Jary and Jay-Jay have some very superstitious ideas about the solstice, and appear, like the Druids, to think some ceremony is necessary to prevent the sun from disappearing altogether. This is silly. The solstice is the result of the axis tilt of the earth (about 23.5 degrees, I believe). During December, the Northern Hemisphere of the earth is maximally tilted away from the sun, thus making for the "shortest" days and the cold temperatures. The opposite is true at the summer solstice--also known as "Midsummer Day". Please see the schematic below, and the excellent link above, courtesy of NASA.
Geoffrey
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