Winter Season: Timing, Meaning, and Best Ways To Celebrate

Celebrate the winter season!

Though winter is the season of death and decay, coldness and scarcity, there’s much to rejoice about in the harshest part of the year.

Discover everything you ever wanted to know about winter, and why you should embrace the season despite the harshness.

When is the Winter Season?

Winter’s timing depends on the hemisphere. In the Northern Hemisphere, the season starts on the December solstice, which occurs around the 22nd of December and ends on the vernal equinox in mid-March. The exact dates change every year because they depend on the position of the sun.

In 2025, winter will start on December 21.

The seasons are flipped in the Southern Hemisphere, so winter starts with the summer solstice in June, and ends with the Autumnal equinox in September.

The hemispheres experience different winters due to the Earth’s tilt, which changes with the seasons. In December, January, and February, the northern part of the Earth tilts away from the sun, making it colder in the North, while the Southern hemisphere tilts closer.

Winter Months

Because we’re located in the Northern Hemisphere, we’re focusing on the North’s winter season.

Here, four months encompass winter: December, January, February, and March.

What Does the Winter Season Represent?

People walking through a park during a snowstorm.
Photo Credit: Sambulov Yevgeniy via Shutterstock.com.

Winter represents death and decay, highlighting the end of nature’s cycle.

As the weather turns cold, the leaves lose their luster and fall to the ground, leaving a graveyard of barren tree trunks. Mammals hibernate, adult insects die, leaving the next generation to overwinter as eggs and crops cease to grow.

The classic Greek myth of Persephone and Demeter represents the seasonal changes.

In the legend, the god of the underworld, Hades, tricked Persephone into marriage, forcing her to live with him down in the world of the dead. Upon losing her daughter, Demeter, goddess of agriculture and the harvest, became so distraught that the plants ceased to grow, transforming the world into a barren landscape, cold and desolate.

Zeus, lord of the Gods, had to intervene. For the humans could not survive the harsh winter. There was no food.

He made a deal with Demeter and Hades, allowing Persephone to live with her mother for half the year. However, whenever Persephone needed to return to the underworld, Demeter fell into a deep depression. The plants died and the world turned cold until Persephone could rise once again.

Winter Season Themes

The winter season embraces themes of finality and death. It’s the end of the cycle, not only of the seasons but of life itself.

However, it’s not about despair. Although loss and death are painful, ancient cultures understood that they are essential aspects of life. For life to flourish, there must be death.

They didn’t see it as an end. They saw life as they saw the seasons, a cycle of death, rebirth, growth, and decay.

Although winter represents the end of the cycle, it also represents the beginning, which is something to celebrate.

Holidays in Winter

A little girl watches Santa's sled and reindeer fly over the moon.
Photo Credit: Yuganov Konstantin via Shutterstock.com.

The winter season features some of the most popular holidays in the world.

Discover all the ways to celebrate.

Christmas

In America and much of Europe, Christmas serves as the primary winter holiday. In most cultures, Christmas falls on December 25 (though some orthodox religions celebrate on January 6th).

Christmas is a Christian holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, the savior of the Christian religion. In some parts of the world, it’s taken on an almost secular nature, as many of the crucial religious components fall to the wayside in favor of the “spirit of giving.”

Yule

Yule is a Pagan holiday celebrating the winter solstice. Many of our favorite Christmas traditions originate with Yule time celebrations, including Christmas trees, wreaths, holly, and mistletoe.

Yule celebrates light’s triumph over dark, as the winter solstice marks the shift in the cycle where the days start to grow longer once again.

Hannukah

The Jewish holiday Hannukah is an 8-day celebration commemorating the Maccabean Revolt, a rebellion movement fighting for religious liberty.

Hannukah celebrates a miracle that took place during the revolt when the Maccabees attempted to rededicate the Holy Temple. They didn’t have enough menorah oil to complete the ceremony, but by some miracle, the small container of oil lasted eight full nights, allowing them to finish.

Although Hannukah can fall in either winter or autumn, it is often considered a winter holiday, and because it traditionally falls around Christmas, it’s one of the most well-known Jewish holidays in the West.

New Years

The West celebrates the new year on January 1. Ancient cultures used to celebrate the new year with the spring equinox, but the Roman Empire changed it to January near the turn of the millennia (around 46 BCE).

Over the centuries, it fluctuated between spring and winter but eventually settled in winter in 1582, when the pope introduced a new, revised Georgian calendar (though it took many centuries for all cultures to adapt it).

The uncertainty of when to start the new year highlights the cyclical nature of the seasons – for when does a circle start and end? The January 1st start date places the new year very close to the shortest day of the year – the beginning of a new cycle where the days begin to grow longer once again.

Lunar New Year

Many Asian cultures celebrate “Chinese New Year,” the beginning of the new Lunar cycle, in February. The holiday begins on the first day of the first new moon of the lunar year and ends 15 days later with the full moon.

Because the year is based on moon cycles, it changes each year in relation to solar calendars, occurring between late January and mid-February.

Lunar New Year is also known as the “Spring Festival,” as it marks the end of the harsh winter and arrival of spring renewal. The two-week period is marked with parades, feasts, revelry, and gorgeous décor.

Lantern Day

Lantern Day marks the culmination of the Lunar New Year celebrations. The day honors ancestors, promotes peace, and looks forward to a more harmonious future.

People create ordinate lanterns for the festival. Children carry them through the streets, earning prizes for solving riddles (similar to Halloween in the West).

In the past, people would release the lanterns into the night sky, symbolizing a letting go of past hurts and moving towards the future, but most cities have banned lantern releases due to the fire hazard they represent.

Lantern Day is celebrated mainly in China and Japan, though there is a similar festival in the fall in other Asian countries.

Kwanzaa

Kwanzaa began in the 20th century in the United States as a way to honor and celebrate the cultures and traditions of Africa that were lost to African Americans due to the horrors of the slave trade.

Many African Americans feel disconnected from their cultural heritage, as their ancestors were kidnapped from their homelands and forced to give up their traditions. Kwanzaa seeks to remedy that, by bringing some of the traditions from West, East, and South Africa into one holiday to allow all African Americans the chance to celebrate their ancestral heritage.

Kwanzaa occurs from December 26 to January 1, culminating in a communal feast on the last day.

Lohri

Lohri is a celebration of longer days and the end of winter which takes place in Northern India. It typically occurs in mid-January, though the date is subject to change.

During Lohri, revelers light bonfires to “reignite” the sun in preparation for longer days ahead. It’s celebrated with feasts of winter crops, like corn and sugarcane, and special dances.

Mardi Gras

Before Lent starts, Christians across the globe let their hair down in massive parties featuring parades, feasts, and revelry in a multi-day celebration known as Mardi Gras. Mardi Gras occurs on Fat Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday, the official start of Lent.

The celebration has Pagan origins, beginning as a festival to welcome spring and transforming into a Christian holiday with the Romans. The day still features Pagan elements, as the date changes each year depending on the Lunar calendar. Mardi Gras always occurs 47 days before Easter, which always occurs on the Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox.

Boxing Day

Boxing Day originated in the United Kingdom and spread to many of the Commonwealth Countries and a few places outside of it as well. The holiday takes place the day after Christmas (December 26) and began as an opportunity to give to the less fortunate.

Today, it’s more of a shopping holiday, similar to America’s Black Friday. Merchants slash prices to attract shoppers in the after-Christmas sale frenzy.

However, despite the association with shopping, the day also corresponds to St. Stephens day and provides an opportunity to donate to the poor or engage in volunteer work.

The Best Ways to Enjoy Winter

A family sledding in the snow.
Photo Credit: Robert Kneschke via Shutterstock.com.

Winter’s long nights and cold weather may keep us cooped up inside most of the time, but there are plenty of blissful ways to enjoy the season.

Here are some of my favorites.

Winter Sports

You don’t have to stay indoors all winter. Take a weekend trip to enjoy some of the most iconic sports of the season. Take a ski trip to Beaver Creek in Colorado, try snowboarding, or head to your local hill for some sledding action.

Play in the Snow

You don’t need to engage in expensive winter sports to enjoy the snow. When I was a kid, I loved building snow forts and having massive snowball fights with my siblings and the neighborhood kids.

You could also build a snowman, make snow angels, or simply enjoy the quiet beauty of a fresh snowfall.

Get Cozy

Cold weather provides the perfect opportunity to wrap yourself in a blanket, enjoy a warm cup of hot chocolate, and settle down with a good book.

Embrace the cozy hearth during the winter season and let yourself be a little idle, just like nature.

Give Back

Many winter holidays celebrate the season of giving. Embrace it by giving back to your community. Donate old clothes, volunteer for a worthy cause, or give money to charity.

Winter is the perfect time to volunteer at a food bank or soup kitchen to help feed the hungry.

Gaming Marathon

What better way to spend cold evenings trapped inside than with your favorite video games? Power up your favorite console and spend time battling the forces of evil. Revisit your favorite retro games from your childhood, or check in on your Animal Farm Island.

Arts & Crafts

Winter is the perfect time for arts and crafts. Escape the cold by doing something fun and creative indoors.

 Pull out your scrapbook and revisit all the fun you had in the spring and summer. Knit a scarf. Try painting or drawing. Get a little creative.

Enjoy Football

America’s favorite sport enters playoff season in the winter. Root for your favorite team as they battle for supremacy.

In February, the champion will be crowned at the iconic Superbowl, which should be an American holiday (well, maybe we should make the Monday after the Superbowl an official holiday instead).

See a Show

You don’t have to stay home to enjoy winter and avoid the cold. The season provides a perfect opportunity to hit your local movie theaters and see what’s playing.

Don’t limit yourself to the movies. Consider seeing an orchestra, local play, or concert. It’s a great way to get out of the house during winter.

Embrace the Winter Season!

You may not enjoy winter or the cold it brings, but it’s a crucial part of nature’s cycle. Without it, we couldn’t have the glorious rebirth of spring or the bountiful harvest of autumn.

Make the best of the winter season and embrace all the wonderful things about it. Have a fantastic winter.

Author: Melanie Allen

Title: Journalist

Expertise: Pursuing Your Passions, Travel, Wellness, Hobbies, Finance, Gaming, Happiness

Melanie Allen is an American journalist and happiness expert. She has bylines on MSN, the AP News Wire, Wealth of Geeks, Media Decision, and numerous media outlets across the nation and is a certified happiness life coach. She covers a wide range of topics centered around self-actualization and the quest for a fulfilling life.