{"id":7629,"date":"2015-12-07T10:38:34","date_gmt":"2015-12-07T17:38:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=7629"},"modified":"2015-12-07T13:29:28","modified_gmt":"2015-12-07T20:29:28","slug":"on-the-sidelines-in-the-solstice-wars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=7629","title":{"rendered":"On the Sidelines in the Solstice Wars"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Siberianwinterking\"

Winter king, Sakha Republic, Siberia<\/p><\/div>\n

Oh wait, it is Christmas<\/em> that has (news media-generated) “wars.<\/a>” How the winter solstice should be observed, however, has become the subject of almost rabbinical discussion on one of the Colorado Pagan listservs, again.<\/p>\n

There are always two core factions, the calendrical and the astronomical. The event at stake is the annual Drumming Up the Sun (DUTS), which takes place at Red Rocks Amphitheatre<\/a> (actually a Denver city park), whose site looks out over that prairie’s-edge city toward the eastern horizon.<\/p>\n

DUTS, as one person wrote, is “organic” \u2014 it just happens with minimal organizing. And it’s a cool event (pun intended). If I lived up there, I would go. As one Colorado Pagan recently noted in a different context, “trance drumming has become rarer, drum circles are fading, and there just aren’t as many chances for people to drum themselves into trance and call forth the goddesses and gods into our primal beating hearts.” But this one still goes on \u2014 it draws hundreds of people sometimes.<\/p>\n

But the question is, which morning?<\/em><\/p>\n

The calendrical faction says, in effect, “Do it on the 21st because that is the solstice date on the calendar.” One of the “calendrists” writes, “Most of the drummers have opted for Monday since some people have to work Tuesday.”<\/p>\n

Linking to this website<\/a>, a member of the astrononomical faction posts, “[The site] is pretty clear that the night of the 21st-22nd is the shortest night, and what I didn’t mention before but what is also visible there is that the 22nd is also the shortest day, not the 21st. That is another reason why the 22nd is solstice day, despite the moment of the event happening two hours and eleven minutes into the day before. In other words, the 22nd is the shortest day of the year, another way to define Winter Solstice. . . . If people want to drum up the morning of Solstice Eve I think that’s awesome . . . .\u00a0 I am not trying to pressure anyone to do anything, but rather to state what I’m doing with my group and to provide accurate scientific information.”<\/p>\n

And a third small DUTS faction \u2014 call them “let’s do it all” \u2014 wants both mornings, maybe even 24+ hours of non-stop drumming. “Since we already have people who feel inspired to drum on the mornings of the 21st and the 22nd,” one asks,\u00a0 “could we connect them together as parts of a longer vigil?”<\/p>\n

As of this morning, the online opinion-soliciting continues.<\/p>\n

If I must take sides, I lean toward the astronomical faction. I have always felt that if you are timing any working to planetary motion, then starting just after the peak moment of whatever is better than starting before it. “Catch the wave,” so to speak. But others may think differently.<\/p>\n

As for the solstice, being a self-employed foothills dweller, I will likely roll out of bed on the 22nd, take a bodhran, dress warmly, call the dog (just the one dog now), and climb up the ridge east of the house.<\/p>\n

Thanks to the shape of the land, even if I sleep a bit late, I can pick one of several clearings in which to stand as the sun clears the ridge to the southeast. My drumbeats can float out over the little valley, the neighbors’ scattered houses and pastures, and the sun-lit mountain to the west.<\/p>\n

Unless, of course, it’s snowing hard, in which case I will have to improvise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Oh wait, it is Christmas that has (news media-generated) “wars.” How the winter solstice should be observed, however, has become the subject of almost rabbinical discussion on one of the Colorado Pagan listservs, again. There are always two core factions, the calendrical and the astronomical. The event at stake is the annual Drumming Up the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[23,43],"class_list":["post-7629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-colorado","tag-yule"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6xQTg-1Z3","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8956,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=8956","url_meta":{"origin":7629,"position":0},"title":"A Secular Solstice or Truly “Pagan-ish”?","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"December 17, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I saw this sign last Friday at the public library in Pueblo, Colorado, and I liked it for a bunch of reasons. Sometimes I get tired of the \"jolly old elf\" and would not mind seeing a more dignified winter monarch(s). For all its other problems, I thought that the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Pagan-ish\"","block_context":{"text":"Pagan-ish","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=pagan-ish"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/solstice-king-queen-217x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8699,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=8699","url_meta":{"origin":7629,"position":1},"title":"Happy Independence Day & Blessed Be","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"July 4, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The Stars and Stripes, a Colorado craft beer, and a Ripley's witchcraft museum goblet. This is actually the summer solstice celebration, I reckon, delayed two weeks. I'm kicking back after driving one of my department's fire trucks in Nearby Town's 4th 0f July parade. Here is a picture of one\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Colorado\"","block_context":{"text":"Colorado","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=colorado"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/happy-independence-day.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/happy-independence-day.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/happy-independence-day.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/happy-independence-day.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1100,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=1100","url_meta":{"origin":7629,"position":2},"title":"Yule and its Songs","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"December 19, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"The Northern Hemisphere winter solstice occurs at 12:04 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time on December 21. That's 5:04 a.m. here in Colorado, perfect for the people drumming up the Sun at Red Rocks Amphitheatre. (I won't be there--too far away.) Remember to visit Archaeoastronomy.com for all your calendrical ritual-timing needs.You can\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"music\"","block_context":{"text":"music","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=music"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6209,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=6209","url_meta":{"origin":7629,"position":3},"title":"Trees, Animism, and Yuletide","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"January 4, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I wanted to use the photo of the dumped Christmas tree with two different posts. Then I decided to combine them, so keep reading. 1. \"Trees\" is the theme of this month's Animist Blog Carnival, hosted by Australian blogger Jay at naturebum. Tree totems, forest fires, Indo-European cosmology, and more!\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"animism\"","block_context":{"text":"animism","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=animism"},"img":{"alt_text":"Christmas tree discarded on public land in southern Colorado. (Photo: Royal Gorge Field Office, Bureau of Land Management)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/discardedXmastree1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/discardedXmastree1.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/discardedXmastree1.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4793,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=4793","url_meta":{"origin":7629,"position":4},"title":"Why the Solstice Sunrise is not the Latest","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"December 12, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"The winter solstice is the shortest day, so why is the sunset is already happening later then than it is occurring now? And why does the sunrise keep on getting later after December 21st? Blame the fact that the day is not a perfect 24 hours long.","rel":"","context":"In \"solstice\"","block_context":{"text":"solstice","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=solstice"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":896,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=896","url_meta":{"origin":7629,"position":5},"title":"The Sun High in The Sky","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"June 21, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Here is the news from Stonehenge. No human sacrifice though, if that is what is was. But The Guardian gloats:Today is the summer solstice, and the druids have taken over Stonehenge to commemorate their ancient rites. Today's festival at Britain's most charismatic monument is based on a cultural fantasy, behind\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"blogging\"","block_context":{"text":"blogging","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=blogging"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7629"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7629\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7642,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7629\/revisions\/7642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}