| FOGS News Volume XI number 1 Millenium solstice 2000 |
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| Solstice phenomenon |
| WINTER solstice, December 21, counted in years gone by was the first day of winter, the longest night |
| celebrated in country parishes before the Reformation as the time when the darkness prevailed at its final |
| extreme, after which the days became longer, the light stronger. In a cosmic dance fit for the end of one |
| century and the beginning of the next, the moon chose this moment to shine its brightest, rise at sunset |
| displaying its biggest orb, but also, for those watching, showing a phenomenon not to be repeated for at |
| least another century. On the point of full moon, which technically was at 17:31GMT on December 22nd, |
| 1999 the sun had already moved into Capricorn - the ancient sign of the solstice, but because of the earth's |
| proximity to the sun this year, its rays shone more brightly on this moon of moons, itself at its closest point |
| in orbit to the earth. So what happened in a combination of perigèe (closest point of moon's orbit to earth) |
| and the earth's own point of closest orbit to the sun (perihelion) is that the full moon appeared at a maximum |
| the biggest, brightest, most luminous night object to be seen for four generations. For those fortunate to live |
| near country roads, it was worth driving without lights [we don't recommend you do it on the motorway]. |
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| It was in fact approximately 15% larger than it appears at apogèe (around summer solstice) and about 7% |
| brighter because of the earth's perihelion. It is said that 133 years ago - last time this phenomenon occurred |
| on December 21st, 1866 - a tribe of Sioux chose the moment to make a surprise attack on the local militia |
| in Wyoming. It seems they were successful because their medicine men knew how to forecast the |
| perihelion/perigèe event. Regardless of whether you are a celebrant of solstice, Yule or Hogmanay, or |
| even a new millennium, [there are those who are not] this spectacle, alongside the other events of 1999 - |
| like the Leonid meteor showers, the total solar eclipse and August's Grand Cross, is certainly fitting for the |
| fin de siècle and a moment to ponder the wonders of the universe in a way which brings us closer to our |
| ancestors whose calendar was filled with such momentous celebrations. It might even bring us closer together, |
| despite our cultural differences. |
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| one more Millennium and counting. . . |
| WHILE celebrating the seamless moment of transition from one cosmic second in the 20th century to its |
| companion in the 21st, some of us may have noted that Ethiopia alone preferred to hold to its own |
| calendar - not to mention several purists who are holding out for January 01, 2001 to celebrate the new |
| millennium. So it may now be appropriate to contemplate the ultimate wisdom of our Western European |
| ancestors who, long before the Sumerians, had observed and calculated solar and sidereal time and |
| marked its passage in stone. |
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| In recent research, two authors have concluded that, far from being the recipients of oriental wisdom, the |
| Orient was more probably the follower of Occidental mathematics derived from the megalithic culture of |
| NW Europe. Following the path resolutely paved by Alexander Thom and Euan MacKie, authors |
| Christopher Knight & Robert Lomas have set out a clear definition of megalithic thinking in their 1999 |
| publication Uriel's Machine (Random House-Century) also synopsized on their website at |
| www.knight-lomas.com - forever dispelling further doubts about Thom's megalithic yard, and adding a |
| compelling argument for a northern world view of time-distance formulated by the West at least five |
| millennia before Albert Einstein. Not only do they explain simply how megalithic Man could measure the |
| earth's circumference with his thumbnail, to an accuracy rivalled only by satellite survey today, but also |
| how their method was used to calculate a repeating pattern of appearances of sun, moon, Venus (the |
| 'morning star') & the larger stellar clusters. Masonic information is revealed as well as some insight into |
| Templar traditions which the authors link to the Book of Enoch found with the Dead Sea Scrolls. They |
| draw heavily on the writings of Tacitus and Adomnan to support continuity of this knowledge into the early |
| Christian millennium, use Irish myth to explain the logic and beauty of Newgrange, but sadly do not appear |
| to have much insight into the significance of the great recumbent stone circles and mounds of NE Scotland. |
| Perhaps we should remedy that! |
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| Membership feedback. . . |
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| a new sightline for Mormond |
| SOME members spent at least part of the last moments of the 20th century at their favourite stone circle: |
| feedback was received from FOGS at the cupmarked stones of Rothiemay, Balquhain and Sunhoney, while |
| the jasper stone of Easter Aquhorthies was given full attention by a large visiting group (its place on the |
| 'Stone Circle' trail ensures this). Meantime Mensa-FOGS continued to measure sun & moon shadows at |
| many circles on their 'control' list for the point of winter solstice - 21st December being ideal, 22nd not so |
| clear. It may be of interest to readers of our Auchmaliddie piece in September equinox newsletter Vol. X |
| number 4, that the full moon on December 21 was witnessed by our Mensa-FOGS at these all-quartz stones |
| with awe, enhanced by a surrounding landscape clearly visible by night as far as the horizon. Particularly |
| relevant (especially in those centuries before its destruction) is that the rising full moon emerged from the |
| ritual (formerly)-all-quartz-covered Neolithic mound on Mormond Hill NJ969566, 9miles to NE, at 40-41 |
| degrees (a known winter full moon sightline) signalling a cosmic message to the watchers at the all-quartz |
| circle S of New Deer. We herald this as further evidence for the importance of the quartz circle as a ritual |
| centre and, if anyone at Historic Scotland is listening, yet another reason to redouble efforts to have it |
| scheduled before further damage occurs. It would be tragic indeed if further close ploughing eradicated the |
| site before its true importance were noticed by officialdom. FOGS can and does maintain a watchful eye - |
| this sighting was especially gratifying - but its special position continues to display evidence for national |
| protection and national importance. We can only seek to portray a tiny fragment of the splendour of a huge |
| full moon shining on a massive quartz structure. The rest of the picture is up to you, dear FOGS members, to |
| imagine. If you feel as we do, please address your concerns to area MP, Rt. Hon. Alex Salmond, who |
| thankfully has shown an interest & may be moved to take up the matter of protection on our behalf. |
