Skypatterns Skytalk

The Winter Solstice has been marked and celebrated for all of recorded history. This day is when the sun will be at its most southern point in the sky for the year, giving us the shortest day and longest night of the year.After the solstice, the sun begins its return to the north and daylight hours gradually increase. Indigenous cultures and pagan religions see this day as the day to go within and recreate ourselves after shedding what no longer serves us. Then grand celebrations bring in the light of the new coming year.

This year the Moon is having a Full Lunar Eclipse at the same time.
The eclipse will begin at 1:32 a.m. and last until 5:02 a.m. The moon will be completely in shadow from 2:40 to 3:54 a.m.This is happening for the first time in 456 years! The last time the two celestial events happened at the same time was in AD 1554, according to NASA.

The 2010 Winter Solstice is an astrologically significant solstice for several reasons. The Solstice is not determined by the state of the moon, the full moon does not happen on the Winter Solstice very often. This makes the date of the 2010 Winter Solstice especially significant.The 2010 Winter Solstice is not only a full moon, but it is also a full eclipse. This is when the Earth passes between the sun and the moon, hiding the sunlight and casting a shadow over the moon. Starting at 1:33 a.m. Eastern Standard Time Tuesday, the Winter Solstice Eclipse will cast an amber/red shadow over the moon, rather than an entirely black shadow that will block out the moon The eclipse is considered full at 2:41 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on Tuesday, Dec. 21. The best view of the full eclipse will be about 3:17 a.m. EST on the Winter Solstice. As a bonus, the Ursid meteor shower peaks on December 22, so some of the Ursid meteors may also be seen during the eclipse.

The lunar eclipse on December 21st, 2010 occurs at 29°21′ Gemini, a Mutable sign, with the Sun in Sagittarius, another Mutable sign (remember, the Sun and Moon are always opposed at a lunar eclipse, since it’s a Full Moon). There is information to be delivered, as Gemini’s ruler is Mercury, and Sagittarius ruler is Jupiter. Informing us that knowledge is power, this stellar event can awaken us to the balanced order of the Sun and Moon in concert on the Solstice.