"The Wheel Knot"

The Knotwork above is a graphical representation of the "Wheel of the Year", as I view it. It consists of the four Quarter Days or "Sky Days", represented by the Blue Knot: the Winter Solstice, the Vernal Equinox, the Summer Solstice, and the Autumnal Equinox. As further explained below, these days are significant celestially. Midway between each of the Quarter Days are the "Cross-Quarter Days" or "Fire Festivals" of the Celtic calendar, represented by the Red/Yellow Knot: Mid-Autumn (Samhain), Mid-Winter (Imbolc), Mid-Spring (Beltane) and Mid-Summer (Lammas). Finally, the cyclic nature of the Year is represented by the Circle. These are just some of the names given to these days. You may see other names and spellings as well.

So, how are these days arrived at, and what do they mean? The first part of this question is pretty straight forward to answer. The Mid-Atlantic Geomancy page does a better job of explaining than I ever could and they go into as much detail as you may want to see.

Here's a simpler method. This page lets you enter in a few bits of data and you can calculate Sunrise and Sunset times for anywhere on the planet. Once you've got that data, it's a simple matter of determining the longest, shortest (Solstice) and 12 hour (Equinox) days.

And the simplest method yet. This page does all the work for you. But what fun is that?

As for meaning, lets take a look at the table, below. Note that the names in the first column are the names I use (as described above) and may be different from others you might be more familiar with.

A Time between Times	Also Known As	Description
Winter Solstice	Yule Alban Arthuan Christmas Mid-Winter	The Winter Solstice marks the shortest day of the year, when the Sun rises at its southern-most point on the horizon. In many cultures, this holiday is known as "Mid-Winter" from when the Samhain festival marked the beginning of Winter. In modern culture, this day is the first day of winter. Unlike many pagan traditions (see Mid-Autumn below) the Winter Solstice marks the first day of my observance of the year. I usually will observe this point of the year's turning at "Local Aparent Midnight", the point halfway between local Sunset and Sunrise.
Mid-Winter	Imbolc Oimelc Candlemas	Okay, so I disagree with the rest of the known universe. What else is new? But if the Solstice is the first day of winter, this day is the logical "Mid-Winter" for obvious (to me, anyway) reasons.
Vernal Equinox	Ostara Alban Eiler Easter	The Vernal or Spring Equinox marks the first day of Spring, when the Sun rises directly East. I usually mark this day at Sunrise.
Mid-Spring	Beltane May Day Cetsamhain	Half way between the Spring Equinox and the Summer Solstice, Beltane marks the midpoint of the Celtic year.
Summer Solstice	Litha Alban Heruin Mid-Summer	The Summer Solstice marks the longest day of the year and the start of Summer, when the Sun rises at its northern-most point on the horizon. With appologies to Mr. Shakespere on the "Mid-Summer" issue, please see above. I will generally observe the Summer Solstice at Sunrise or at "Local Aparent Noon", the point halfway between Sunrise and Sunset.
Mid-Summer	Lammas Lughnasadh	I would hope that I don't need to explain this again.
Autumnal Equinox	Mabon Alban Elued	The Autumnal Equinox marks the first day of Autumn, when the Sun again rises directly east. I usually will observe this day at Sunset.
Mid-Autumn	Halloween Samhain All Saint's Day All Hallow's Eve	Marking the mid-point between the Autumnal Equinox and the Winter Solstice, Samhain represents the beginning of the Celtic year.

Each of these days, in one way or another is a "Time between Times". Although science can pinpoint the exact astrological second that these changes take place, they are not immidately evident to a casual observer such as myself. I choose to observe these days at another "Time between Times", such as Sunrise, Sunset, noon or midnight, as I see fit. It often changes from year to year, depending on my circumstance at the time. (Pun not intended, but noted.)

Okay. If you've visited this page in the past, you know that I've struggled for quite some time as to how I wanted to present my thoughts for this section. Today, during my Autmnal Equinox celebration I was inspired with the solution. I was standing on it.

Whenever I look for a place to observe the rotation of the "Wheel of the Year", I look for a place that is "Between Places", where two (or more) worlds overlap, that belongs to both and therefore neither. Such places might include lakeshores, riverbanks, doorways, crossroads, and in my Equinox celebration, the rooftop of The Seattle Times, where I work. Such places, with the noted exception of The Times : ), were recognized by the ancients of various cultures to be special. Some had positve aspects, others negative, but all were recognized as being a "Place between Places".

R eturning to my Autumnal Equinox celebration as an example: My Place of choice was predicated by various factors.

   I was scheduled to work on the Equinox and Sunset is a convenient time (between Times) to observe the rotation.

   Since I work in maintenance, I have access to the roof, where I can be reasonably assured of privacy.

   The roof of my workplace serves as a bridge between the two worlds of my "Machine", or physical world and my "Dragon", or spiritual world. You might like to read more about this at "Of Dragons and Machines".

   There are pathways laid out on the roof to limit the damage of walking directly on the roof surface. I chose to observe the Sunset from the junction of two of these pathways, one of which lined up directly with the Seattle Space Needle and the setting Sun in the west.

One last example serves both subjects. Stonehenge is ideally located as a "Place between Places". Only at a latitude of 51.7 degrees will sighting lines for the Summer Solstice Sunrise and Equinox moonrise be at right angles, both of which are observed at Stonehenge. Further, spanning the centuries, Stonehenge stands outside of the normal considerations of time, even though it was built to observe the passage of time itself. If you would like to know more about Stonehenge and its alignments, a good book on the subject is "Stonehenge Decoded" by Gerald S. Hawkins. Mr. Hawkins is an astronomer and has discovered many interesting alignments at Stonehenge including devising a method of predicting eclipses. The book is now out of print and a bit outated, but the general information presented is fascinating.

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