Why The Summer Solstice Is Celebrated Around The World
- Date: 2008-07-12 - Word Count: 520
Share This!
The summer solstice is a fascinating astronomical event and is celebrated in many countries around the world. The solstice literally means sun standing still in Latin. While it is orbiting the Sun, the Earth is also spinning around its own tilted axis. Due to the 23.5 degree tilt, the Sun's rays directly hit either of the two tropical latitudes on a particular day of the year. The Summer Solstice occurs when the Sun's rays are directly overhead the Tropic of Cancer (23.5 degree latitude North), making it the longest span of daylight and the official start of summer in the Northern Hemisphere.
The summer solstice falls between June 20th and 23rd each year. In the Southern Hemisphere, this date marks the Winter Solstice, that is the start of winter and the shortest amount of sunlight of the year. The Sun's rays are reaching that part of the planet obliquely, therefore losing much of its heat and energy to dispersal in the atmosphere. Historically, the Sun has been the subject of many a culture's divinity and inspiration and it is often considered the deciding factor in the harvest, fertility, energy, creative progress, and much more.
Most ancient cultures of the Northern Hemisphere had established Summer Solstice celebrations, often religious or spiritual in nature. The Celts, Gauls, Romans, Chinese, as well as Germanic and Native American tribes all had unique versions of Summer Solstice festivities. These included fertility rites, fruit and berry gathering festivals, bonfires and purification rituals. The symbolism of the Sun as a force of life gives both Solstices an essential place in human perception.
The unique availability of light, which is associated not only with life and activity, but also positive forces in the universe, seems to fill us with a vivaciousness that is lacking for other periods of the year. Midsummer celebrations, as those in honour of the Summer Solstice are alternately called, are jovial and upbeat in spirit, complete with revelling in the outdoors, food, merriment, bright colours, and all the special aspects of summer that people around the world long for year round.
The Sun is approximately 5 billion years old and is an astounding 109 times larger than the Earth. Surprisingly, the Earth only receives about two billionths of the Sun's total energy, yet that seemingly insignificant fraction is enough to sustain carbon-based life. Dreading the "dog days of summer"? It was the Romans who came up with that term to describe the period of the summer that is characterized by extremely hot weather. They believed this change in the weather pattern had something to do with Sirius, the Dog Star, which is the brightest star in the summer sky.
In recent years there have been many free e-cards designed to celebrate the summer solstice. It is now possible to choose from various free e-cards and send them to friends and family to mark this event. Sending free e-cards has never been easier and it is now possible to send them all over the world. By sending these free e-cards helps to celebrate the summer solstice and at the same time show your loved ones that you care about them.
The summer solstice falls between June 20th and 23rd each year. In the Southern Hemisphere, this date marks the Winter Solstice, that is the start of winter and the shortest amount of sunlight of the year. The Sun's rays are reaching that part of the planet obliquely, therefore losing much of its heat and energy to dispersal in the atmosphere. Historically, the Sun has been the subject of many a culture's divinity and inspiration and it is often considered the deciding factor in the harvest, fertility, energy, creative progress, and much more.
Most ancient cultures of the Northern Hemisphere had established Summer Solstice celebrations, often religious or spiritual in nature. The Celts, Gauls, Romans, Chinese, as well as Germanic and Native American tribes all had unique versions of Summer Solstice festivities. These included fertility rites, fruit and berry gathering festivals, bonfires and purification rituals. The symbolism of the Sun as a force of life gives both Solstices an essential place in human perception.
The unique availability of light, which is associated not only with life and activity, but also positive forces in the universe, seems to fill us with a vivaciousness that is lacking for other periods of the year. Midsummer celebrations, as those in honour of the Summer Solstice are alternately called, are jovial and upbeat in spirit, complete with revelling in the outdoors, food, merriment, bright colours, and all the special aspects of summer that people around the world long for year round.
The Sun is approximately 5 billion years old and is an astounding 109 times larger than the Earth. Surprisingly, the Earth only receives about two billionths of the Sun's total energy, yet that seemingly insignificant fraction is enough to sustain carbon-based life. Dreading the "dog days of summer"? It was the Romans who came up with that term to describe the period of the summer that is characterized by extremely hot weather. They believed this change in the weather pattern had something to do with Sirius, the Dog Star, which is the brightest star in the summer sky.
In recent years there have been many free e-cards designed to celebrate the summer solstice. It is now possible to choose from various free e-cards and send them to friends and family to mark this event. Sending free e-cards has never been easier and it is now possible to send them all over the world. By sending these free e-cards helps to celebrate the summer solstice and at the same time show your loved ones that you care about them.
Related Tags: ecards, e cards, free e-cards, the summer solstice
Andrew Gibson is MD of Greeting-Cards.com. It has thousands of free ecards to choose from for birthdays and all occasions. Many people now send Free e-cards to celebrate the Summer Solstice and select them from www.Greeting-Cards.com Your Article Search Directory : Find in Articles
Recent articles in this category:
- Making Money With Articles: Article Directories
Each and each article has the owners byline placed under it in order that those that eventually stud - Why Hire An Essay Writing Service?
Essay writing is often a frightening task for any student. No matter how hard they try, there is alw - How To Write Content That Gets You Followers
1 You must help people. Your content basically needs to either give step by step methods or increase - How To Get High Exposure On Your Articles
The dream of every article writer who uses his or her articles for website promotion and traffic gen - Writing Good Articles: How And Why Of Good Article Writing
Article writing is quickly becoming one of the most sought after services on the Internet. Blog owne - Choosing The Websites To Publish Your Articles
Since it takes hours to write a good article, take a good care of your creation when it is finished. - Let Google Refine Your Content For Relevance
You have started a new project and the niche you selected looks promising. The theme words you will - Learn Article Marketing-articles Can Enhance Your Online Business
Writing well-targeted articles to run in ezines is fast becoming the most effective way to market th - Content Creation, Free Of Charge And Simple Ways To Get Higher Web-site Ranking
Article marketing will still always be the particular favored personal choice of Internet Marketers - Career Launcher Dares You To Challenge Cat
Career Launcher is a premier preparation centre for Common Admission Test (CAT). Career Launcher is
Most viewed articles in this category:
- Ever Ready on the Pyla Plateau, Larnaca District, Cyprus
Pyla, Plateau, Cyprus The shift starts 12 midnight exactly, our comrades woke us up at 11.45, and we - How to Write Articles on the Right Topic
Most beginners at writing have a problem deciding how to write articles on the right topic. They w - Rewriting Other Authors' Online Articles and Why You Should Not Waste Your Time
So often in the online article marketing venue we find folks rewriting other authors articles and re - Rewriting or Plagiarism; Where Do We Draw the Line?
Not long ago our Online Think Tank had discussed why so much plagiarism was going on in the research - The Brahman of Web Marketing I
The Brahman of Web Marketing I There are seven main strategies of Web Marketing. They are - Why Your Article Resource Box Is Important
So what really is a resource box? Well, it's a short bio of the author you find at the bottom of an - Article Writing, Free And Easy Ways To Get Higher Website Rank
Article writing will still be the favorite choice of Internet Marketers in the years ahead. We have - The Written Word
Writing articles requires a special talent. These types of documents can be related to any topic. - Article Writing - How to Write a Compelling Bio That Gets Clicks
One of the most important things in writing a compelling bio is to immediately, while the reader is - Alarm on Pyla Plateau, Pyla, Cyprus
The following nights, days we keep to our routines, 6 hours duty 6 hours readiness and sleep. If the