In 2016, the Moon today is in a Waning Gibbous Phase. This is the first phase after the Full Moon occurs.In 2016, the winter solstice begins at:
Wednesday, December 21, 2016 at 10:44 UTC (Universal Time Coordinated other wise known as Greenwich Mean Time) It occurs five hours before current time of the east coast of the USA.
Wednesday, December 21, 2016 at 5:44 am EST
Wednesday, December 21, 2016 at 4:44 am CST
Wednesday, December 21, 2016 at 3:44 am MST
Wednesday, December 21, 2016 at 2:44 am PST
Ever since people first noticed the changing length of the days, the longest night of the year has been a special time marked by celebration. Ancient cultures around the world, from Rome to China to the Americas, developed customs and rituals designed to welcome the return of the sun and the beginning of the march towards summer’s light and warmth. Some are still celebrated today, while many of the traditions we now associate with such winter holidays as Hanukkah and Christmas can be traced back to these ancient solstice celebrations. In the Northern Hemisphere, the winter solstice falls on December 21 or 22, while the longest night of the year in the Southern Hemisphere is June 20 or 21.
Western culture owes many of the traditional midwinter celebrations—including those of Christmas—to this ancient Roman solstice celebration dedicated to the Saturn, the god of agriculture and time....
...St. Lucia’s Day
This traditional festival of lights in Scandinavia honors St. Lucia, one of the earliest Christian martyrs, but was incorporated with earlier Norse solstice traditions after many Norsemen converted to Christianity around 1000 A.D....
...Dong Zhi
The Chinese celebration of the winter solstice, Dong Zhi (which means “Winter Arrives”) welcomes the return of longer days and the corresponding increase in positive energy in the year to come....
...Shab-e Yalda
On the longest night of the year, Iranians all over the world celebrate the triumph of Mithra, the Sun God, over darkness in the ancient festival of Shab-e Yalda (which translates to “Night of Birth”)....
...Inti Raymi
In Peru, like the rest of the Southern Hemisphere, the winter solstice is celebrated in June. The Inti Raymi (Quechua for “sun festival”), which takes place on the solstice, is dedicated to honoring Inti, the sun god....
...Shalako – Zuni Indians
For the Zuni, one of the Native American Pueblo peoples in western New Mexico, the winter solstice signifies the beginning of the year, and is marked with a ceremonial dance called Shalako....
... Soyal
Like the Zuni, the Hopi of northern Arizona are believed to be among the descendants of the mysterious Anasazi people, ancient Native Americans who flourished beginning in 200 B.C. (As the Anasazi left no written records, we can only speculate about their winter solstice rites, but the placement of stones and structures in their ruins, such as New Mexico’s Chaco Canyon, indicate they certainly took a keen interest in the sun’s movement.) In the Hopi solstice celebration of Soyal, the Sun Chief takes on the duties of the Zuni Pekwin, announcing the setting of the sun on the solstice....
...Toji
In Japan, the winter solstice is less a festival than a traditional practice centered around starting the new year with health and good luck. It’s a particularly sacred time of the year for farmers, who welcome the return of a sun that will nurture their crops after the long, cold winter....
