I've always wondered why the winter solstice falls on December 21st instead of January 1st; as THAT is when the 'new' year starts.
I would have phrased that differently:
I've always wondered why we call the day the the winter solstice falls on December 21st instead of January 1st; as THAT is when the 'new' year starts.
Couldn't agree more, there are only four natural days to start a solar year, the solstices and equinoxes, and of those four, the winter makes the most sense as marking the birth of the sun.
I suppose I could settle for waiting a few days to make sure the sun really is coming back from its southern path, and call that (what we now mark as December 25th) the first day of the year.
Then we could celebrate both the birth of the sun and the birth of the Son on the same day, January 1st, when the calendar starts...