ABSTRACT
The middle of winter (in the northern hemisphere) sees a range of festivals aimed at lifting the spirits in the dark days of the season. There are religious and non-religious festivals across cultures and geographies; Diwali, Christmas, Bodhi (Buddha’s Day of Enlightenment), Hannukah, the winter solstice, Eid-al-Adha, Chinese Constitution Day, Kwanzaa, Hogmanay. Some of these are tied to specific dates and some are tied to other calendars (for example, in 2010/11 Eid-al-Adha falls in winter, but will migrate backwards in time). The scheme looks for some common human ground in these diverse festivals, and settles upon the human response to darkness and the striving for light.
