December 22, 2006

England, United Kingdom

A reveler offers an incantation during the winter solstice—which fell on December 22 this year—near Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain in southern England. In the Northern Hemisphere the winter solstice is the shortest day of the year, when the North Pole is tilted the farthest it can be away from the sun.

The ancient druids who built Stonehenge around 2300 B.C. likely used the stone circle as an astronomical calendar to mark celestial events as well as a place of worship. Modern pagans still consider Stonehenge to be a sacred site and have fought for their right to gather there to celebrate the summer and winter solstices.

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