This article is about the solar holiday. For the 19th-century Viennese publication, see Ostara (magazine); for the neofolk band, see Ostara (band). Ostara is one of the eight major holidays, sabbats or festivals of the Wiccan wheel of the year. It is celebrated on the spring equinox, in the northern hemisphere around March 21 and in the southern hemisphere around September 23, depending on the Spring Equinox. The name is derived from a goddess said to appear in German legends by Jakob Grimm in his Deutsche Myth ...

Including:

• Ostara - Antiquity of Ostara
• Ostara - Notes

Read more here: » Ostara: Encyclopedia - Ostara

A tropical year is the length of time that the Sun, as viewed from the Earth, takes to return to the same position along the ecliptic (its path among the stars on the celestial sphere). The precise length of time depends on which point of the ecliptic one chooses: starting from the (northern) vernal equinox, one of the four cardinal points along the ecliptic, yields the vernal equinox year; averaging over all starting points on the ecliptic yields the mean tropical year. At J 2000.0 it was 365.242190517 days or 365 d., 5 h., 48 min. and about 45.26 s.^Including:

• Tropical year - Subtleties
• Tropical year - Current mean value
• Tropical year - Different lengths
• Tropical year - Calendar year
• Tropical year - Approximations

Read more here: » Tropical year: Encyclopedia - Tropical year

The summer solstice is an astronomical term regarding the position of the sun in relation to the celestial equator. At the time of the summer solstice, the earth is at a point in its orbit where one hemisphere is most tilted towards the sun, causing the sun to appear at 23.45 degrees above the celestial equator, thus making its highest path across the sky. The summer solstice is the day of the year with the longest daylight period and hence the shortest night. This day usually occurs on June 21/June 22 in the northern hemisphere and o ...

Including:

• Summer solstice - The solar term Xiazhi in Chinese astronomy
• Summer solstice - Holidays

Read more here: » Summer solstice: Encyclopedia - Summer solstice

This article is about use of natural sunlight for interior illumination. Daylighting as a term also refers to the redirection into an above-ground channel of a segment of a creek or stream that was previously diverted into a culvert, pipe, or drainage or sewer system. Daylighting is the passive solar practice of placing windows, or other transparent media, and reflective surfaces so that, during the day, natural ...

Read more here: » Daylighting: Encyclopedia - Daylighting

In astronomy, the winter solstice is the moment when the earth is at a point in its orbit where one hemisphere is most inclined away from the Sun. This causes the Sun to appear at its farthest below the celestial equator when viewed from the far hemisphere. Solstice is a Latin borrowing and means "sun stand still", referring to the appearance that the Sun's noontime elevation change stops its progress, either northerly or southerly. The day of the winter solstice ...

Read more here: » Winter solstice: Encyclopedia - Winter solstice

Imbolc is one of the eight solar holidays, festivals or sabbats of the Neopagan wheel of the year, with some origins in Irish mythology and the pre-Christian Celtic calendar. Originally it was a pagan Irish festival celebrated on 1 February, which began, according to Celtic custom the evening before. Today modern neopagans either celebrate it on the 1st or 2nd, the 2nd being more popular in America, perhaps because of the holiday's later identification with Candlemas. In the southern hemisphere it is celebrated in August. The name, in ...

Read more here: » Imbolc: Encyclopedia - Imbolc

Night is the time when a location is facing away from the Sun, and thus dark. On Earth, it is night on just under half the planet at any time. When it is night on one side of the planet, it is day on the other side. Because of the rotation of Earth about its axis, it is alternately day and night, which together form a 24-hour day. The Earth's tilt also means that the nights are shorter in the seasons of summer and longer in winter. Two effects contribute to the fact that nights are on average shorter than days. The sun is not a ...

Read more here: » Night: Encyclopedia - Night

In England, thanks has been given for successful harvests since pagan times. Celebrations on this day usually include singing, praying and decorating churches with baskets of fruit and food in a festival known as Harvest Festival. In Churches and schools, people bring in food from home. The food is later distributed among the poor and senior citizens of the local community. Harvest festival - When is Harvest Festival?. Harvest festivals are traditionally held on or near the Sunday of the Harv ...

Including:

• Harvest festival - When is Harvest Festival?
• Harvest festival - Customs and Traditions

Read more here: » Harvest festival: Encyclopedia - Harvest festival

A season is one of the major divisions of the year, generally based on yearly periodic changes in weather. In temperate and polar regions generally four seasons are recognised: spring, summer, autumn (fall), and winter. In some tropical and subtropical regions it is more common to speak of the rainy (or wet, or monsoon) season versus the dry season, as the amount of precipitation may vary mo ...

Including:

• Season - Causes and climatic effects
• Season - Polar day and night
• Season - Reckoning
• Season - Mid-season

Read more here: » Season: Encyclopedia - Season

Summer is a season, defined by convention in meteorology as the whole months of June, July, and August, in the Northern hemisphere, and the whole months of December, January, and February, in the Southern hemisphere. In some Western countries, the first day of summer (in the Northern hemisphere) falls either on, or around, June 21 or on June 1 (the former is the astronomical start; the latter, the meteorological). Summer is commonly viewed as the season with the longest (and warmest) days of the year, in which the daylight predominate ...

Including:

• Summer - Summer in popular culture

Read more here: » Summer: Encyclopedia - Summer

The Celestial Equator and the Ecliptic are two Great Circles. As such, they intersect at two points, the Equinoxes. When the Sun, which moves along the Ecliptic, occupies the point that crosses the Equator while heading South, it is the time of the Autumnal Equinox. Due to the Precession of the Equinoxes, the point of intersection moves completely around the sky in a 25,800-year cycle. This century it is in the western end of Virgo near the star Z ...

See also:

Autumnal equinox, Autumnal equinox - Astronomy, Autumnal equinox - The solar term Qiufen in Chinese astronomy, Autumnal equinox - Holidays

Read more here: » Autumnal equinox: Encyclopedia II - Autumnal equinox - Astronomy

Autumnal Equinox

The Solar Equnox of September 21-23. Known as Mabon or Alban Elfed it is one the eight Sabbats of Wicca. Symbols -Besom, Corn Dolly, pine cones, leaves, red poppies, oak leaves.

(See also: Autumnal Equinox, New Age Spirituality, Body Mind and Soul)

Definition and meaning of autumnal equinox:

autumnal equinox - the equinox at which the sun approaches the Southern Hemisphere and passes directly over the equator. It occurs around September 23

(Source: US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) )

Also see these pages: Oceanography, Oceanography Sitemap, Coral Reef, Environment, Sustainability, Climate Change,

AUTUMN EQUINOX SABBAT: Alban Elfed - Mabon Sabbat; also see GWYL HYDREF.

(See also: AUTUMN EQUINOX SABBAT, Witchcraft, Wicca, Paganism, Pagan Dictionary)

Mabon - The Autumn Equinox - September 23

This is a day of balance between light and dark.  The Goddess and the God are thought to have equal power on this night, and all the forces of good and evil as well. This is a good time for divination and marks the end of the second harvest. By this time most the crops were gathered. Mabon begins the season of autumn, when we go into the dark season where most life sleeps for a short time. This is nearing the time when the God dies and goes to the underworld.  The old God is preparing himself for his sacrifficial death at Samhain, and the Goddess is entering her Crone aspect, storing her wisdom that she has learned over the years. Yet she is still pregnant with the seed of the God who she will birth at Yule.

(See also: Mabon, Pagan Holidays, Paganism, Pagan, Pagan Dictionary)

In Neopaganism, Lughnasadh is one of the eight sabbats or solar festivals in the Wheel of the Year. It is the first of the three autumn harvest festivals, the other two being Mabon and Samhain. It commemorates the sacrifice and death of the Corn God; in its cycle of death, nurturing the people, and rebirth, the corn is thought of as an aspect of the Sun God. Some Neopagans mark the holiday by baking a figure of the God in bread, and th ...

See also:

Lughnasadh, Lughnasadh - Neopaganism

Read more here: » Lughnasadh: Encyclopedia II - Lughnasadh - Neopaganism

Equinox: Equal night. That time, or place, in the ecliptic where the days and nights are of equal length which happens twice yearly when the Sun enters Aries (Vernal equinox) and Libra (autumnal equinox), from whence these signs derive the term, equinoctial signs.

(See also: Equinox, Magic, Shamanism, Paganism, Wicca)

GWYL CANOL HYDREF: The Welsh Autumn Equinox Sabbat; beginning sundown, September 21 or 22 Depending on the date of the Equinox.

(See also: GWYL CANOL HYDREF, Witchcraft, Wicca, Paganism, Pagan Dictionary)

EQUINOX: Equinox: twice a year, VERNAL (Spring) & AUTUMNAL; the Sun is exactly over the Earth's middle or EQUATOR. This produces for one day the equal number of light & dark hours all over the world. These are two Pagan high holidays.

(See also: EQUINOX, Witchcraft, Wicca, Paganism, Pagan Dictionary)

Mabon was not an authentic ancient festival either in name or date. The autumn equinox was not celebrated in Celtic countries, while all that is known about Anglo-Saxon customs of that time was that September was known as haleg-monath or 'holy month'. The name Mabon has only been applied to the neopagan festival of the autumn equinox very recently; the term was invented by Aidan Kelly in the 1970s as part of a religious studies project. (The use of Litha for the Summer Solstice is also attributed to Kelly). Previously, in Gardnerian W ...

See also:

Mabon, Mabon - Antiquity of Mabon, Mabon - Popular Culture

Read more here: » Mabon: Encyclopedia II - Mabon - Antiquity of Mabon

MABON (MAY-bone) - Sabbat named for a Welsh God associated with the Arthurian myth cycles. This is the Sabbat observed at the Autumn Equinox and celebrates the second harvest, wine and balance. (CMM)

(See also: MABON, Wiccan Pagan, Paganism, Pagan Dictionary)