Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Disagreement?

Among Pagans, Heathens and Magicians? Really?

It seems that there has been some debate as to the date of the Solstice and as to whether it happened concurrently with the Full Moon/Eclipse. The Full Moon and eclipse were easy (if the sky was clear), all you had to do was look up. It is the timing of the Solstice that is in disagreement. The actual time that the Sun moves into Capricorn is 6:38pm on the night of December 21st. That is the moment of the Solstice. So there was a full day of daylight between the time of the Full Moon and the time of the Solstice. But what of the celebration, or vigil, or watch, or ritual or...? That is usually during the "longest night" as we await the return of the Sun. Rather than simply saying "well they both happened on December 21" which is how is has been reported in the popular press, how many have checked the daylight and dark hours? I did. Pallas Renatus did. Guess what? We ended up with different answers. Go figure. (and the last time I checked, the Naval site was down, maybe it crashed due to so many checking the timing?) PR did his "longest night" work last night. I shall observe it tonight.

Last night was Full Moon and eclipse work. While I very much liked the direction and suggestion that Patrick Dunn had for Full Moon/Eclipse magic, I approached it from a different angle. Rather than working FOR freedom and economic increase for our society, I worked to limit and then reverse the movements and tides that are limiting those freedoms and the economics of our nation and society. It just seemed a more appropriate method for the already full, but shrouded Moon.

Tonight will be Vigil and Return of the Sun. The hearth has been cleaned and a new fire laid. The candles are ready to be lit. Yummy "sun" foods have been prepared (although tomorrows breakfast bread is still rising). The offerings are ready. And, although it is completely non-traditional anywhere, I will be drinking peach schnapps. Nothing says to me "warmth and sun and summer will return" more than that. And, at the moment of sunrise, I will toast the Sun with my Sun tincture.

3 comments:

Texan Zombie Goddess said...

It just wouldn't be normal if people didn't disagree in some turn lol.

Morgan Drake Eckstein said...

In Golden Dawn, there is considered to be a twenty-four hour window for celebrating the Equinox---if Golden Dawn officially observed the Solistices, I imagine the same rule would hold. What is debated in Golden Dawn circles is if the creators of the system meant for the Solistice to be observed.

Diandra said...

Yeah, it's funny like that. I've witnessed major disagreement when it comes to deciding when to celebrate. And the outrage when one family announced they'd stick to 12/24 with their celebration because that was an "official" holiday and they had much more time then!

Over the years I have tried several ways of determining the "correct" date of the celebrations (for yule: Sun into Capricorn, shortest day followed by longest night, longest night followed by shortest day, 12/21 as fixed date, ...), and although they all had different kinds of energy for me, I guess it's up to everybody to find out what works for them. This year, for example, I had to shift everything a bit because we were incredibly busy with the final preparations for the holidays, and as far as I know, it didn't hurt anyone.