Winter solstice: Always, everywhere we've celebrated the sun's return

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For years I have been writing about the winter solstice for my friends. (And taking credit for the sun's return — hopefully in a humorous way.) This year I took a deep dive about the solstice. Who knew that I've had so much help from many others around the world in my efforts? Research has given me an epiphany of sorts about winter celebrations. Allow me to share.

Most of us know that Stonehenge was built about 5,000 years ago with a key purpose of helping to celebrate solstices. Many also know that "Christmas" trees have been around since long before Christmas in northern Europe. But people have other really unique celebrations to mark this important moment in the year.

For a Czech tradition, there's the shoe toss. On Christmas Day single women throw a shoe at their house door, and if it lands with the toe pointed at the door they start sending out the invitations. If not, well, men are stupid anyway.

Most of us have heard of the Saturnalia. Sure, it sounds like a naval aviator party but it wasn't all about drinking and carousing. While these festivities were going on, grudges were forgotten and wars were paused. Sounds like a recipe for the whole year — if your body could stand the partying.

The Ursul — the Bear Dance — is big in Romania. An ancient ritual, Ursul carolers dress in bear costumes and dance, apparently to drive away evil spirits. Also to say goodbye to the old year and welcome in the new one. No hibernating allowed for these bears.

Not to be outdone, the Brits in Brighton have the Burning of the Clocks. Some celebrants dress up as clocks representing the passing of time. They head to the beach with lanterns of paper and wood and there they are thrown into a bonfire.

My goodness, no, not the human Timexes. They only did that for a couple years before they ran out of volunteers. No, the lanterns are thrown into the fire, hopefully taking with them wishes, hopes and fears. Odd, but that's the British.

Here's one you can really agree with. The Austrians have a guy who comes to visit the children. Unlike his warm and cuddly opposite, Santa, Krampus only looks for naughty children. When he finds them he punishes them, and if he finds a really rotten kid, he takes that child away in his sack! (Don't you wish Krampus would visit certain politicians in both parties?)

Finally, Toji, the Japanese solstice celebration. Related to yin and yang, it celebrates relief from the dark and cold of the shortest day of the year with a hot bath with citrus fruits to refresh the body and keep you healthy with nice smooth skin.

That's a quick trip around the world of winter solstice and winter celebrations.

But wait, there's more!

Discovered in modern day Turkey, Göbekli Tepe is an architectural site thought to be about 11,000 years old. That means it is about 6,000 years older than Stonehenge. The smart guys studying it think that, like Stonehenge, it was for some sort of rituals, probably even solstices. It was built by hunter-gatherers in the middle of nowhere with no metal tools, thousands of years before such a feat was thought possible.

Now for my solstice deep thought.

Notice that in pretty much every culture — or even before there was a culture — people have celebrated this time of the year. They may have their different reasons with different ceremonies, but they all were struck by the need to recognize it. And this is just one example of how for thousands of years, and in isolation from each other, humans all over the world have many traditions or stories in common.

Carl Jung, the psychologist, said it better: " Human beings are connected to each other and their ancestors through a shared set of experiences." He called this the "collective unconscious."

I don't want to go all woo woo on you, but I agree. Call it whatever you like: myths, instincts, legends — god? — we're all tied together in this circus we call life. (When we're not killing each other. Sadly, something else we seem to have in common.)

Anyway, on Dec. 21 at 9:37 p.m. our time, we can all breathe a sigh of relief as sun begins its slow but sure return to these northern climes. Whatever your celebration this time of the year, I hope it was — or is — a great one.

D. Roger Pederson lives in Minneapolis.