Midsummer celebrations throughout Europe coincide with the solstice. Many blend pre-Christian and Christian traditions.
Articles on Summer solstice
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Plants seem to know when the longest day of the year is.
Earth’s tilt means the Sun both rises earlier and sets later as we head towards summer.
A historian of astronomy writes about the role of astronomical events in Indigenous cultures − and also the exploitation of their sacred traditions in present times.
The monument’s ancient connection to the skies may run even deeper than we realised.
The longest and shortest days of the year are marked by the Sun’s position in the sky – but the seasons lag behind.
3HO was founded in 1969, and SDI followed five years later. What are they, and what is the significance of the 2023 summer solstice for their followers?
The dead of winter, when the longest night of the year takes place, has also traditionally been celebrated as a time of renewal and reverence.
For Wiccans, midsummer, with the maximum hours of sunlight, is the time for celebrating new life.
The winter solstice is past, but bundle up – January is when winter really arrives in many parts of the Northern Hemisphere.
The reason we have seasons is because, during its journey around the Sun, the Earth is tilted.
For indigenous peoples, winter solstice has been a time to honor their ancient sun deity. Their rituals reveal a deep understanding of the natural world.
How did civilization emerge from small groups of hunter-gatherers? Some archaeologists focus on cooperation as the vital ingredient – and find evidence for it in the form of feast-related artifacts.
The tilt of Earth’s axis as it orbits the Sun results in the seasonal changes.
Top contributors
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Professor of History, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
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Professor of Astronomy, UMass Amherst
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Postdoctoral research associate, University of Oxford
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Senior Lecturer in Physics, Nottingham Trent University
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Associate professor, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
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Teaching Assistant Professor, West Virginia University
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Director, Executive Leadership Academy, University of California, Berkeley
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Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of Memphis
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Affliated Scholar at the Women's Studies Research Center, Brandeis University
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Deputy Head of Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, Bournemouth University
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Professor in Astrophysics, Emeritus, University of Colorado Boulder
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Member of Kellogg College, University of Oxford and Visiting Fellow in Archaeology, Bournemouth University
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Acting Director and Astronomer, Dyer Observatory, Vanderbilt University
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Chair/Professor, Division of Social, Behavioral & Global Studies, California State University, Monterey Bay
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Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland