Celebrants engage in druidic rituals outside the Stone Circle at Stonehenge, southern England as Druids and revelers celebrate the Winter Solstice, Tuesday Dec. 22, 2009. Pagans and druids, many dressed in weird and wonderful costumes, celebrated the shortest day of the year at the mysterious monument with traditional ceremonies. The shortest day of the year often falls on December 21 but this year the druid and pagan community marked the first day of winter Tuesday because the modern calendar of 365 days a year, with an extra day every four years, does not correspond exactly to the solar year of 365.2422 days.
(AP PhotoBen Birchall/PA)
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LONDON – Hundreds of people have celebrated the winter solstice at Stonehenge, braving snowy travel conditions and a morning fog.
About 700 people — including pagans and druids — saw the sun rise at the ancient rocks near Salisbury, England.
Peter Carson, Stonehenge's director, said it "was really looking picture-postcard perfect."
Carson said winter solstice can fall between Dec. 20 and 23. He said this year, winter solstice came after the sun set on Dec. 21, making Tuesday the shortest day of the year.
Summer solstice is also observed at the site, but Carson said the winter celebrations are increasingly popular.
He said there's a "better understanding that Stonehenge was a monument more significant at the winter rather than summer solstice."
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Tehran, Dec 21, IRNA - Iranians throughout the world will celebrate the longest night of the Iranian calendar year, Yalda, in a tradition welcoming the birthday of the Goddess of Love, Mitra.
These photos by ISNA show the people in Tehran have been busy shopping for fruits and nuts in preparation for celebration of the Yalda Night. More photos are available on ISNA's web site.
Yalda, the last night of autumn and the beginning of winter, is observed in every Iranian family here or abroad with ethnic roots to Iran.
On Yalda night, which this year falls on December 21, members of the family stay together, narrate old stories told by ancestors, play traditional games and eat dried and fresh fruits symbolizing various things.
Pomegranates, placed on top of a fruit basket, are reminders of the cycle of life -- the rebirth and revival of generations. The purple outer covering of a pomegranate symbolizes "birth" or "dawn" and their bright red seeds the "glow of life."
Watermelons, apples, grapes, sweet melons and persimmon are other special fruits served on Yalda night and all are symbols of freshness, warmth, love, kindness and happiness.
The Syranic word "yalda," meaning "birth," has its origins in ancient Persia and has come to symbolize a tradition observed since a thousand years ago in any Iranian family.
Ancient Iranians believed that the dawning of each year is marked with the re-emergence or rebirth of the sun, an event which falls on the first day of the month of Dey in the Iranian calendar (December 21). On this day, the sun was salvaged from the claws of the devil, which is represented by darkness, and gradually spread its rays all over the world to symbolize the triumph of good over evil.
Since Yalda night is the longest and darkest night of the year, it has come to symbolize many things in Persian poetry -- separation from a loved one, loneliness and waiting. After the night is over a transformation takes place -- the waiting is over, a new life begins and good triumphs over evil.
Reading poems of the Iranian poet, Hafez, is one of the most familiar activities on Yalda night.
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