I remember as a child growing up in a land over the oceans and mountains, far, far away from Bath, Maine, we celebrated winter solstice with much excitement. We called it 'shabeh chelleh' 'shab' means night and 'chelleh' means forty or 'shabeh yalda' which means rebirth of the sun since the days begin to get longer and nights shorter. Yalda has a history as long as the religion of Mithraism. The Mithraists believed that this night is the night of the birth of Mithra, Persian angel of light and truth. At the morning of the longest night of the year Mithra was born. As a child we would sit arount Korsi a low square table covered with a thick overhanging blanket usally made of sheep wool and, heated from underneath with a specially made space heater. All night long we would sit on large, comfortable cushions around the korsi while enjoying pomegranates, watermelon to taste the last bite of it, mixed nuts such as almonds, pistachio, walnuts, hazelnuts calling it problem solver nuts (moshgel gosha), yogurt, dried fruit and mostly each others company. We were to stay up all night, talking and celebrating but as a child I would doze off to sleep with cousing and siblings while the adults continued the celebration with sweets and tea. So even thought the weather was cold outside and inside, it felt wonderfully warm underneath the korsi munching on the treats and waiting for the longest night to end.