How the Sun Illuminates Spanish Missions On the Winter Solstice
Today, the rising sun shines on altars and other religious objects at many Spanish churches in the U.S. and Latin America
By Rubén G. Mendoza, The Conversation
December 21, 2017
On Thursday, Dec. 21, nations in the Northern Hemisphere will mark the winter solstice – the shortest day and longest night of the year. For thousands of years people have marked this event with rituals and celebrations to signal the rebirth of the sun and its victory over darkness.
At hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of missions stretching from northern California to Peru, the winter solstice sun triggers an extraordinarily rare and fascinating event – something that I discovered by accident and first documented in one California church nearly 20 years ago.
Read more:
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-sun-illuminates-spanish-missions-on-winter-solstice-180967619/#Q8fhsodZp0kEjhWf.99
