Solstice Again

 

 A local Tavern

 

Yes it's the winter solstice once again.  The time of year to celebrate the end of Autumn and the beginning of Winter.  The good thing is that with global warming we will be sunning ourselves this winter, according to those scientists who inform us of the melting ice caps and the movement of the Jet Stream.  Of course this means we may drown as the seas rise up, the land becomes overcrowded, crops cannot grow and the rich grab all they can to themselves.  So not much change then?  But at least we will freeze in a warmer cold snap.

At least the days now get longer, which means the fog/mist/cloud that covers the land will arrive a bit earlier than normal.  Oh goody!  It does mean that with the solstice, Christmas, New Year over we can all look forward to Spring, which will arrive in due course, stuttering into view with added snowstorms as usual.  

It is no wonder people celebrate the solstice.  Way back before your grandmother was born man knew the times of the year, but did not know how to work a laptop and write this down for us.  Instead he built Stonehenge like creations to watch the sun come up or go down.  His maths was wonderful even if he could not spell.  How people must have looked forward to the end of the winter season, especially if they were living around the time of glaciers arriving in Essex.  They say the road I am living on, indeed this side of the street, had a ramp of earth all the way along to the corner, which once was considered a defensive structure but in fact was caused by the ice age stopping right here under my desk.  That explains why it gets so cold in here.

Hunters and gatherers would understand well the seasons.  They knew where to find fruits and various edibles and when they would be appearing.  Healthy organic feeding was the order off the day, of course they were dead by the time they were thirty!  Later the first farmers must have rejoiced as the seasons turned.  They would look forward to the joys of ploughing, seeding, and resting before the harvest.  Today we know nothing of hard work in comparison to farmers of old.  Vast farm fields, vast machines, and vast companies do not offer a romantic view of farming today, though after Brexit farming is now a dead duck in the UK.  

The turn of the year always brought a chance to get together with friends.  In the far past tribes from many areas would congregate together, eat, drink, and be merry and ensure the marriages between tribes could occur.  In England the 12 days of Christmas were one of the only holidays available to people.  Occasional Holy Days occurrred but most just got plastered at the Christmas Celebration.  How much of Christ was in this can be guessed.  One theory is that some Christians brought in Christmas, the 'Christ Mass,' and worked out the date of December 25th as Jesus birthday (Based on the assumption (see what I did there?) that Mary conceived on March 25th) and 9 months later it was Dec 25th.  Hmmm...   

Anyway, the Reformation in Scotland ended that in the north.  No mention of Christmas in scripture, so it was dropped, though he obviously arrived as both Matthew and Luke mention this event.  England however, continued their debauchery for the 12 days and more for many years.  It has not ended as yet around this area as far as I can see, and No 10 Downing Street not only continues the pleasuring but repeats it over and over, no matter what Covid is doing to the public outside, and then deny this.   

Scotland of course forgot about Christmas but managed to enjoy the New Year, and the Kirk did not appear to notice, and since 1956, or was it 1958, Christmas and New Year have been an excuse for drunken, rowdy, behaviour as if they needed an excuse!

My Puritan Christmas will be less exciting, and as we face a type of LockDown immediately after Christmas life will not change a great deal for a while.  The latest bug has worried Boris, though to be honest there is a growing thought that this time he really is on the way out.  I wonder what rabbit he can pull out of this hat?  Consider this for Christmas, if he goes, we may have Liz Truss as Prime Minister soon.

Pray!