Winter (redirected from wintertime)

winter

1. 

a. the coldest season of the year, between autumn and spring, astronomically from the December solstice to the March equinox in the N hemisphere and at the opposite time of year in the S hemisphere

b. (as modifier): winter pasture

2. the period of cold weather associated with the winter

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winter [′win·tər]

(astronomy)

The period from the winter solstice, about December 22, to the vernal equinox, about March 21; popularly and for most meteorological purposes, winter is taken to include December, January, and February in the Northern Hemisphere, and June, July, and August in the Southern Hemisphere.

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Winter

Boreas

the north wind; associated with winter. [Rom. Myth.: Hall, 130]

crane

pictorial emblem in Buddhist tradition. [Animal Symbol-ism: Jobes, 378]

Ded Moroz

personification of winter; “Grandfather Frost.” [Russ. Folklore: Misc.]

goat

zodiacally belongs to December; hence, winter. [Astrology: Hall, 139]

Hiems

personification; portrayed as old and decrepit. [Rom. Myth.: LLEI, I: 322]

Jack Frost

personification of winter. [Pop. Culture: Misc.]

Old Man Winter

personification of winter. [Pop. Culture: Misc.]

old man wrapped in cloak

personification of winter. [Art: Hall, 130]

Persephone

the period of her stay (winter) with Hades. [Gk. Myth.: Espy, 28]

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Maidyarem (Maidhyairya; Mid-Year or Winter Feast)

December-January, May, June; 16th-20th days of Dae, the 10th Zoroastrian month

Maidyarem is the fifth of the six great seasonal feasts, known as gahambars, of the Zoroastrian religion. It was traditionally celebrated at a point in the agricultural year when, due to extreme cold, all work came to a halt. The name comes from the word airya, which means "rest."
The six gahambars were typically joyous festivals that included such activities as special rituals and prayers, and the sharing of food. Although they lasted five days, the fifth day was the only one spent in actual celebration; the other four were for preparation and anticipation of the day's feasting, when families or neighborhoods would get together. These seasonal feasts were designed to give those who worked from dawn to dusk on farms a respite from their labors. Today, with so many Zoroastrians living in urban areas, the importance of the gahambars has diminished.
The Zoroastrian calendar has 12 months of 30 days each, plus five extra days at the end of the year. Because of discrepancies in the calendars used by widely separated Zoroastrian communities around the world, there are now three different calendars in use, and Maidyarem can fall either in December-January, May, or June according to the Gregorian calendar.
There are only about 100,000 followers of Zoroastrianism today, and most of them live in northwestern India or Iran. Smaller communities exist in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Canada, the U.S., England, and Australia.

SOURCES:
RelHolCal-2004, p. 69