The primary axes of both of these monuments seem to have been carefully aligned on a sight-line pointing to the winter solstice sunrise (Newgrange) and the winter solstice sunset (Stonehenge). By submitting this form you acknowledge that the information you provide will be transferred to MailChimp for processing. The 687-day orbit of Mars around the Sun (almost twice that of the Earth) causes its summer and winter solstices to occur at approximately 23-month intervals.

The word solstice is derived from the Latin sol ("sun") and sistere ("to stand still"), because at the solstices, the Sun's declination appears to "stand still"; that is, the seasonal movement of the Sun's daily path (as seen from Earth) pauses at a northern or southern limit before reversing direction. At the summer solstice, the Sun reaches its highest point of the year, while at the winter solstice, the noon Sun is the lowest it will be all year. The June solstice is thus the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, and signals the onset of summer. This modern scientific word descends from a Latin scientific word in use in the late Roman Republic of the 1st century BC: solstitium.The opposite occurs in the Southern Hemisphere, which tilts toward the Sun and receives abundant sunlight. They are still not universal, however, as not all cultures use a solar-based calendar where the solstices occur every year in the same month (as they do not in the Islamic calendar and Hebrew calendar, for example). The Equinox in the Northern Hemisphereoccurs twice a year around20March (the springequinox)and around22 September (the autumn equinox).

At the same moment of solstice, the Southern Hemisphere is experiencing its shortest day—the hemisphere tilts 23. In the Southern Hemisphere, the December solstice marks the longest day of the year and the onset of summer. At this time in the Northern Hemisphere we are experiencing the longest and darkest nights of the year and the shortest days with the least amount of daylight. It's the fruitful darkness and silence out of which our soul's yearnings and new inspirations can eventually emerge. Though humanity has largely lost connection to these ceremonies and understandings, it is not too late to tap into the power of the sun and its positive influence in our lives.When we fear our own darkness,we cut ourselves off from an essential source of our own personal power.