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Author Topic: Up All Night: A Technopagan Winter Solstice 2013  (Read 10852 times)

Altair

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Up All Night: A Technopagan Winter Solstice 2013
« on: December 20, 2013, 10:35:20 pm »
Hey, what is this thread? The night beginning at sunset on Saturday, December 21, 2013, is the longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. To celebrate the winter solstice (a.k.a. Yule, Midwinter, and probably other things, depending on your tradition), a bunch of us plan to stay up all night and post here in this thread off and on throughout and/or chatter in chat, sharing our experiences or random thoughts...sharing photos or artwork throughout the evening...or just encouraging each other to stay awake!

So if you’re trying to stay up till dawn, or just want to pop in to converse with those of us who are, this is the place! (Or if you're lucky enough to be in the Southern Hemisphere, enjoying the warmth and sun of summer solstice, tell us what we're missing!)

In that spirit, here it is again, folks--that modest rhyme I composed specifically for our winter solstice efforts. Tradition dictates that I offer it as invocation to kick things off:

A WINTER SOLSTICE REVEILLE

by Altair

Light dwindles, life despairs
A bitter chill is in the air
The sun departs, and with it goes
A fruitful season free of woes
As winter’s icy grip takes hold
The sleeping landscape to enfold
Many hours of dark must pass
Before the sun returns at last
To make its long-awaited climb
With promise of a flowering time

Until that hour, let dark prevail
Greet longest night with strong wassail
Sing and dance, feast and drink
Or solemnly reflect and think
From strange and hidden wells partake
With one rule only: Stay awake!
From dusk till dawn, hear our refrain:
Let the solstice revels reign

[In the last line, swap in the word “vigil” for “revels” if the feeling is more contemplative than festive]
The first song sets the wheel in motion / The second is a song of love / The third song tells of Her devotion / The fourth cries joy from the sky above
The fifth song binds our fate to silence / and bids us live each moment well / The sixth unleashes rage and violence / The seventh song has truth to tell
The last song echoes through the ages / to ask its question all night long / And close the circle on these pages / These, the metamythos songs

Altair

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Re: Up All Night: A Technopagan Winter Solstice 2013
« Reply #1 on: December 20, 2013, 10:42:47 pm »
Quote from: Altair;133172
beginning at sunset on Saturday, December 21, 2013


Here in NYC, it's still the night of Friday, Dec. 20, with a little over an hour before the date changes at midnight. But I've opened the "Up All Night" thread super early this year, because I wanted to make sure our friends across the globe have an opportunity to jump in as soon as sunset on Saturday, Dec 21, comes for them.

(If I recall correctly, Australia is some 18 hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Standard Time, so from their perspective, this really isn't premature at all!)

I'm off to bed--I need a good night's sleep if I'm going to stay up all night tomorrow night--but the Up All Night thread is ready for you when tomorrow's (Saturday night's) darkness comes to claim your locale...
The first song sets the wheel in motion / The second is a song of love / The third song tells of Her devotion / The fourth cries joy from the sky above
The fifth song binds our fate to silence / and bids us live each moment well / The sixth unleashes rage and violence / The seventh song has truth to tell
The last song echoes through the ages / to ask its question all night long / And close the circle on these pages / These, the metamythos songs

Melamphoros

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Re: Up All Night: A Technopagan Winter Solstice 2013
« Reply #2 on: December 20, 2013, 10:48:11 pm »
Quote from: Altair;133173

I'm off to bed--I need a good night's sleep if I'm going to stay up all night tomorrow night--but the Up All Night thread is ready for you when tomorrow's (Saturday night's) darkness comes to claim your locale...

 
I have already switched to a nocturnal schedule so it's not going to be a big issue for me.  However, to set the mood in my own signature way:



Jesus saves, Allah forgives, Cthulhu thinks you will make a great sandwich.
My Spiritual Blog

Aspirer

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Re: Up All Night: A Technopagan Winter Solstice 2013
« Reply #3 on: December 20, 2013, 11:57:16 pm »
Quote from: Altair;133172
Hey, what is this thread? The night beginning at sunset on Saturday, December 21, 2013, is the longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. To celebrate the winter solstice (a.k.a. Yule, Midwinter, and probably other things, depending on your tradition), a bunch of us plan to stay up all night and post here in this thread off and on throughout and/or chatter in chat, sharing our experiences or random thoughts...sharing photos or artwork throughout the evening...or just encouraging each other to stay awake!

So if you’re trying to stay up till dawn, or just want to pop in to converse with those of us who are, this is the place! (Or if you're lucky enough to be in the Southern Hemisphere, enjoying the warmth and sun of summer solstice, tell us what we're missing!)

In that spirit, here it is again, folks--that modest rhyme I composed specifically for our winter solstice efforts. Tradition dictates that I offer it as invocation to kick things off:

A WINTER SOLSTICE REVEILLE

by Altair

Light dwindles, life despairs
A bitter chill is in the air
The sun departs, and with it goes
A fruitful season free of woes
As winter’s icy grip takes hold
The sleeping landscape to enfold
Many hours of dark must pass
Before the sun returns at last
To make its long-awaited climb
With promise of a flowering time

Until that hour, let dark prevail
Greet longest night with strong wassail
Sing and dance, feast and drink
Or solemnly reflect and think
From strange and hidden wells partake
With one rule only: Stay awake!
From dusk till dawn, hear our refrain:
Let the solstice revels reign

[In the last line, swap in the word “vigil” for “revels” if the feeling is more contemplative than festive]

 
I should R.S.V.P. for this!

By the way, Very nice poem.

Emerald

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Re: Up All Night: A Technopagan Winter Solstice 2013
« Reply #4 on: December 21, 2013, 03:24:26 am »
Quote from: Altair;133173
Here in NYC, it's still the night of Friday, Dec. 20, with a little over an hour before the date changes at midnight. But I've opened the "Up All Night" thread super early this year, because I wanted to make sure our friends across the globe have an opportunity to jump in as soon as sunset on Saturday, Dec 21, comes for them.

 
Here in New Zealand the sun set about 40 minutes ago, it's close to completely dark outside now. Happy Summer Solstice to me! *ducks snowballs*

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Up All Night: A Technopagan Winter Solstice 2013
« Reply #5 on: December 21, 2013, 03:31:20 am »
Quote from: Emerald;133203
Here in New Zealand the sun set about 40 minutes ago, it's close to completely dark outside now. Happy Summer Solstice to me! *ducks snowballs*

Happy Summer Solstice, Em, savvy, and anyone else in the warm part of the world! May the height of the summer sun shine joy into your lives.

Are you staying up all/some of the shortest night, Em, or doing an all-day thing tomorrow instead?
"We're all stories, in the end. Make it a good one, eh?"
- Doctor Who

savveir

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Re: Up All Night: A Technopagan Winter Solstice 2013
« Reply #6 on: December 21, 2013, 05:21:13 am »
Quote from: Emerald;133203
Here in New Zealand the sun set about 40 minutes ago, it's close to completely dark outside now. Happy Summer Solstice to me! *ducks snowballs*

 
The sun set about 40 minutes ago here. Though according to the Victorian Museum(my state museum), the solstice is just after 4am tomorrow.
"I give myself very good advice, but I very seldom follow it."
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Re: Up All Night: A Technopagan Winter Solstice 2013
« Reply #7 on: December 21, 2013, 07:59:48 am »
Quote from: savvy;133210
The sun set about 40 minutes ago here. Though according to the Victorian Museum(my state museum), the solstice is just after 4am tomorrow.


Joining in on the Happy Summer Solstice wishes for our members in the southern hemisphere.

Today the weather is - again - too warm for the season. My rosemary on the balcony is confused as heck and blooms for a few weeks now.

Sunset will be around 3:55 pm, local time now is 2:00 pm.

So I guess I will be in the kitchen making a batch of cookies or something and then will be back later to announce the falling darkness.
\'You had to repay, good or bad. There was more than one type of obligation.
That’s what people never really understood.….Things had to balance.
You couldn’t set out to be a good witch or a bad witch. It never worked out for long.
All you could try to be was a witch, as hard as you could.\'
Terry Pratchett \'Lords and Ladies\'

Confuzzled and proud. :p

Altair

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Re: Up All Night: A Technopagan Winter Solstice 2013
« Reply #8 on: December 21, 2013, 08:13:00 am »
Quote from: Emerald;133203
Here in New Zealand the sun set about 40 minutes ago, it's close to completely dark outside now. Happy Summer Solstice to me! *ducks snowballs*


and

Quote from: savvy;133210
The sun set about 40 minutes ago here. Though according to the Victorian Museum(my state museum), the solstice is just after 4am tomorrow.


Excellent, Emerald and Savvy! I think this is the earliest we've been able to witness the march of darkness across the globe.

(Not much darkness for you guys, basking in sun and warmth; I'd throw those snowballs, except we've got unusually warm weather for December in NYC today and tomorrow, going up to above 60 degrees F--20 C--tomorrow.)

The precise moment of solstice is 17:11 Universal Coordinated Time, which translates into:

4:11 AM (on Sunday, Dec. 22, for Sydney--the Victorian Museum is right on the money)
6:11 PM (for Paris & Berlin)
5:11 PM (for London)
2:11 PM (for Buenos Aires)
12:11 PM (for NYC, Boston, DC, Montreal, and other Eastern seaboard North American cities)
11:11 AM (for Chicago & San Antonio)
9:11 AM (for San Francisco, L.A., Seattle, Vancouver, and other West Coast North American cities

Can anyone explain why I love the solstices so much? I got struck by a minor head cold last night, and I'm still thrilled at the prospect of staying up all night tonight!
(I'll sing a different song around 3 AM...)
The first song sets the wheel in motion / The second is a song of love / The third song tells of Her devotion / The fourth cries joy from the sky above
The fifth song binds our fate to silence / and bids us live each moment well / The sixth unleashes rage and violence / The seventh song has truth to tell
The last song echoes through the ages / to ask its question all night long / And close the circle on these pages / These, the metamythos songs

Altair

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Re: Up All Night: A Technopagan Winter Solstice 2013
« Reply #9 on: December 21, 2013, 08:15:36 am »
Quote from: Tana;133222


So I guess I will be in the kitchen making a batch of cookies or something and then will be back later to announce the falling darkness.

 
Tana! Our traditional vanguard of the coming winter darkness! We await your report...
The first song sets the wheel in motion / The second is a song of love / The third song tells of Her devotion / The fourth cries joy from the sky above
The fifth song binds our fate to silence / and bids us live each moment well / The sixth unleashes rage and violence / The seventh song has truth to tell
The last song echoes through the ages / to ask its question all night long / And close the circle on these pages / These, the metamythos songs

PetitAlbert

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Re: Up All Night: A Technopagan Winter Solstice 2013
« Reply #10 on: December 21, 2013, 10:19:09 am »
Quote from: Altair;133226

5:11 PM (for London)


It's 3:18pm at the moment - the sun sets at 3:53. Happy solstice everyone! Have some more music:

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Altair

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Re: Up All Night: A Technopagan Winter Solstice 2013
« Reply #11 on: December 21, 2013, 10:28:10 am »
Quote from: Aspirer;133185
I should R.S.V.P. for this!

By the way, Very nice poem.


No RSVP required--just join us (as you already have)!

And thanks for the praise. Admittedly, I recycle it every year for this occasion, for which it was composed.
The first song sets the wheel in motion / The second is a song of love / The third song tells of Her devotion / The fourth cries joy from the sky above
The fifth song binds our fate to silence / and bids us live each moment well / The sixth unleashes rage and violence / The seventh song has truth to tell
The last song echoes through the ages / to ask its question all night long / And close the circle on these pages / These, the metamythos songs

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Up All Night: A Technopagan Winter Solstice 2013
« Reply #12 on: December 21, 2013, 10:44:25 am »
Quote from: Altair;133232
No RSVP required--just join us (as you already have)!

And thanks for the praise. Admittedly, I recycle it every year for this occasion, for which it was composed.

The sun has set in Scotland. Although its been so dull all day it's hard to tell the difference!

Happy solstice everyone

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Re: Up All Night: A Technopagan Winter Solstice 2013
« Reply #13 on: December 21, 2013, 10:47:23 am »
Quote from: rocquelaire;133235
The sun has set in Scotland. Although its been so dull all day it's hard to tell the difference!

Happy solstice everyone


Sun has set and now it's officially dusk. Definitely getting dark now.
\'You had to repay, good or bad. There was more than one type of obligation.
That’s what people never really understood.….Things had to balance.
You couldn’t set out to be a good witch or a bad witch. It never worked out for long.
All you could try to be was a witch, as hard as you could.\'
Terry Pratchett \'Lords and Ladies\'

Confuzzled and proud. :p

Altair

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Re: Up All Night: A Technopagan Winter Solstice 2013
« Reply #14 on: December 21, 2013, 11:09:53 am »
Quote from: rocquelaire;133235
The sun has set in Scotland. Although its been so dull all day it's hard to tell the difference!


and

Quote from: Tana;133236
Sun has set and now it's officially dusk. Definitely getting dark now.


Thank you, Rocquelaire and Tana! So Scotland and Germany have officially fallen to darkness. I imagine we'll have a big unreported stretch as the dark marches across the Atlantic (unless folks from Ir[c]eland chime in), and then it will be our turn in the East of North America next...I better start my ritual prep...
The first song sets the wheel in motion / The second is a song of love / The third song tells of Her devotion / The fourth cries joy from the sky above
The fifth song binds our fate to silence / and bids us live each moment well / The sixth unleashes rage and violence / The seventh song has truth to tell
The last song echoes through the ages / to ask its question all night long / And close the circle on these pages / These, the metamythos songs

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