Happy Solstice

It is the summer solstice today, midsummer's day, the longest day of the year. To my southern hemisphere readers is it the winter solstice, midwinter, the shortest day of the year. But I am in England and do not apologise for my northern-hemisphere-centricity.

It feels like the high point of the year, like being on a Ferris wheel when you reach the very top. The sun climbs to its highest point in the sky today. It is in the sky for longer than any other day of the year. Tonight the sun will barely dip below the horizon, and if the sky is clear you may still be able to see a pre-dawn glow at midnight.

I'm not planning any sort of celebration myself. But it's important that I know today is the solstice. It's important it doesn't just go past without being remarked. It is one of the landmarks of the year. From now on the days get shorter - the decline is slow at first and we shall have long hot days for quite a while to come. By the equinox in late September we'll be halfway to midwinter. But that is a long way off yet. Today is midsummer. I hope you have a good one.

A Spring Clean for the May Queen

It's May 1st - May Day, Beltane, Walpurgis Night, whatever turns you on. Like a clock that chimes the hours to remind us of the turning day, these festivals remind us of the turning year. In the case of May Day, spring is passing into summer and the festivals at this time of year emphasise flowers, dancing and fertility in its earthiest sense. The Maypole, the May queen, 'Obby 'Oss, the Furry Dance and the other components of May Day celebrations all tend to be about fertility.

It's hardly surprising. Everywhere I look I can see animals trying to attract mates. The blue tit who is working his little rocks off furnishing the bird box in my back yard is doing that because he hopes to attract a mate. Dad reports the swallows are flying acrobatically in a very different way than when they are hoovering up as many insects as possible - they are showing off their flying prowess in fierce competition for mates. And in the field behind my house, the cows have been joined by the bull. Poor bull spends most of his year all by himself, but this is the season when he gets to hang with the ladies and do what bulls like to do. The sap is rising and all creatures are trying to make babies, so they can feed the babies whilst food is plentiful through the summer, so that by the winter time the young ones are strong enough to survive the cold hungry time until next spring, when it all starts all over again.

Some people think that there's too much sex on TV, movies, magazines and so on nowadays. I disagree. I think the problem is that the media show a weird, distorted view of sex - it's all about impossibly perfect photoshopped young women's bodies being ogled by men. There is no recognition at all in the media of sex for old people, sex for fat people, sex for just ordinary normal people. You don't see women enjoying sex, you don't see sex in the context of a relationship (it's well known that married people don't have sex), and nothing about fertility or making babies. In fact we all seem to become terribly prudish whenever anyone refers to sex in those contexts. I'd like to see a return of a natural, lusty, earthy approach to sex, with an absence of embarrassment and hang-ups. Maybe I should erect an enormous Maypole in the middle of Poynton park. Would you join me?

Happy Spring Equinox

Today is the spring equinox in the northern hemisphere. It's also the equinox in the southern hemisphere, but it's the autumn one there. The equinoxes are the two points in the year that are halfway between midwinter and midsummer; halfway between the shortest day and the longest day. So today, day and night are exactly the same length, as long as you define "day" as "the time when the midpoint of the sun is above the horizon" and "night" as "the time when the midpoint of the sun is below the horizon". Most of us think of the day as beginning when any part of the sun is above the horizon and ending when every part of the sun dips below it, so in practice the day is slightly longer then the night on the equinox.

I imagine that ancient people, noticing that the midday sun was getting lower and lower in the sky as winter progressed, may have been afraid that this year it might carry on getting lower and eventually disappear altogether. Maybe they were very relieved after midwinter passed and they noticed the days lengthening again. Perhaps it seemed to them like a battle between light and darkness, between day and night, warmth and cold, life and death. At midwinter it must have seemed as if the darkness was winning the battle, but then the light began to fight back. By the equinox, the light was winning the battle - day is longer than night once again and all of nature is coming back to life. Plants are starting to grow again, animals are active and breeding. Hurrah for the force of light and life and everything that is good for we humans.

So it's no surprise that the date of midwinter is close to the feast of Christmas, when we celebrate the birth of the son (sun). He is small and weak at that point, but he is growing and he brings hope for the future. Other cultures past and present have important celebrations at that time of year which include ideas about light and life and warmth. Similarly, the date of Easter is defined in relation to the equinox. And other cultures have celebrations at this time which are all about rebirth, renewal, and the triumph of life over death. It's all the same celebration. It's all the same idea. It's built into us because we are alive and we live on a planet which has seasons. Maybe you're not religious yourself and don't celebrate Easter. Maybe you didn't know that today is the equinox before you read this post. But you knew the flowers are all coming out, didn't you? You noticed that the mornings aren't so dark, and the evenings are getting longer. It's good to be in tune with the changes of the year. Happy equinox.

Happy Solstice

Today is the winter solstice, midwinter's day. It's the shortest day of the year, and the longest night. The midday sun will be low in the sky, weak and watery. The northern hemisphere [1] holds its breath to see whether the days will then lengthen, the midday sun will climb higher and higher, the night recede, and spring will come again. Well, we modern scientific types aren't really in any doubt that will happen. But still it's a dark and barren time of year. There's a deep-seated need to light a roaring fire, gather family and friends around, eat, drink and be merry.

[1] Of course in the Southern hemisphere it's midsummer - the longest day and the shortest night. Hope you have a good one.

Autumn Equinox

Today is the autumn equinox (in the Northern hemisphere), the point of balance between midsummer and midwinter. Day and night are 12 hours long today, that's what "equinox" means (in fact it's more complicated than that because the sun is not a single point and the earth's orbit is not a perfect circle). But from now on the days in the Northern hemisphere get shorter and shorter, and the nights get longer. The growing season is rapidly coming to a close and winter is approaching.

I feel a sense of descent and closing. I feel connected to the seasons, although that hasn't always been true. At other times of my life I have felt very disconnected from them, for example when I was living in a city, and drove to work every day. House to car, car to work, work to car, car to house. Indoor shopping centres at the weekend. Pubs or cinemas in the evening. I didn't notice when the first blackberries ripened or when the swallows returned in spring. But last Friday morning a skein of geese flew overhead as I dropped the kids off at school. I first heard their loud calling, and I stopped to watch them as they passed.

Happy Solstice

It's midsummer day[1]. Today is the longest day, and tonight will be the shortest night of the year. The sun reaches its highest point in the sky at midday today, and hangs motionless at 6 minutes past 6 this evening with minimal north or southwards motion. It's a magical time of year.

I hope 2007 has been good to you so far, and will continue to be so. Enjoy this special day.



[1] In the northern hemisphere. If you live in the southern hemisphere it's midwinter. And if you live on the equator it's just another day, hot, with a high chance of thunderstorms later.

Spring Equinox

Yesterday was the spring equinox (in the northern hemisphere anyway, in the southern hemisphere it's autumn). That means that the sun was directly above the earth's equator so the day and night were of equal length (although because the sun is quite a big disc rather than a mathematical point, in fact the day was about 14 minutes longer).

But you don't visit Bean-Sprouts for an astrophysics lecture. The important point is that from now on, we get more light than darkness, the ground should start warming up and the plants should start growing. Winter is past and the growing season is here.