# Happy Solstice! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 23, 1999, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-solstice/12232 "1999-12-23T02:53:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Persephone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@Persephone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Persephone)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 1999, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-solstice/12232/1 "1999-12-23T02:53:00Z")
To everyone that celebrates the Yule holiday, I hope yours is a good one! And check out the moon if you haven’t already. It’s so big tonight I swear I saw a lunar lander. Blessed be! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 1999, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-solstice/12232/2 "1999-12-23T03:04:00Z")
Hey Cristi – thanks for checking out the moon – I was hoping someone would do it. So it really does look bigger? It’s just too damn cold to even step outside. Happy Solstice back to ya! ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 1999, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-solstice/12232/3 "1999-12-23T03:05:00Z")
Yes, indeed! Wow, what a glorious moon. 🙂 On a side note, I wonder how many Christians realize that the main reason we celebrate “the birth of Christ” at this time of year is that folks were already in the habit of observing festivities about now. Same with “Easter” and the traditional fertility rites. Ah, Stonehenge…gimme that old time religion! ---
**Author:** ![Persephone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@Persephone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Persephone)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 1999, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-solstice/12232/4 "1999-12-23T07:24:00Z")
The History Channel just had a really nifty show called _Christmas Unwrapped,_ that told the whole _real_ story about how Christmas got started. It was really neat. I knew most of that stuff already, but the show had really cool pictures. 🙂 I made Christmas presents for my family this year. I did the majority of the work tonight. I was going to start them last week, but then I remembered the full moon/solstice event, so I decided to wait until tonight. The stuff I made just feels a little more special now. Got that moon energy. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![evilbeth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/evilbeth/32/2268_2.png) [@evilbeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilbeth)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 1999, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-solstice/12232/5 "1999-12-23T09:20:00Z")
The moon was absolutely breathtaking at about 6pm tonight. It was enormous! However, it wasn’t too bad a little while ago either! Happy Solstice to everyone! Blessed be! * * * _…what the French call, a certain “I-don’t-know-what”_ ---
**Author:** ![JBENZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b77776/32.png) [@JBENZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBENZ)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 1999, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-solstice/12232/6 "1999-12-23T11:25:00Z")
Went out to look at the moon around midnite EST. It was right next to Orion and so bright it nearly wiped out the whole constellation. Even Sirius was barely visible. Behold the power of Cheese. * * * JB Lex Non Favet Delicatorum Votis ---
**Author:** ![the\_Scarlet\_Pimpernel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f1d935/32.png) [@the\_Scarlet\_Pimpernel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_Scarlet_Pimpernel)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 1999, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-solstice/12232/7 "1999-12-23T12:11:00Z")
Gratuitous Nit-Picking Dept: Just want to point out to all those Pagans/Wiccans/etc who use the Celtic calendar, that days are reckoned from sunset to sunset, like the Jewish calendar. Which is why Samhain (Halloween) goes from the night of Oct 31 to sundown on Nov 1. So the Solstice is from sundown Dec 21 to sundown Dec 22 (certain years). IOW, if it’s dark on the 22nd, it aint Solstice no more! Sorry, and Im not saying this is the case for anyone on this board, but it just bugs me to hear Pagans say theyre Pagans because the holidays are somehow more “based in reality” or something than the Christian holidays, and then they celebrate these “real-er” holidays with as much ignorance as they claim the Christians do. * * * Il vaut mieux gâcher sa jeunesse que de n’en rien faire du tout. – Georges Courteline ---
**Author:** ![Persephone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@Persephone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Persephone)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 1999, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-solstice/12232/8 "1999-12-23T15:17:00Z")
Yeah Scarlet, we know that. The moon was pretty on Tuesday night too. Nyah. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 1999, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-solstice/12232/9 "1999-12-23T16:13:00Z")
Yeah, yeah, but I still had to use my headlights to drive. 😉 * * * The overwhelming majority of people have more than the average (mean) number of legs. – E. Grebenik