somewhereintheworldtoday:

Happy Solstice Celebrations! How will you spend the longest night of the year?

The Mithraists believed that the longest night of the year (Yalda) is the night when Mithra, Persian god of light and truth, was born, and that he was born at dawn from a virgin mother. Yalda is a time when family and close friends get together to eat the last of the summer fruit and nuts and stay awake all night sharing stories, feet tucked cosily up under a warm blanket.

Karachun, Korochun or Kračún is a Slavic holiday similar to Halloween – a day when the Crnobog (The Black God) or Pya and other evil spirits are at their strongest. holiday became a time to respect ancestors. Fires were lit at cemeteries to keep loved ones warm and feasts held to honour the dead.

In Brighton Burning the Clocks started as an antidote to the excesses and commercialism of Christmas. The people of Brighton gather together to make individual and unique lanterns out of willow and paper to carry through their city and burn on the beach to mark the winter solstice and welcome the coming of the longer days.

Picture: Burning Clocks 2006 by same-sky, on Flickr