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Winter Solstice 2011: Druids Gather At Stonehenge For 'Good Omen'

Winter Solstice Stonehenge

First Posted: 22/12/11 15:51 Updated: 22/12/11 15:51

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Druids gathered at Stonehenge to mark the winter solstice, which officially occurred at 5.30am on 22 December 2011. The shortest day of the year, days become progressively lighter after this time, which for many is a cause of celebration.

During the winter solstice the sun is closer to horizon than any other time of the year. Winter solstice has traditionally been a day of great significance, with its connotations of birth and rebirth.

Christmas is the historical date of the Roman winter solstice. It’s traditional name is Brumalia which comes from the latin “Bruma” meaning shortest day.

During this year’s winter solstice more than 1000 people watched the sunrise at Stonehenge, while candles were placed round the white horse on a hillside at Alton Barnes, near Devizes in Wiltshire.

Arch druid Rollo Maughfling told the BBC that it was a "good omen for the year ahead" that the sun rose after the dawn ceremony. "It has been a very jolly occasion” he added.


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lenuk
85 Fans
23:38 on 22/12/2011
"And oh how they danced
The little children of Stonehenge
Beneath the haunted moon
For fear that daybreak might come too soon "
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bhaines213
1979 Fans
19:11 on 22/12/2011
Happy Winter Solstice everyone.
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Mister J G Reeder
13 Fans
18:51 on 22/12/2011
These are not Druids. Almost nothing is known about Druids and there are very, very few examples of their work to be found anywhere. Stonehenge pre-dates Druidism by thousands of years and there is some value in the view that Druidry (not the same as Druidism) has it's roots in the fallacies of John Aubrey who first suggested that Stonehenge was used as a place of worship by Druids, which is now known to be false, and the Rev. William Stukeley who propounded similar ideas. Whatever the truth is the current cult of Druidry has it's roots in the outfit which sprung from Aubrey and Stukeley in 1715 and no earlier.
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CulturedScouse
0 Fans
23:57 on 22/12/2011
Do you mean that today's 'Druids' have taken over something that was never their's, much as the Church of England has taken over the medieval churches and cathedrals that were never their's?
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Mister J G Reeder
13 Fans
00:15 on 23/12/2011
CulturedScouse: No I don't mean that at all. How can something be taken over if nothing about that 'thing' is known? These people are at best ignorant of history, others use the all encompassing blanket of toleration to validate their tenuous grip on reality, be they hippies, druggies, amateur actors, or people with all sorts of issues (nutters). None of things has anything to do with Druids; that much we do know or at least can discern from history. Mediaeval churches and cathedrals always have been the home of the Christian religions, mainly Roman Catholicism, and the Church of England is little more than a splinter group from those. As to Stonehenge, nobody knows what it was for and the idea that it is linked to any form of religion may be completely wrong.
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jmmcmkn
45 Fans
13:39 on 24/12/2011
Mister J G Reeder
Many of the Christian churches are actualy deliberatly sited on formerly "pagan" religious sites as a way of claiming the site and showing who the dominiant religion is.
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