Solstice Fire In Winter, December 22, 2007, Winter Solstice in Minnesota, photo © 2007 by QuoinMonkey. All rights reserved.
We celebrated with friends outside by the pond. It was frosty cold, hovering around 5 degrees. Frozen hands. Sparks fly. A light wind blew from the West. The brilliant sunset was undone only by a circle wreath of blazing fire.
We called in the ancestors, the grandmothers and fathers. We drummed and rattled and slipped paper and wood into the fire – the things we no longer wanted to carry.
Death of the old, let us bring into the light what is new.
Sunday morning it is snowy gray. Though we are socked in by a blizzard, darkness moves into light. Blowing snow howls from the North. But I face West.
I let go of whatever blocks me. I let go of fear. We let go in community. The circle is unbroken.
-posted on red Ravine, Sunday, December 23rd, 2007
-related to post, Winter Solstice – Making Light Of The Dark
Sounds like a lovely solstice celebration.
I’m looking forward to having a little informal (and somewhat late) celebration of my own when I return home.
LikeLike
A beautiful fire, QM – there is a linocut image lurking in this shot. May your days lengthen and bring you and Liz increase in many ways. G
LikeLike
Thanks, Robin and G. Same to you both. I like the idea of a linocut lurking in this image. It’s perfect for the kind of raw energy cuts I do. Perhaps when I have a place to work again.
It was a perfect night for Solstice. The sunset was brilliant, the air clear, and food and friends wonderful. The blizzard from yesterday has lifted this morning. And it looks to be a clear Christmas Eve. Happy Holidays to you both.
LikeLike
beautiful picture. I wonder if Mother was born on a solstice day. She was born Dec. 21, 1919. Raymond was also born on Dec. 21, 1923.
LikeLike
Mom, maybe there’s a way I can look that up. Sometimes you can find charts that go back for years. I have always pictured Grandmama being a Solstice person. She always gave so much of what she had to others. And it was pretty cool when Raymond had the same birthday. I’ll make a note to check out if Winter Solstice was on the 21st or 22nd in 1919.
LikeLike
Mom, I found a chart with all the times listed for Winter Solstice beginning in 1900.
It looks like Winter Solstice in 1919 was on December 22nd:
1919 12 22 21:27:08 UT
If my math is right, that’s 9:27 UT (Universal Time). In the Midwest, we have to subtract 6 hours from UT to get Central Standard time (and 5 for Daylight Savings (LINK).
So on the East Coast, you’d subtract 5 hours from UT time. So that means in Georgia, Winter Solstice in 1919 would have been December 22nd at 4:27pm. So Grandmama was born the day before (but close enough for me!).
My math’s not the greatest though! So double check it. And if anyone wants to see the chart for themselves here’s the link at:
Holoscenes – Textures of the Earth: Seasons From 1900 To 2099 (LINK)
You then have to readjust the time. Here’s how to translate UT time to our time, wherever we are at:
Earth & Sky: How Do I Translate Universal Time To My Time? (LINK)
Here’s a final link to different systems of time:
U.S. Navy – Systems of Time (LINK)
I can see why I didn’t become an astrologist or astronomer. Way to math complicated for my brain!
LikeLike
[…] -related to posts: 8 Minutes, Winter Solstice – Making Light Of The Dark, Solstice Fire In Winter […]
LikeLike
[…] the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe) was the Full December Cold Moon. It was the 13th Moon since Winter Solstice 2007 and a Blue Moon by the traditional definition. I had dinner with a friend and the night was again […]
LikeLike
[…] Solstices and how to translate time for your part of the world visit the links and comments in Solstice Fire In Winter or Winter Solstice — Making Light Of The […]
LikeLike