I observe by default. I'm not a miserable old *** In fact, it is the only day of the year which has no public transport, here in the UK. "Bank holidays" are not what they were, but Christmas day is still Christmas day. PS. ..oh .. and Happy hols to you too
A year has passed... again, happy winter solstice! With a rare Jupiter/Saturn conjunction to top things off!
Loved that Christmas Star! I recall the Jupiter/Saturn triple conjunction of 1981 with the middle of the three being right next to a Full Moon. It was a chilly night in February but very clear, making for a memorable sight for an astronomy buff like me.
The old Roman calendar, traditionally ascribed to Numa Pompilius, originally had the year start on the Winter Solstice. This calendar had Leap Years but not the century rule, which skipped a leap year three centuries out of four, a better approximation of the actual length of a solar year. When Julius Caesar commissioned the Greek-Egyptian astronomer Sosigenes to revise the old calendar, which simply neglected having dates for the 60 days before the Winter Solstice (who needs winter?), it was discovered that the Solstice was now on December 25 instead of January 1. This was because of the slight inaccuracy happening over the centuries with the old calendar. December 25 then became the new traditional Solstice. Centuries later, in the mid 4th century CE, the date got assigned to Christmas.
Theosophist & Mystic G. de Purucker on this sacred time: https://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/4sacsea/4sacsea1.htm How it begins:
