Summer Solstice

[Rat Faced]

As the sun spirals its longest dance,
Cleanse us
As nature shows bounty and fertility
Bless us
Let all things live with loving intent
And to fulfill their truest destiny


Hope you had a pleasant Litha/Midsummer..

And for the majority.. I hope you enjoy the day dedicated to St John The Baptist, the way you stole this festival off us

[bigboab]

Wicca way to start the Summer.

How can it be Midsummers Day when it is the first day of Summer?

[GepperRankins]

it's all down hill from here

[Gripper]

I see nature in the city
I see beauty in life
I am part of a circle
That will never end

Happy Litha
Blessed be Ratfaced

[vidcc]

Isn't there doubt over the age of stonehenge? I read somewhere that it dates back before the druids came onto the scene. Or has that been ruled out?

[lynx]

Isn't there doubt over the age of stonehenge? I read somewhere that it dates back before the druids came onto the scene. Or has that been ruled out?

I don't think there's much doubt about the age of stonehenge, but I think you are right about it being there before druids.

However, there's a new idea about the purpose of such stone circles. Firstly, these places are often shrouded in mist early in the morning. By the evening this mist is more likely to have burnt off.

Why look at where the sun rises at midsummer which may well be difficult to see? Unimportant for the first farmers, there's nothing happening.

The lineup has another significance. If the observer turns through 180 degrees
he is looking at where the sun sets at midwinter, which is more likely to be visible. This would have been a far more important occasion since it heralds the start of the new year. Highly important since it is time to get ready for planting.

[JPaul]

Hah, The Summer Solstice was just invented to sell greeting cards.

Don't fall for the commercialism.

[Rat Faced]

vidcc, as Lynx confirmed, Stonehenge was not built by the Druids (its older) although theres no doubt it was important to them.

The importance of the site also precedes the building, the evidence is that it was the largest cremation site in the Isles at one point, and there was a wooden structure there after it was a burial site.

Stonehenge itself appears to have been one monument (the Blue Stones) 1st, with the larger Stones appearing later to complete it as we know it today.

No one knows why it was built or what it was used for, its all conjecture.. however it is true that the Summer and Winter Solstice are both aligned exactly (Lynx is correct in that the winter solstice is the most important to most pagans, and therefore probably to the builders (if religious)).

Further, the limits of the lunar orbit are exactly matched.. this is much harder to achieve, in that the Moon reaches the southerly limit of its orbit (also yesterday) only once every 19 years.

Channel 5 had an experiment on Monday and Tuesday..

On Monday (with lots of preperation in the weeks beforehand) they re-built Stonehenge EXACTLY as it was (to the limits of our knowledge).

On Tuesday they were able to see what the sunrise and moonrise would have looked like when it was built.

Druids even blessed the re-creation, and the scientists of a few different fields had a whale of a time trying to recreate ceremonies and knocking down each others theories... They all agreed that they learnt from the experiment however

[99%]

sorry i didnt see this thread

but scandinavians are retarded - on the longest most sunny day of the year they burn huge fires
whereas during their 11 month dark winter they never make a national huge fire celebration
WTF?

[lynx]

sorry i didnt see this thread

but scandinavians are retarded - on the longest most sunny day of the year they burn huge fires
whereas during their 11 month dark winter they never make a national huge fire celebration
WTF?

Pretty obvious really.

The rest of the time the wood will be too wet.