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EQUINOXES & SOLSTICES
Annual table of events
Equinoxes and Solstices represent cyclical moments during a whole year. They've always been considered important transitional events by all cultures. Here you will find basic articles concerning significance and physics of these astronomical phenomena.
The next four articles (just one at the moment) could be revised year by year; if so, there will be an indication of the date of revision (in red just under the title). The chronological order of the articles is in accordance to the Dojo season: starting from September (Equinox) to June (Solstice). A caption in bold letters below the title - if present - will indicate the closer event and its precise astronomical manifestation in time.
Here you may view the annual table of equinoctial and solstitial events (figures from Wikipedia); the indications of time event is based on the Greenwich Meridian Time. To convert it in the local italian time just add "+1 hour": you'll get the local Solar time.
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(In the table, from left to right: March Equinox, June Solstice, September Equinox, December Solstice)
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Autumn Equinox
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Shuubu no hi
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Equinox happens twice a year: March or Spring/Vernal Equinox and September or Autumn/Autumnal Equinox; that’s if we live in the Northern Hemisphere, whereas seasons are inverted in the South.
In astronomy it is the moment when the Sun is located right over the Equator at one point on the Celestial sphere where the Celestial equator (parallel to the Earth Equator) and Ecliptic intersect; that’s why there’s also a precise time given for the event. There are two opposite points where this happens: one per equinox, usually around March 20 and September 22. As a consequence, during equinoxes daytime is equal to night, 12 hours-long each, everywhere on Earth; and within an accuracy of a few minutes, it happens the day before and after too. As a matter of fact the word equinox derives from the Latin words aequus (equal) and nox (night).
The instances of the equinoxes are not fixed days but fall about six hours later every year, amounting to one full day in four years, but then they are reset by the occurrence of a leap year in the Gregorian calendar. Currently the most common equinox dates are March 20 and September 22. However, over long periods (70 years and multiples), delays and leap years compensations togheter produce a slowly shifting to earlier times in the years to come. That's why as many years ago the dates of March 21 and September 23 were much more common.
On the Equinox days, the Sun rises exactly in the East and sets exactly in the West, culminating at the zenith at the Equator at noon. On the Tropic of Cancer and Northern hemisphere the Sun culminates in the South (on the axis east-west); on the Tropic of Capricorn and Southern hemisphere the Sun culminates in the North. At the North Pole there's the shift from 6 months of light to 6 months of darkness; the phenomenon is reversed at the South Pole.
After the day of the Autumn Equinox, night will prevail over daytime and on the Winter Solstice the longest night will occur; only after the Spring Equinox this prevalence will be reversed.
The Autumn Equinox also represents the end of Summer.
For many traditions this is a time to celebrate as well as for initiation rites when it comes to a transition to meditate and look inside and the split between visible and invisible is merely vanishing.
In Ancient Greece, in Eleusi, the Greater Eleusinian Mysteries were evoked, based on the myth of Demeter, the goddess of life, agriculture and fertility, and her daughter Persephone. Hades, the god of death and the underworld, fell secretely in love with Persephone and decided to kidnap her (as evoked in the sculpture by Gian Lorenzo Bernini). As a result, Demeter grief-ravaged and distraught, caused a terrible dry and starving season until Persephone was sent back to her.
In the celtic tradition, Mabon (the young god of harvests and son of the Mother goddes, often related to Persephone) was celebrated with the second and last harvest of season, at the end of the natural reproductive cycle.
In Japan this is an official national holiday to visit family graves and hold family reunions. During the French Revolution, from 1793 to 1805, this day was New Year's Day.
Winter Solstice
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Touji
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Excerpt from the Wikipedia articles:
 "The solstice is either of the two events of the year when the sun is at its greatest distance from the equatorial plane. The name is derived from Latin sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still), because at the solstice, the Sun stands still in declination, that is, it reaches a maximum or a minimum".
"A Winter Solstice Celebration, Midwinter Festival or Winter Solstice Festival, occures in many cultures. The astronomical event of the winter solstice, occurring around December 21 or 22 each year in the northern hemisphere, and June 21 or 22 in the Southern Hemisphere, is the shortest day of the year... In antiquity, the winter solstice was immensely important because communities were not assured to live through the winter, and had to be prepared for during the previous nine months."
To learn more:
Solstice - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solstice
Winter Solstice Celebrations - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_Solstice_Celebrations
Holidays and Observances - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_22
(Image: Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, the Birthday of Undefeated Sun)
Spring Equinox
TO BE COMPLETED
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Shunbu no hi
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(Table of next Equinoxes, from Wikipedia)
Summer Solstice
TO BE COMPLETED
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(Image from Wikipedia).
Classes
Shumeikai Italia
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