"Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all."

-Stanley Horowitz 

 It is not a coincidence that Chanukah is called the Festival Lights and that Christmas is rife with stars, lights and candles or that the winter solstice is centered around the return of the sun. It is all connected and here some places for you to start discovering the hows and whys of winter celebrations.

Astronomical explanation of the winter solstice : welcome the the longest night

The CandleGrove is an excellent place to learn about the ancient origins of the solstice.  

One of my favorite sites for all things religious has a plethora of information on winter solstice, yule, saturnalia, christmas, the long night, etc. 

 Books:

Yule by Dorothy Morrison 

The Winter Solstice by Ellen Jackson 

The Shortest Day: Celebrating the Winter Solstice by Wendy Pfeffer 

Return of the Light: Twelve Tales from around the World for the Winter Solstice: Caroline McVickar Edwards

The Solstice Evergreen: History, Folklore, and Origins of the Christmas Tree: by Sheryl Karas