2021 WINTER SOLSTICE

TIMING THE 2021 WINTER SOLSTICE

Southward Solstice
Capricorn Ingress

Tuesday, December 21, 2021

 

UTC
(Time Zone)
3:59:00 pm GMT/Zulu

London
(United Kingdom – England)
3:59:00 pm GMT UTC

Washington DC
(District of Columbia)
10:59:00 am EST UTC-5 hours

New Orleans
(Louisiana)
9:59:00 am CST UTC-6 hours

Denver
(Colorado)
8:59:00 am MST UTC-7 hours

Seattle
(Washington)
7:59:00 am PST UTC-8 hours

Wailuku
(Hawaii)
5:59:00 am HST UTC-10 hours


“The days have decreased in length as much as they ever will [or increased that much south of the equator]. Life surges once more with the Sun from its southern decline. The Sun moves northward, its daily arc of light becomes slowly tauter and more radiant. The promise of spring spreads like a mystic fire over the earth to tell ‘men of good will’ that the New Life has begun to win over arrested death.”
-- Dane Rudhyar, The Pulse of Life, 1963

By the awesome Francis Donald Grabau. starpath visions dot com

 

 

At Winter Solstice, the realm of the night has reached its maximum. The day begins increasing in length. Sol comes his furthest south and has his shortest period in the day sky, while the night is the longest of the year. From the point of the Solstice onward to the Summer Solstice, there is an increase of light.

The Sun and Moon are the basis for most calendars. Astronomical events keyed to the Sun (a few include the Moon) determine many holidays and holy days. The Winter Solstice marks the Sun’s entry into the sign, Capricorn ruled by the planet Saturn. It is also known as the Capricorn ingress. Winter celebrations include Saturnalia, a week-long Roman festival of the god Saturn. While the precise solstice time is given here for the Sun’s standstill moment, it seems to rise and set from the same point for three days or so. There is a more extended festival of Germanic people called by the Norse word for wheel, “Yule,” and of course, Christmas Eve and Day, and New Year’s Eve and Day. Karolina Markovic offers the feast day of St. Nicholas (Nikoljdan, December 19).

NASA

Donna Henes has a poetic take on the still moment that eruptions may punctuate from the depths of undifferentiated potential. On the day of the Solstice, and aware of the precise timing, one may take some time to meditate and reflect.

“The year is a wheel with eight spokes. Each circuit is comparable to the cycle of a human life. The Winter Solstice is the time before we were born, the great dark uterine void from which all is formed. The vast black ring around all possibility, its perimeter bulging with promise. Light is conceived in the cold dark at the time of the Winter Solstice. The smallest spark, the most tentative hint of a glow, is imagined in the dense ambiance of its absence. The Sun is a mere gleam in the eye of eternity. Light, no matter how tiny, equals life.”

-- Donna Henes, Celestially Auspicious Occasions: Seasons, Cycles & Celebrations. New York: Berkley Publishing Group, 1966, p. 5. Thanks to Astrolabe.

When does the year begin?

“...in very ancient times, the most important yearly turning points were considered to be the summer and winter solstices. Later, in the 4th century AD, Emperor Julian opted for the Winter Solstice in particular, “when King Helios returns to us again, and leaving the region furthest south and rounding Capricorn as though it were a goal-post, advances from the south to the north to give us our share of blessings of the year.”
--- Quoted by Charles Harvey in Michael Baigent, Nicholas Campion, and Charles Harvey, Mundane Astrology, 2nd ed. London, Aquarian Press, 1992.

“In the 20th century, Charles Carter in England, and Alfred Witte in Germany, both echoed Emperor Julian’s sentiments and made a persuasive case for the Capricorn ingress to be regarded as the beginning, or the start of the year. The consensus among most “Western” astrologers is that the Vernal Equinox (Spring) begins the astrological year. Witte saw the Capricorn ingress as the beginning of the solar cycle. In the Northern Hemisphere, it’s the time when the old Sun dies, and a new one is born, and, as Chinese astrologers saw it, increasing yin switches over to increasing yang. Like the New Moon, which most astrologers acknowledge as the beginning of the lunar cycle, the Winter Solstice marks the end of the waning half of the cycle and the beginning of a new waxing half.

“In Northern latitudes, Capricorn is probably the most emotionally laden of the four Cardinal ingresses – the one that brings up primal fears of darkness, cold, hunger, and the cessation of all life. Will the light return? Will the round of life continue? For peoples who routinely experienced cold, famine, and nights lit only by firelight, seeing the waning of the Sun’s strength finally reverse itself must have genuinely seemed like a rebirth and must have been an occasion for heartfelt rejoicing.

“Today, around the time of the Winter Solstice we still compensate for the withdrawal of the Sun’s light and heat by cozily nesting indoors, stoking the fire, festooning trees with lights, and warming ourselves with food, strong spirits and the company of others. To counter nature’s threat of scarcity, we invoke a great-bellied saint clad in the color of fire, whose pack brims with human-made abundance. Our thoughts turn from fresh-picked food toward what is preserved and stored, from the vanished lushness of the natural world toward the human-created social order with its own ingenious methods for sustaining life and hope.”
--- https://alabe.com/AUG2.htm (TR edited)

The idea that the Sun does not move from rising at the same point for three days is an observed one, not a factual reality. One may calculate the precise standstill moment to the second. Astrologers use the timing of solstices and equinoxes for mundane appraisal of the period to follow. Gary Christen, a well-known practitioner of Uranian Astrology (now referred to as Symmetrical Astrology), does a mind-bendingly good job of using the ingress chart to forecast world events and trends. For Christen’s annual report, go to alabe .com. I use the precision personally and privately to honor the moment.

Samhain 2021

2021 Samhain Sun 15° Scorpio

Here, in a few time zones are the cross-quarter moments for Samhain 2021, based on an astronomical midpoint; the Sun at the first breath of the still point between equinox and solstice.

UTC Sun, Nov 7, 2021, 04:58:37 am

GMT (UTC +0) London, United Kingdom
Sun, Nov 7, 2021, 04:58:37 am

EDT (UTC -4) New York, NY, USA
Sun, Nov 7, 2021, 12:58:37 am

CDT (UTC -5) Chicago, IL, USA*
Sat, Nov 6, 2021, 11:58:37 pm

MDT (UTC -6) Denver, CO, USA*
Sat, Nov 6, 2021, 10:58:37 pm

PDT (UTC -7) San Francisco, CA, USA*
Sat, Nov 6, 2021, 9:58:37 pm

HST (UTC -10) Honolulu, HI, USA
Sat, Nov 6, 2021, 6:58:37 pm

   

Reuters

"Samhain is the seed returned to earth, the quiescent dark beginning that will lead, in time, to renewed life."

"Samhain" (pronounced "so-wen" because the "mh" in the middle of an Irish word is the "w" sound. [Other Celtic groups have variations on pronunciation]). It marked the end of the agricultural year and the time to take stock of supplies. It was a time when the community began to fold in upon itself to prepare for the long, hard winter ahead. In actuality, Samhain was also the beginning of the Celtic year, which follows the cycle of planting."

from "The Samhain Harvest Celebration" by Moyra

A short article dealing with Druid mythology comes via the University of Chicago. https://ecuip.lib.uchicago.edu/diglib/science/cultural_astronomy/cultures_druids-3.html

The celebrations of Earth religions (especially of Celts and Pagans) often or usually involve fire ceremonies. They built bonfires on high hills, and the night would enfold with traditions that might move to dance, feast, various forms of Earth worship, and revelry.


With most of the points in the eight-fold year*, there is a cluster of holidays and holy days. We get All Hallows Eve or Halloween from "Samhain," the cross-quarter day midway between Autumn Equinox and Winter Solstice. Here are a few other "Days":

Oct. (last Sun.): Día de Cristo Rey, especially in Ixtlán del Río, Nayarit (Day of Christ the King, with “Quetzal y Azteca” and “La Pluma” indígena dances, horse races, processions, and food)
Nov 1: Día de Todos Santos (All Souls' Day, in honor of the souls of children; the departed descend from Heaven to eat sugar skeletons, skulls, and treats on family altars)
Nov 2: Día de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead, in honor of ancestors; families visit cemeteries and decorate graves with flowers and favorite food of the deceased)

*The Seasons expressed by the Sun's passage to the exact peak of a season, midway in space/time between Spring Equinox, Summer Solstice, Fall Equinox, or Winter Solstice

America Magazine

Buddhism offers that "instead of regretting and lamenting their loss we can contemplate on what aspirations they had and we can continue to realize it for them. This is one way we continue them." https://plumvillage.org/library/dharma-talks/the-five-remembrances-sr-thuan-nghiem-spring-retreat-2018-05-17/


Do you know of other holidays and holy days about this Samhain cross-quarter or zone of the calendar? startalker.tim@gmail.com

Daylight Saving Time Ends

Sunday, Nov 7, 2021, 2:00 AM, clocks back to 1:00:00 am local standard time in most U.S. zones. Arizona, Hawaii, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico do not use DST, Daylight Saving Time and are customarily in Standard Time: AST, EST, CST, MST, PST, AHST.

2021 Autumn Equinox

Timing the 2021 Autumn Equinox

Wednesday, September 22, marks an equinox, a time when the Earth's equator tilts directly toward the Sun. In the Northern Hemisphere, it is the autumnal equinox and the spring equinox in the Southern Hemisphere. The Autumnal (Southward) Equinox marks the entry of the Sun into the Sign of Libra (Sun at 0° Libra) for both hemispheres. The word equinox comes from the Latin words aequus, meaning equal, and nox, meaning night. Although the equinox happens simultaneously worldwide, the clock time will depend on your time zone. It occurs on Wednesday, September 22, 2021, at 17:20:57 PM UT/GMT (rounded up to 17:21). The time is earlier moving west.

The Equinox in a few time zones with example locations:
Wednesday, September 22, 2021
UT/GMT 07:21 PM
UK/BST 08:21 PM—London
EDT 03:21 PM—Washington, D.C.
CDT 02:21 PM—Chicago
MDT 01:21 PM—Denver
PDT 12:21 PM—a high noon event in Los Angeles
HST 09:21 AM Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time—Honolulu

UT / UTC / GMT is the basis for local times worldwide
UTC, Universal Time Coordinated / Universal Coordinated Time
Successor to: Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)
Military name: "Zulu" Military Time
Longitude: 0° (Prime Meridian)

Earth's equator extended into space is the celestial equator. From our earthly perspective, the Sun appears to orbit annually. The Sun's path is the ecliptic. Twice a year, the Sun's rays shine directly over the Earth's equator. When the Sun on the ecliptic seems to cross the celestial equator, we get equinoxes. At the equinox, the Sun shines directly on the equator, and there are nearly equal amounts of day and night throughout the world.


The first day of Fall is the Autumnal Equinox in the northern hemisphere, and the first day of Spring, the Vernal Equinox, in the southern hemisphere. The Sun rises and sets exactly due east and due west on the equinoxes. Instead of the Earth tilting away from or toward the Sun, its axis of rotation becomes perpendicular to the line connecting the centers of the Earth and the Sun. From Autumnal Equinox to Winter Solstice (December 22), the nights get longer.

At the (Southward) Autumnal Equinox, the Sun enters Libra (Sun 0° Libra). In religious and spiritual tradition, it is a holy day. Solstices and equinoxes determine four points. The midpoints between those, called "Cross Quarter Days," are recognized and utilized for celebration and ritual. Those are the eight equidistant solar gates in the ancient Wheel of the Year. Maybon is a "name for the Autumnal Equinox, also known as the Second Harvest Festival, Festival of Dionysus, Wine Harvest, Cornucopia, Feast of Avalon, etc. The first Thanksgiving was held on or near this date, and it is from these early harvest festivals that the modern Thanksgiving feasts developed." - Kristin Madden (Llewellyn Publications)

For the northern hemisphere, the wheel of the year turns toward darkness. The poetic approach sees the energies of the dark gods and goddesses begin to increase and gain attention. The balance described by the Taoist symbol of Yin and Yang reflects the Equinox moment. Still, an imbalance starts at the point of Equinox as night begins to overtake daylight. The processes of inward-turning gain significance. Persephone returns to her throne with Hades in the Underworld, or Inanna and Ereshkigal decide to play fair with power.

Mayan monuments, such as the one at Chichén Itzá on the Yucatan Peninsula, were used to track the solar season cycle. In Mexico, crowds flock to the pyramid at Chichén Itzá on the Yucatan Peninsula. A serpent-headed statue lies at the foot of the pyramid. The sunlight and the shadow show the serpent's body joining with the head as the Sun sets. The photograph shows the Sunset equinox illuminating the snake head you see at the bottom left and extending to the tail at the top of the pyramid.

Because night and day are nearly in balance, the equinox is a great time to work on personal balance. Equinoxes are perfect times to re-evaluate where you are and take the steps necessary to get your emotional and spiritual lives in order.
Adapted from Nasco [Not sure who or what Nasco is. The suggestion makes sense to me.]

Reminder: in a few weeks, on November 7, 2021, Daylight Saving Time ends – lose one hour, 2:00 AM becomes 1:00 AM. Contact Personnel about payment for the lost hour.

2021 Lammas-Lughnasadh

Lughnasadh/Lammas 2021

HOLLYSIERRA

The Sun at 15° Leo is the precise midway point between Summer Solstice and Autumn Equinox. These times are for that cross-quarter moment.

7 August 2021
6:53:51 AM GMT/UT +00:00:00
7:53:51 AM GMD -01:00:00 London (called British Summer Time)
2:53:51 AM EDT +04:00:00 Washington DC
1:53:51 AM CDT +05:00:00 Chicago
12:53:51 AM MDT +06:00:00 Albuquerque
6 Aug 2021
11:53:51 PM PDT +07:00:00 San Francisco
8:53:51 PM AHST +10:00:00 Kahului, Hawaii

Gardens are reaching peaks of ecstasy and zucchini for the neighborhood. Nat King Cole is doing those lazy, crazy, hazy days, barbecues, picnics, and nasad.

 Lammas (Loaf Mass) or Lughnasadh (Loo-nas-ah) is the third of the four fire festivals held at solstice and equinox midpoints. This one is at the Leo midpoint (15° Leo), twixt Summer solstice, Litha (Cancer), and Autumn equinox, Mabon (Libra).

Lugh is the Celtic sun god. Lughnasadh celebrates the midsummer harvest in the Northern Hemisphere (midwinter in the Southern Hemisphere). Nasad suggests harvest festivals, fairs, and games.

Barley is among the grains harvested and celebrated at Lunasad (Scottish name). Robert Burns immortalized it in the ballad, John Barleycorn. Find abundant offerings about the song via a search and for musical variants with a YouTube search.

2021 Summer Solstice or Cancer Ingress

2021 Summer Solstice
Cancer Ingress

Timing the Sun's entry to 00° Cancer

The Summer Solstice marks the most prolonged period of daylight in the Northern Hemisphere. From that point, days become shorter until day and night are equal at the Autumn Equinox. Then it is on to the longest night of the Winter Solstice.

21 Jun 2021
3:32:02 AM, UTC +00:00:00

London, England
4:32:02 AM GMD -01:00:00

20 Jun 2021
Boston, Massachusetts USA
11:32:02 PM EDT +04:00:00

New Orleans, Louisiana USA
10:32:02 PM CDT +05:00:00

Santa Fe, New Mexico USA
9:32:02 PM MDT +06:00:00

Reno, Nevada USA
8:32:02 PM PDT +07:00:00

Kahului, Hawaii USA
5:32:02 PM AHST +10:00:00

weather.gov/images/cle/Education/EarthOrbit.png

The summer solstice, also known as the estival solstice or midsummer, occurs when one of the Earth's poles has its maximum tilt toward the Sun. It happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere. For that hemisphere, the summer solstice is when the Sun reaches its highest position in the sky and is the day with the most extended period of daylight. On the summer solstice, Earth's maximum axial tilt toward the Sun is 23.44°. Likewise, the Sun's declination from the celestial equator (Earth's equator extended as a plane into space) is 23.44°.

Wikipedia · Huffingtonpost

 

Dictionary dot com gives the origin of estival
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Late Latin, aestīvālis, equivalent to Latin aestīv(us) "of or relating to summer" + -ālis -al1
 

 June 20-21 are the dates when the Summer Solstice may occur.
It is sometimes regarded as the Triumph of the Light, of Sol. Daylight reaches the peak of its reach through time. We celebrate the exuberance with pool parties, picnics, and barbecues. At the same time, we realize this is the beginning of an increase in darkness. From this point, daytime will wane in comparison with night. The night gains but remains secondary to the more extended day until equality at the Autumn Equinox.

June 20-22 The 2nd Quarter Day of the year's four (2 solstice, 2 equinox) - Summer Solstice
June 21 - Litha (Norse/Anglo-Saxon for "longest day")
June 23 - St. John's Eve - European Midsummer celebration
 

 At many places on the planet, maybe on every continent, there are monuments, standing stones, or geological realities used for tracking the course of the Sun through the seasons. If you pay attention and live at the same location for some years, you will be able to mark and track the Sun's seasonal course from its rise and set points at the solstices. Make a point of noting the day of the solstice and the location of sunrise and sunset. In the northern hemisphere, the sunrise point will be as far south as it will get (Winter Solstice) and will proceed through the year to rise further and further north until the summer solstice when it reaches the point as far north as it will get. From then, the Sun's rise will proceed to occur a tich more southerly, back to the winter solstice. At the equinoxes, the sunrise will be precisely due east and the sunset due west. That's what the whoop-ti-do at Stonehenge is about; marking and measurement. Where you are on the planet makes a difference, but not to the timing of the solstices and equinoxes other than in the southern hemisphere, the winter solstice is the summer solstice in the north, etc.

The idea that the Sun does not move for three days is an observational one, not a physical reality. The precise moment of standstill can be calculated to the second, although visually, the Sun may seem to rise in the same place for a few days in a row. Since computer programs can give precise timing, I use them. Astrologers have used the timing of solstices and equinoxes for mundane appraisal of the period to follow. I use the precision personally and privately to honor the moments.

2021 Beltane

2021 BELTANE
Sun 15° Taurus

squarespace

5 May 2021
6:47:03 AM UT +00:00:00
7:47:03 AM GMD London, England
2:47:03 AM EDT Washington DC
1:47:03 AM CDT Minneapolis, Minnesota
12:47:03 AM MDT Boulder, Colorado
4 May 2021
11:47:03 PM PDT San Francisco, California
8:47:03 PM AHST Kahului, Maui, Hawaii

Climate and weather have altered the patterns of life on our blue marble. Earth’s orbit around the Sun is still pretty much as it has been for millennia. Solstices and Equinoxes still mark the seasons even as those seasons deviate from ancient patterns.

Beltane marks the middle time between the Spring Equinox and the Summer Solstice, a time long associated with the growth and rhythm of plant and animal life. It is about Earth’s orientation with the Sun even if snow falls on flowering trees and meadows.                         

The Tropical Zodiac relies upon the Solstices and Equinoxes to mark the Cardinal points of the Zodiac. The Winter Solstice marks Capricorn, the Spring Equinox, Aries, the Summer Solstice, Cancer, and the Fall Equinox, Libra. The quarters are divided by three into equal segments that hold the rest of the Signs in order from Aries; Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, etc. The middle sign of each quarter marks the peak part of that season. In the Spring season that begins with Aries and ends at 30° Gemini, Taurus is the peak. So, the middle of Taurus is the “cross quarter” day for the Spring Season. The vital point of a given season is the middle of the Fixed Sign in the center of that season. Mid-Taurus for Spring, Mid-Leo, Summer, Mid-Scorpio, Fall, and Mid-Aquarius for Winter. All eight of those Sun to Earth-defined periods are marked with celebrations. Euro-pagan and some other cultures and religions celebrate the times with gatherings and often with bonfires on high places. The mid-Taurus (15°) time is called Beltane by Euro-pagans like Celts and Wiccans.

 

While many will celebrate May Day in unacknowledged alignment with mid-Taurus, for interest’s sake and perhaps for timing rituals, listed above is the precise timing of when the Sun reaches 15° Taurus.

Blessed be.

TIMING THE 2021 VERNAL EQUINOX

The 2021 Vernal (Northward) Equinox, Start of Spring, Aries Ingress

For the ritually oriented and the curious, here are 2020 Spring Equinox times for Greenwich and the USA.

March 20, 2021
9:37:21 AM UTC (GMT/Zulu) +00:00:00
London, England (not yet on Summer Time)

USA TIME ZONES
Saturday, March 20

Eastern
Boston
5:37 am EDT

Central
New Orleans
4:37 am CDT

Mountain
Salt Lake City
3:37 am MDT

Pacific
Seattle
2:37 am PDT

Friday, March 19
Hawaii
Kahului
11:37 pm AHST

Eostre by AngiandSilas

March 19-20 brings the Vernal Equinox, also known as Ostara, or Eostre, or Eastre, named for the Germanic Goddess of spring and dawn. When the Sun's path along the Ecliptic crosses the Celestial Equator from the South to the North we have the Vernal Equinox, the first day of Spring, zero degrees of Aries. The longer nights of the winter season are now in equal balance with daylight. From this point, the length of daylight increases. It is the beginning point of the Zodiac that astrologers use for measure.

All points in the eight-fold year (defined by the astronomical measure of solstices, equinoxes, and the midpoints between those) are marked by human celebrations, holidays, and holy days. Those coincidental celebrations are not accidental but knowingly or circumstantially correspond to the astronomical. There are holy days with the Jewish and Christian calendars (also with Chinese, Hindu, and other systems of reckoning) that combine New and Full Moons with solstices and equinoxes. For example, the Full Moon after the Spring (Vernal) Equinox is Passover. The Sunday following that Full Moon is Easter (the preceding Friday is Good).

Some astrologers chart the Vernal Equinox (Aries Ingress) and derive information about at least three and at most twelve months following. Other astrologers favor the Winter Solstice (Capricorn Ingress) for the twelve months following that event. Many mundane astrologers will chart all four, Solstices and Equinoxes, and utilize those charts for a sense of the three months that follow each. The chart for the first day of Spring is said to be in effect, for the year until next Spring. It is considered especially strong until the Summer Solstice chart "comes in" in June. Tropical zodiac positions are always measured from the Vernal Equinox.

Happy Spring!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yz3lqVv0vCE

“The Mummers' Dance” is a single by Canadian Celtic singer Loreena McKennitt from the 1997 album “The Book of Secrets.” The song refers to the seasonal Mummers Play performed by groups of actors, often as house-to-house visits.

[Verse 1]

When in the springtime of the year
When the trees are crowned with leaves
When the ash and oak and the birch and yew
Are dressed in ribbons fair

When owls call the breathless moon
In the blue veil of the night
The shadows of the trees appear
Amidst the lantern light

[Chorus]

We've been rambling all the night
And some time of this day
Now returning back again
We bring a garland gay

[Verse 2]

Who will go down to those shady groves
And summon the shadows there
And tie a ribbon on those sheltering arms
In the springtime of the year

The songs of birds seem to fill the wood
That when the fiddler plays
All their voices can be heard
Long past their woodland days

[Chorus]

We've been rambling all the night
And some time of this day
Now returning back again
We bring a garland gay

[Verse 3]

And so they linked their hands and danced
Round in circles and in rows
And so the journey of the night descends
When all the shades are gone

A garland gay we bring you here
And at your door we stand
It is a sprout well budded out
The work of our Lord's hand

[Chorus]

We've been rambling all the night
And some time of this day
Now returning back again
We bring a garland gay

We've been rambling all the night
And some time of this day
Now returning back again
We bring a garland gay