Up All Night: A Technopagan Solstice Celebration 2017 (10th Anniversary Edition)

[Altair]

Hey, what is this thread? The night beginning at sunset on Thursday, December 21, 2017, is the longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. To celebrate the solstice (summer solstice in the Southern Hemisphere; in the North, it's 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]

[Altair]

The night beginning at sunset on Thursday, December 21, 2017...

Those in Europe, Africa, the Americas...don't panic! No, you haven't missed the start of Up All Night; but the thread is open now, so that those in the far eastern rim of the world (I'm looking at you, Australia!), whose night of Thursday, December 21, is starting soon, are able to post.

Aussies, vanguard of the coming darkness (where actually it's summertime, so you're more about the light right now): Tell us when the dark comes for you!

[Altair]

Hey, what is this thread?

It's the 10th anniversary of our solstice party, that's what this thread is! So in honor of that milestone, our non-theme* this year is:

In Retrospect

I have a thought or two along those lines that I'll post later, when my solstice has actually begun. But in the meantime, courtesy of the encyclopedic memory of Sunflower, here's the moment of inspiration that started our tradition 10 years ago, as well as the thread of the inaugural event. Interesting to see how much has changed (the cast of Cauldronites) and how much has stayed the same (my shtick) in 10 years.

And for the record, the moment of solstice is December 21 at 16:28 UTC (that's 11:28 AM for me in NYC, so before the night has even begun here)

*A non-theme is an idea you can riff on in any number of ways, in musings in posts, in photos, in links to songs and/or videos or interesting articles...or that you can totally ignore, to post whatever you damn well please. Hence "non-theme".

[Altair]

It's the 10th anniversary of our solstice party

...and don't forget that to mark UAN10, we're trying something special tonight: the Great Global Group Meditation!

WHEN:
2 AM Universal Time; that translates into--
--6 PM Pacific and 9 PM Eastern in North America
--2 AM Greenwich Mean and 3 AM Central in Europe
--Noon [on Dec. 22] Australian Eastern
It will last about 30-40 minutes.

PM me if you want to join in; the info for logging in to this Zoom meeting will be emailed out right before the actual event. Prepare your minds to reach out and encircle the globe...

[Altair]

The night beginning at sunset on Thursday, December 21, 2017

Here are some sunset times for European locations, which should be next to go dark; all are local times:

London 3:35 PM
Amsterdam 4:28 PM
Berlin 3:54 PM
Paris 4:56 PM
Oslo 3:12 PM
Stockholm 2:48 PM
Copenhagen 3:38 PM
Rome 4:42 PM

[Waldhexe]

Hi folks!

I'm just sitting in the train and will meet friends to make a solstice fire.

It's nearly 4 pm here in Germany. It's not dark yet, but already looking misty and gloomy. I hope it won't rain.

I'll check in again when I'm on the train back. Have a nice evening!

[Altair]

Hi folks!

I'm just sitting in the train and will meet friends to make a solstice fire.

It's nearly 4 pm here in Germany. It's not dark yet, but already looking misty and gloomy. I hope it won't rain.

I'll check in again when I'm on the train back. Have a nice evening!

Waldhexe for the win, with the first report of the northern world's spreading darkness! Thanks, Waldhexe

[Sobekemiti]

Hey, what is this thread? The night beginning at sunset on Thursday, December 21, 2017, is the longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. To celebrate the solstice (summer solstice in the Southern Hemisphere; in the North, it's 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!

First Australian reporting in. It's been a warm Solstice today, but I have to say, I've been very lazy in terms of doing anything for it. Haven't really been in the mood for Sabbat rituals of late. Still, I spent the evening making a book with some leftover bits of drawing/sketching paper and the card from the back of a spiral sketcbook, so. That was about as productive as I got. Don't know how late I'll be up tonight. It's already midnight here, but we'll see. I haven't pulled an allnighter in a long time. I'm out of practice. D:

[Chatelaine]

London 3:35 PM

3:48 for us in Essex - what a difference a few degrees east make. I'm about to check out of work and go see The Last Jedi. Catch you all later!

[Altair]

First Australian reporting in. It's been a warm Solstice today, but I have to say, I've been very lazy in terms of doing anything for it.

Ah, for the lazy days of summer! Thanks for the taste of it from Down Under, Sobekemiti.

3:48 for us in Essex - what a difference a few degrees east make. I'm about to check out of work and go see The Last Jedi. Catch you all later!

And by now Essex, England, had gone dark! Enjoy The Last Jedi, Chatelaine; I want to hear your opinion when you get back (mine is here).

And for all of us science geeks who love the mechanics of the solstice--exactly how do all these seasons come about, anyway?--Here's a great link about it from EarthSky:

http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/everything-you-need-to-know-december-solstice

[Altair]

And for all of us science geeks who love the mechanics of the solstice--exactly how do all these seasons come about, anyway?--Here's a great link about it from EarthSky:

http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/everything-you-need-to-know-december-solstice

Aagh! I've been so distracted at the office (stoopid work!) that I forgot to note the exact moment of solstice, about 20 minutes ago! Winter (in the north) isn't coming; it's here. And in the south, summer has just begun!

[Sobekemiti]

Ah, for the lazy days of summer! Thanks for the taste of it from Down Under, Sobekemiti.

It's 1am, and I'm just done with Quan Yin practice. It's a cool night, but peaceful and quiet here.

[Altair]

Here are some sunset times for European locations, which should be next to go dark; all are local times:

London 3:35 PM
Amsterdam 4:28 PM
Berlin 3:54 PM
Paris 4:56 PM
Oslo 3:12 PM
Stockholm 2:48 PM
Copenhagen 3:38 PM
Rome 4:42 PM

And now, some local sunset/sunrise times for a few KCLs (Known Cauldronite Locations) in North America...

Baltimore, MD 4:46 PM/7:23 AM
Boston, MA  4:14 PM/7:10 AM
Calgary, AB  4:31 PM/8:37 AM
New York, NY  4:31 PM/7:17 AM
Seattle, WA  4:20 PM/7:55 AM
Vancouver, BC  4:16 PM/8:05 AM

(and you can pull your own location from the nifty site https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/ )

[RandallS]

And now, some local sunset/sunrise times for a few KCLs (Known Cauldronite Locations) in North America...

Youngstown, OH 4:57 pm/7:44 am The actual solstice time was 11:27 this morning.

[Jenett]

Boston, MA  4:14 PM/7:10 AM

Hee! I was about to double check it.

I managed to sleep in (I take the week of solstice off so I can push my sleep cycle back from the usual 'way too early' I do when working - there's no way I can manage UAN if I don't.)

Woke up at 11:30, lounged around in bed to avoid disturbing the cat too much, and have now put food in the slow cooker for supper, had a more-or-less-ritual bath, as one does, and am pulling music from CDs to iTunes as part of one of the projects I'm going to be working on during UAN.

(Have also downloaded all four current episodes of this season's The Librarians, which will be some of the watching, probably, along with my ongoing rewatch of Classic Doctor Who.)

I know where my knitting is (and where the spreadsheet that goes with that knitting is), and I have sufficient caffeine in the house. (Or at least, if I have issues, it won't be the lack of caffeine..)