| |
PVAF SEARCH FOR MEANING OF....Winter Solstice Day with Full Lunar Eclipse after 400 years......
Posted by Vishva News Reporter on December 21, 2010 |
|
.....HYPERLINKING WORDS TO
INTERNET KNOWELDGE SOURCES...... |
PVAF in its continual search for
knowledge and more knowledge to find the
TRUTH
of our existence from epistemological aspect of our existence...has now
been hyperlinking all its publishing on this website to internet
knowledge sources...Please click on the hyperlinked words to enlighten
and educate yourself to whatever depth you wish...Please be aware that
many internet knowledge sources are not only evolving in its
comprehensiveness plus accuracy and may only convey knowledge as defined
by the word "verisimilitude"
meaning to a degree of truth/false...we urge knowledge seekers to keep
on searching for Truth....
|
|
 |
.....Early on the morning of
December 21, 2010,
something happened that hasn't happened in over 300 years -
a total lunar eclipse occurred
on
the same day as the winter solstice,
making Dec. 20-21, 2010 one of
the longest and most unique nights of a lifetime.....
......YOU CAN WATCH THE TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE
BY CLICKING ON BELOW
LINK.... |
|
|
 |
.....A QUICK TAKE ON...
....WINTER SOLSTICE
AND
FULL LUNAR ECLIPSE..... |
|
The winter solstice occurs exactly
when the Earth's
axial tilt is farthest away from the sun at its maximum of 23° 26'.
Though the winter solstice lasts only a moment in time, the term is also
a turning point to midwinter or the first day of winter to
refer to the day on which it occurs. More evident to those in
high latitudes, this occurs on the shortest day and longest night,
when the sun's
daily maximum position in the sky is the lowest.
The seasonal significance of the winter
solstice is in the reversal of the gradual lengthening of nights and
shortening of days. Depending on the shift of the calendar, the winter
solstice occurs on December 21 or 22 each year in the
Northern Hemisphere, and June 20 or 21 in the
Southern Hemisphere.
The 2010 winter solstice (summer
solstice in the southern hemisphere) occurred on December 21, at
23:38
UTC. This is 11:38 pm
Western European Time (WET) or 6:38 pm
Eastern Standard Time (EST).
Worldwide, interpretation of the event has
varied from culture to culture, but most cultures have held a
recognition of rebirth, involving
holidays,
festivals, gatherings,
rituals or other
celebrations around that time.
|
| You can read the entire overview of
today's topics from which the above excerpts
were copy-pasted by clicking on the topic titles at the end of the
Edmonton Journal news article on the next webpage.... |
......AND TO LOOK AT VARIOUS TRUTHS
OF
HUMAN PERSPECTIVES OF
THIS ONCE IN A 400 YEAR COSMIC EVENT OF
FULL LUNAR ECLIPSE OCCURING ON
A WINTER SOLTICE DAY.... |
please click on the next line to read more about the Christian Truth of
this event as expressed: "But as Christianity moved west and north, it made more cultural sense to
market this new religion by tying it to pre-existing solstice rites, by
positioning this Son of God to take the place of the sun gods and
goddesses before him." by Paula Simons in her daily column
in Edmonton Journal published in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.....plus at
the end of next page you can also realize how the
Winter Solstice Day
called mkr sNkRaanti
in sNskRUt
language has been celebrated every year on January 14th in India
for thousands of years before the advent of western civilization
|
|
....IN TODAY'S PAULA
SIMONS COLUMN,
SHE EXPRESSES THE FOLLOWING MEANING OF
LUNAR ECLIPSE ON A
WINTER SOLTICE DAY..... |
"For thousands of years, the many different cultures of the northern
hemisphere have evolved a wide range of solstice holidays and ceremonies
designed to coax back the sun, to placate the forces of darkness, to
brighten the night.
Some ancient peoples offered sacrifices -- animal and human -- to
appease angry sun deities. Others tried to tempt back the sun god or
goddess with offerings of gifts or sweets or fresh baking. Others lit
candles and fires, for light and for warmth, or engaged in bacchanalian
orgies of sex and drinking." |
|
PLEASE KEEP
SCROLLING TO
ENLIGHT AND AMUSE
YOURSELF
BY READING
THE ENTIRE OF HER CREATIVE THINKING OF
THIS ONCE IN A 400
YEAR EVENT....
.....and then at
the end you can do some serious studying about this cosmic event....
|
....Beautiful winter night scene of the City of Edmonton,
Alberta, Canada
similar to March 21, 2010 night when
Full Lunar Eclipse
in the photo below was seen by Edmonton Citizens....
Photograph by: Rick MacWilliam,
edmontonjournal.com |
Today, December 21 is the shortest day of the year.
That's true all around in the northern hemisphere, even in Hawaii or
Sudan.
But here in Edmonton,
Alberta,
Canada, at latitude 53, solstice feels just a little more sombre.
Today, on December 21, 2010, the sun rises at 8:48 a.m. It will set at 4:16. And in between,
we'll have less than seven and half hours of precious, fleeting
daylight.
For thousands of years, the many different cultures of the northern
hemisphere have evolved a wide range of solstice holidays and ceremonies
designed to coax back the sun, to placate the forces of darkness, to
brighten the night.
Some ancient peoples offered
sacrifices -- animal and human -- to
appease angry sun deities. Others tried to tempt back the sun god or
goddess with offerings of gifts or sweets or fresh baking. Others lit
candles and fires, for light and for warmth, or engaged in
bacchanalian
orgies of sex and drinking.
In the Edmonton of 2010, we don't offer
human sacrifices anymore. But
otherwise, we mark solstice in all of these time-honoured ways.
We sacrifice huge turkeys and prepare roasts of beef as burnt offerings.
We placate ourselves and our loved ones with gifts and chocolates and
latkes and shortbread, indulging in the kinds of sweet and fatty foods
we deny ourselves when the sun is shining.
We light Hanukkah and
Christmas candles -- and brighten up our houses
and trees and public boulevards with electric bulbs for good measure.
And while public orgies may have gone somewhat out of fashion, the
classic office Christmas party still offers plenty of opportunity for
sex and booze and public humiliation.
We don't always recognize or honour the ancient solstice roots of
Hanukkah and Christmas. Each of those holidays has its own, more
"modern" historical narrative, and those storylines have largely
overshadowed the fundamental reality that they are both festivals of
light and hope and renewal, celebrated in our season of greatest
darkness.
Indeed, it's widely accepted that the historical Jesus was likely born
in spring.
But as Christianity moved west and north, it made more cultural sense to
market this new religion by tying it to pre-existing solstice rites, by
positioning this Son of God to take the place of the sun gods and
goddesses before him.
Today, of course, we know that the sun isn't hiding, that the sun isn't
angry with us, that the sun hasn't been frightened away. We know that if
this is the shortest day of the year, that tomorrow will inevitably be
just a little bit longer, a little bit brighter.
|
And yet, there is still something preternaturally awesome and
terrifying about this day, this time, at least at this latitude. It's a
humbling reminder to us, that with all our technology, all our
scientific sophistication, we are still at the mercy of inexorable
planetary forces far beyond our control.
We can turn on more lights, we can crank up our furnaces, we can even,
over time, change our global climate.
But we cannot change our tilt, our orbit, the pace of our annual passage
around the sun. For all our pretensions to control our universe, we are
as much passive passengers on this planet as our ancestors were 5,000 or
10,000 years ago.
At some level, that continuity, that grandeur, is comforting. But can I
confess?
Some days, I am afraid of the dark.
Oh, I'm not afraid of bogeymen under my bed or monsters in my basement.
But as Edmonton plunges into the darkness of mid-winter, I sometimes
fear for my soul. The cold, the snow, the slippery roads and sidewalks
-- they can all be inconvenient, even dangerous. But it's the dark, dark
days that I find the hardest part of winter here. Going to work in the
dark. Coming home in the dark. Spending the day under office fluorescent
bulbs, hungry, not for cookies and candy, but for light, light, light.
Doctors today have a fancy schmancy name for feelings like these, made-up
terms like "seasonal affective disorder."
But a desperate longing for sunshine isn't a disease you can cure with a
fancy lamp or a thousand Christmas bulbs. It's not an illness -- it's a
simple function of living where we do, a longing as primal as the days
when the first hominids migrated north of the equator.
So who can blame us, the residents of northern Alberta, if we need our
parties, our snacks, our festival lights, this time of year? It doesn't
matter what your religion or cultural background, whether you're a
believer or an atheist, or something in between. We all need to placate
the forces of darkness -- without and within.
We still all need to brighten the night.
So forget human sacrifices, your own included. Eat. Drink. Be merry. And
if public orgies aren't your style, try to hold your loved ones close
enough to warm your heart, if not your feet.
The sun will come up tomorrow -- just a few seconds earlier than it did
today. This is the shortest day of the year. Which means we're already
on our way back to the light.
© Cop© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal
|
|
.....AND NOW IT IS TIME YOU ENLIGHTEN YOURSELF
WITH SOME SCIENCE
OF THIS
ONCE IN A 400 YEARS TIME COSMIC EVENT
TO REALLY UNDERSTAND
WHERE PAULA
SIMONS IS COMING FROM WITH.....
.....THE TRUTH/MYTHOLOGY/LIES
OR
MORE PROFOUND TRUTH
ABOUT THE COSMOS WE EXIST IN...
|
.....just
click on the topics listed below....
|
...and reading each of the above knowledge overview
you will be able to study all the 3 topics
in as much details you wish
by following the hyperlinked information therein...
|
|
....and now
surprise and enlighten yourself about this
non-Christian
celebration of winter solstice day...
|
....Colourful kites selling
in India for its diversified belief systems celebration of Winter
Solstice Day called
mkr sNkRaanti Day falling on January 14....
....AND WITH EATING OF SESAME SEEDS SWEETS CALLED tilgul
|
....and flying kites from roof
tops of the houses to fight a "kite war"....
|
|
SNkRaanti is celebrated
since last 6000 years, as archeological findings in Latin America prove
that the Mayans celabrated something similar to
Sankranthi
with Pongal, Pala kayalu, as some kind of spring festival.
Sankranti is the
Sanskrit
word, which refers to the transmigration of the Sun from one
Rashi(zodiac
in
Indian astrology)
to the other. Hence there are 12 such
sankrantis
in all. However, the Sankranti festival usually refers to Makara
Sankaranti, or the transition of the Sun from
Dhanu rashi
(Sagittarius)
to Makara rashi
(Capricorn).
For this
purpose, the Zodiac signs are considered sidereally, and not tropically,
as in western astronomy, thus not accounting for the Earth's
precession.
The festival therefore takes place around 21 days after the tropical
winter solstice
(between December 20 and 23rd) that marks the starting of
Uttarayana, which means
northward journey of Sun.
Considering the
Winter Solstice
marks the beginning of the gradual increase of the duration of the day.
Scientifically, the shortest day of the year is around December 21–22
after which the days begin to get longer, hence actual Winter Solstice
begins on December 21 or December 22 when the tropical sun enters Makara
rashi. Hence actual Uttarayana is December 21. This was the actual date
of Makar Sakranti too. But because of the Earth's
tilt
of 23.45 degrees and sliding of
Equinoxes,
Ayanamasha
occurs. This has caused Makara Sankranti to slide further over the ages.
A 1000 years ago, Makar Sankranti was on Dec 31st and is now on January
14. 5000 years later, it shall be by the end of February, while in 9000
years it shall come in June.[citation
needed]
While the
traditional Indian Calendar is based on lunar positions,
Sankranti is a solar event.
So while dates of all Hindu festivals keep changing as per the
Gregorian calendar,
the date of
Makar Sankranti
remains constant over a long term, 14 January.
Makar Sankranti
is celebrated in the Hindu Calendar month of
Magha.
Makar Sankranti is a
major harvest festival celebrated in various parts of India. According
to the lunar calendar, when the sun moves from the Tropic of Cancer to
the Tropic of Capricorn or from Dakshinayana to Uttarayana, in the month
of Poush in mid-January, it commemorates the beginning of the harvest
season and cessation of the northeast monsoon in South India. The
movement of the earth from one zodiac sign into another is called
Sankranti and as the Sun moves into the Capricorn zodiac known as Makar
in Hindi, this occasion is named as Makar Sankranti in the Indian
context. It is one of the few Hindu Indian festivals which are
celebrated on a fixed date i.e. 14th January every year.
Makar Sankranti, apart
from a harvest festival is also regarded as the beginning of an
auspicious phase in Indian culture. It is said as the 'holy phase of
transition'. It marks the end of an inauspicious phase which according
to the Hindu calendar begins around mid-December. It is believed that
any auspicious and sacred ritual can be sanctified in any Hindu family,
this day onwards. Scientifically, this day marks the beginning of warmer
and longer days compared to the nights. In other words, Sankranti marks
the termination of winter season and beginning of a new harvest or
spring season.
&
All over the country,
Makar Sankranti is observed with great fanfare. However, it is
celebrated with distinct names and rituals in different parts of the
country. In the states of northern and western India, the festival is
celebrated as the Sankranti day with special zeal and fervor. The
importance of this day has been signified in the ancient epics like
Mahabharata also. So, apart from socio-geographical importance, this day
also holds a historical and religious significance. As, it is the
festival of Sun God and he is regarded as the symbol divinity and
wisdom, the festival also holds an eternal meaning to it.
|
|
|
AND TO GET A FULL OVERVIEW OF THE ABOVE NOTED
vEDik
CULTURE LIFESTYLE PERSPECTIVE OF
1.2 BILLION PEOPLES MAINLY RESIDENT IN INDIA
OF
WINTER SOLSTICE DAY CALLED
mkr sNkraati
(phonetic transliteration
from sNskRUt to
English)
PLEASE CLICK HERE... |
|
|
 |
...PVAF
WISHES YOU
A VERY SATISFYING LIFE EXPERIENCES
IN THE WINTER OF 2010/2011
WITH ITS START ON
A ONCE IN A 400 YEAR COSMIC EVENT DAY..... |
|
There are 0 additional comments.
Send your news items
to be posted to news@prajapati-samaj.ca.
|
