Reading Time: 6 minutes Today is a special day. It is the shortest day of the year if you live in the Northern Hemisphere. Friday, December 21st, is the Winter Solstice. On Saturday the sun will once again travel north and our days will slowly begin to lengthen.

If you live south of the equator, of course, it is all opposite. It’s your Summer Solstice. You all have reached your peak of daylight and now your sunrises will be just a bit later each morning.

I’ve always been fascinated with how humans developed holiday celebrations and traditions to ease them through these darkest days, and to celebrate the return of the light.

The actual moment of the Solstice varies each year. This year it occurs at 2:23 p.m. Pacific Time. Find out when it occurs in your own time zone here.