December 25 is the birthday of Sir Isaac Newton.
Also: Merry Christmas Happy Chanukah Joyous Kwanza Superb Saturnalia Delightful Diwali Couldn't find an Islamic festival celebrating the return of the sun. Any info out there?
And a happy, healthy and prosperous New Yeat to all!
Persephone
The Islamic calendar is entirely lunar in nature, so the holy days change through the solar year.
Persephone posted: And a happy, healthy and prosperous New Yeat to all!
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And a happy New Yeat to you too!
"Pete Kruzer" wrote in news:1135630386.110912.175740 @g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:
yeah okay, nobody likes a smatt alex.
You forgot the winter soltise. Chuckie in the ever amazing frozen north, zone 5
And Boxing Day.
C'mon Chuckie, that's what the whole thing is about! All traditions make lights to beg the sun to return, when it hits its low point at -- you guessed it! -- the Winter Solstice.
Persephone
The winter soltise is a druid holiday Chuckie in the frozen north, zone 5
Wrongie, Chuckie. The Winter Solstice is an astronomical phenomenon: In layman's terms, the day is at its shortest.
What different cultures, including the Druids, do at the Solstice is another matter.
Persephone
You got me there Chuckie in the frozen north, zone 5
And to add further to the Winter Solstice (which was my 50th birthday)
It Came Upon a Midnight Clear
On December 21st, the sun reaches its nadir on this travels across Earth's horizons, an event we call the Winter Solstice. The Sun appears to hesitate for the next three days before beginning its six-month return to zenith on June 21st, which we call the Summer Solstice.
In ancient times it was believed that the Sun began is ascent exactly at midnight three days after the Solstice. Though there were no clocks in those days, our ancestor' method of calculating that precise moment was accurate. The same method is not quite as accurate today, due to the slight shift in the heavenly bodies. This ancient method is as follows:
At nightfall on December 24th, in the eastern sky you will see three prominent stars. These are the belt of the constellation of Orion. These stars are often called the Three Wise Magicians, or the Three Kings of the Orient. If you imagine a straight line through these stars towards the east, you will come to a point on the horizon that the Egyptians, in 2000BCE called "Aptah", which means "crib or cradle". It is exactly at this point that in a very short time the brightest star in the winter sky, Sirius, will appear. The place of Sirius' emergence marks the exact spot where the Sun will make its appearance at dawn.
The birth place of the newborn Sun is in the foreground of the constellation of Virgo, the Virgin. The constellation of Taurus, the Bull, and Capricorn, the Goat, are situated close by, which is why this area of the sky was called "the Stable". So we have before us in the winter sky the entire nativity scene: the three kings of the Orient pointing to a star that marks the precise birthplace of the infant God-King, born of a virgin in a celestial stable.
The ancients charted the travel of the star Sirius as it moved westward. At the mid-point of its travels, it marks the rebirth of the night Sun at midnight of December 25th, the beginning of many gay festivities and celebration, then just like today. To our ancestors this meant the Sun had won out over Old Man Winter, that all life would be saved by its warm, life-giving rays. The Sun had experienced death for three days, but on December 25th it was resurrected, reborn on Natalis Solis Invicti, "The Birth of the Unconquered Sun." "Christ's Mass or Christmas", really means "Sun's Mass." The title Christ may be traced to the Chaldean "Chris" a name of the Sun. Its Hebrew equivalent, "Heres" occurs several times in the Old Testament where it is always translated as "Sun".
Solar theology has inspired some religions to bolster their own deities by borrowing from the power of the Sun, and much confusion exists because of this practice. However, anyone can look for themselves: on a December midnight clear, the truth is revealed. To know that the Sun will bring us warmed, green crops, and renewed life is certainly grounds for rejoicing.
Blessings to all
What gay festivals?
Mazal tov!
[...fascinating astronomical discourse...]
Believe it or not, there was a time when "gay" meant happy, cheerful.
Can you give the Hebrew letters for "Heres" and some idea where in the Hebrew Bible it appears?
I thought "Sun" was "Shamash".
Not in the minds of the retailers, who stand to make 1/3 of their annual nut by appropriating the date as a Christian holy day. Which many Christians, alas, no longer celebrate as a religious event but rather a shopping event.
However, anyone can look for
There is an astronomical term which I can't remember -- something like "alemna"??? It explains why the days get longer (after the Winter Solstice) FASTER than they got shorter before the Solstice. I looked this up once, because I had always THOUGHT this was the case, and it was confirmed.
Anybody?
"Travis M." expounded:
Gay as in happy, Travis. Get your head out of the gutter ;->
We saw Brokeback Mountain today. Great movie.
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