This week in Astro News:
It’s the Summer Solstice today, which means druids and New-Agers of every
tribe and type getting together for a pre-dawn rave at Stonehenge and various
other stone circles and sacred sites.
But what is a Solstice, apart from an excuse for an outdoor party in June?
It’s all to do with the sun. Each day in spring and summer, the sun rises
just a bit further to the North of East than it did the previous day, gets
just a bit higher in the sky and stays visible a bit longer, and sets a bit
further to the North of West. On June 21 it is at its maximum. For a day or
two the daylight period stays the same length, and the sun reaches the same
elevation in the sky; and then, day by day, the points of rising and setting
start to creep southwards, the sun gets lower in the sky, and we’re on our
way to autumn and winter again. On December 21, there’s another turning point
- the Winter Solstice - and the cycle repeats. This is the basic sky rhythm
of the northern hemisphere, from which we get our seasons, our weather, and
our calendar.
You don’t need Stonehenge, either. You can follow this annual rhythm in your
back garden. Push a stick into the ground anywhere that sees the sun. At 1pm
on any sunny day, note where the shadow falls, and mark the top of the shadow
with a plant tag. Right now, the shadow is at its shortest. Check the shadow
again every ten days or so - whenever it’s sunny and around 1pm. You’ll soon
see that the shadow gets longer as summer moves towards autumn, and you’ll
see, too, that your line of tags is aligned exactly North-South. So - a solar
calendar and a compass all in one. That’s how the Ancient Egyptians did it,
and you can too.
What did I tell you? Last week I said that the recent eclipse activated Mars
in the chart of the US – “good if you’re fighting a war, but is the World
Cup quite the same thing?” Well, they haven’t done too badly in the World
Cup, but I note that President Bush has now given the CIA permission to find
and remove Saddam Hussein. If that isn’t activating Mars the god of war, then
what is?
AstroDiary
Monday (June 24): Astrological Lodge of London 7pm: Chiron - Occult Key to
the Outer Planets, Prudence Neusink; 8.20pm: Members’ class: Astrology &
Counselling, Mavis Klein. 50 Gloucester Place, London W1. £5 (£3 members/conc).
Please double-check with the organisation before attending any events listed here - we cannot accept any responsibility for events changed/cancelled.
Are you holding an astrological event - especially one outside London!! -
that you would like others to know about?
Research into Astrology and Infertility by Pat Harris, MSc., D.F.Astrol.S.
I would like to thank everyone who has responded to my earlier notices on Jonathan's website and who volunteered to take part in the research that I am conducting as part of my PhD in astrology and health psychology at Southampton University, UK. I now have quite a number of people taking part which will help me in conducting my study into factors that may or may not correlate with fertility treatment outcome. I should have a progress report out soon. However, I am still looking for women who are currently pregnant - not necessarily as a result of fertility treatment - and who would like to contact me about details of my research to see if they would like to take part. My email address is: pharris@interalpha.co.uk
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If you missed any of Friday's Astronews articles, click on the Archive Thought for the Day link in the left hand frame.
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