On this episode of Our Island Universe: The Summer Solstice explained and celebrated.
Shanil Virani, Director of the John C. Wells Planetarium in Harrisonburg, VA.
Follow on Twitter as shanilv
Transcript:
June 21, 12:38pm marks the start of summer in the Northern hemisphere — we call it the summer solstice. To our friends in the southern hemisphere, they call it the winter solstice as that date marks the start of their winter. The word “solstice” is a combination of 2 latin words — “sol” (meaning Sun) and “sistere” (meaning to stand still). For us in the North, this date marks the longest day and shortest night of the year.
The Summer Solstice is that date when the Sun rises the furthest North from East and sets the furthest North from West. After this date, the Sun begins its journey South, the days grow shorter and the nights grow longer. For many pagan cultures, summer’s solstice was often referred to as “Midsummer”. In fact, the celebration of Midsummer's Eve (St. John's Eve among Christians) was from ancient times a festival of the summer solstice. Bonfires were lit to protect against evil spirits which were believed to roam freely when the sun was turning southward again.
To our Ancestors, much of the patterns they saw were magical or mystical. They struggled to explain what they observed but without science, they resorted to rituals and celebrations. Today, we know that the Earth’s axis is titled and that explains the patterns we observe in the Sun’s apparent motion from day-to-day.