmer days.  For those of us living in the Northern Hemisphere, that comes on the 21st of December.  Astronomers, in their quest for precision, tell us that in 2019 it occurred yesterday, Saturday, December 21, at 10:19 PM Central Standard Time.  In Madison, Wisconsin, it will now take six months for daylight to extend from 8 hours and 48 minutes to 15 hours and 11 minutes.

With Christmas only a few days away we were prepared to celebrate the season.  So, this year we returned to our pagan past by attending the 18th annual Starkweather Winter Solstice Celebration.  The event, held at Olbrich Park, featured drumming, singing, dancing, hot chocolate & cider, and, most importantly, a bonfire.  We arrived just in time to watch the sunset over Lake Monona with the silhouette of the Capitol Building dominating the city skyline on the horizon.

The focal point of the celebration was, of course, the bonfire.  Crowds encircled the flames and danced to the steady beat of the drums.  Mother Nature walked through the crowd talking to children and posing for photos.  (Click on any image in the grid below to see an enlarged view.)

As the flames and the people danced together in the fading light, the rouge tones of twilight continued to attract attention as if they didn’t want the shortest day to end.  Lights started to come on in the distant city.  The dome of the Capitol, now lit, stood out from the skyline.  Some people began to drift back to the shoreline to watch the color intensify as it continued its fade to black.

Darkness began to blanket the city as we wandered back to our car.

Happy holidays to all, whether you’re a pagan or not!