Unmeaning Flattery
www.UnmeaningFlattery.com

Home | Blog | Search | RSS | Contact

456 Years In the Making

Tuesday 12/21/2010 12:38 AM

With day the thinnest and night the fattest today, the sun is directly over the Tropic of Capricorn. In ancient times, this was called The First Point of Capricorn because back then the sun was just entering the constellation of the goat-fish as autumn came to an end. Times change and stars drift (see precession), so today we would probably name it The Second (or Third) Point of Scorpio.

Round these parts, though, we just call it winter.


There is a lunar eclipse early this morning, the first time in more than four-and-a-half centuries that such an event has occurred on the winter solstice. They are saying that recent volcanic activity around the world may help make this eclipse especially red.


Dying coal ember,
Ancient winter night goddess,
Heralds Father Sun.


And at last, a new year begins.

File Under: Eclipse, Lunar; Haiku; Holiday, Of Sorts; Poetry; Solstice, Winter; Writing Sample
Music: Gurdjieff & Vassilis Tsabropoulos "Chants, Hymns and Dances"

Permalink | Comments | Trackback

Previous Entry | Next Entry


©1969-2024 Peter Stuart Lakanen. All rights reserved.
Please report problems to webmaster.