Daily Meditation 12/23/14

Lunar month - Shef Bedet 3
Solar month - Cap 3
Metonic - Year 1, Lunation 1

Tzolk'in - 8 Eb
Dreamspell - Blue Electric Storm

Yule Day 4
Festivus
HumanLight

Lunar phase --
Tarot --
I-Ching - 7  The Army (Water below Earth): An army isn't just for war; it can be a peace keeper as well. You need a lot of support around you at this time, and you need to lead as well. Who will follow? No one if you aren't absolutely sure of your motives.

Daily Meditation 12/22/14

Lunar month - Shef Bedet 2
Solar month - Cap 2
Metonic - Year 1, Lunation 1

Tzolk'in - 7 Chuen
Dreamspell - White Lunar Mirror

Yule Day 3

Lunar phase --

Tarot - 2 of Pentacles (Saturn / Uranus in Capricorn). Change. Cycles. What changes do you need to make to continue the success of the previous day, to ensure success for the year? Balance is needed. Life is continuous; if you make a mistake you can't stop. Go with the flow and make necessary corrections.

I-Ching - 24 Returning (Thunder below Earth): Everything has a cycle, and this one, for you, is starting again. This time it has renewed vigor and enthusiasm. It is a new beginning and you have learnt a lot from the past.

Daily Meditation 12/21/14

Lunar month - Shef Bedet 1
Solar month - Cap 1
Metonic - Year 1, Lunation 1

Tzolk'in - 6 Oc
Dreamspell - Red Magnetic Earth

Winter Solstice / Yule
Yule Day 2

Lunar phase - New moon in sidereal Sag. On the Gypsy's Moon, we go outside and experience new cultures. Ideally we should be experiencing cultures that stretch our ability to accept, that force us to confront ourselves and our own biases...Don't succumb to the temptation to just read about something - actually go breathe air you've never breathed on ground you've never put your feet on.

Tarot - Ace of Pentacles. Earth (Capricorn) of Earth (Winter). Internal and external wealth and success. Manifestation in the physical sense. Increase in material things.

I-Ching - 2 Earth (Earth below Earth): This is a card of acceptance. Bide your time and wait for others to make their move. You need to be strong but devoted. Success is certain if you follow your heart and don't try to force things.

And so the longest night begins...

Important times for Solstice

All are Eastern Standard Time.

12/21 4:47 pm sunset - longest night begins
12/21 6:03 pm solstice proper
12/21 8:36 pm new moon
12/21 12:03 am mid-night
12/22 7:23 am sunrise - longest night ends

Durin's Day 2014

According to the dwarves in The Hobbit, Durin's Day occurs when the last moon of Autumn and the sun are in the sky at the same time. The secret door will only open with the last light of Durin's Day, or right at sunset.

First let's define the seasons. Contrary to popular belief, what we think of as the seasons are actually the midpoints. Spring equinox is mid-spring, summer solstice is mid-summer (Shakespeare had this right!), fall equinox is mid-fall, and winter solstice is mid-winter. The cross-quarter days are very minor holidays in our modern times: Groundhog's Day is beginning of spring, May Day is beginning of summer, Aug 1 is beginning of fall, and Halloween is beginning of winter. I'm pretty anal about this so I use the astronomical cross-quarter days which are Feb 3/4, May 6/7, Aug 6/7, and Nov 6/7 depending on leap year. This year fall began on Aug 7 and will end on 11/7 (in the North Hemisphere).

I use this site from NASA to get the exact time of the seasons and cross-quarter days:

Next, head on over to one of my favorite sites, Time and Date. Look up the moon phases to find the last new moon before 11/7 which is 10/23. The moon is not visible in the sky during new moon. While you're here, take note of the 1st quarter which is 10/30; we'll come back to that.

From The Hobbit:

Soon, [Bilbo] saw the orange ball of the sun sinking towards the level of his eyes. He went to the opening and there pale and faint was a thin new moon above the rim of Earth...The sun sank lower and lower...The little moon was dipping to the horizon.

We need to find out when the moon is first visible after the new moon. This will vary from area to area. So we need a more universal way of setting this day. The best I can do is narrow it down. New moon is too soon and 1st quarter moon is too late. Split the difference and I come up with the day when the moon is exactly waxing crescent*, when the sun and moon is at a 45 deg angle. This puts Durin's Day at 10/27 this year. Purists may want to celebrate 2 days after the new moon on 10/25. At least this gives us a window.


*Since there are 8 points to the solar year, there should be 8 points to the lunar month.

A couple of new projects

I haven't been posting the Pagan Blog Project this year. Working nights make it seem like there's never enough time. Maybe I'll catch up one day. I want to study the tarot more. No one has put together a decent schedule for going through it. 78 doesn't divide into 365 or 384 evenly. I decided to create my own schedule using the tropical zodiac so my study will coincide with the seasons.

I also want to go through the I-Ching. There are 64 hexagrams which goes into 384 nicely. If I follow both at the same time, there will be the balance of the solar and lunar cycles.

Which the fall equinox coming up, this makes a great time to get back in balance.