And more sad news, Sean Connery has died at 90 years old. My Dad is a Bond fan so Connery was one of the first actors I was able to recognize as a child. Though best known for playing Bond, he was great in so many other movies, we love Time Bandits, The Great Train Robbery, A Bridge too far, The Highlander, The Man Who Would Be King, Hunt for the Red October, and The Untouchables. Watch a couple of Sean Connery movies and raise a glass as tribute.
I saw this song in The Philadelphia Story and have been looking for it ever since . Here are two different renditions of the song, thanks to YouTube and whoever uploads these things.
I have been reading every article about Ruth Bader Ginsberg for the last couple of years, mostly, I admit, because we both have Ruth as a middle name. This article from the CS Monitor has some cute stories and perhaps you’ll enjoy it as much as I did.
The rising of the constellation Libra marked the beginning of the New Year in ancient Egypt. Equinoxes are the two points in the year (March 19-21 and September 21-23) when the Sun crosses the celestial equator. At these times, day and night in Northern and Southern hemispheres are of equal length. The Spring (vernal) Equinox occurs midway between the Winter and Summer solstices; the Autumnal Equinox occurs midway between the Summer and Winter solstices. The Autumn equinoctial festival of Mabon mirrors the spring equinoctial festival of Oestara with the Light and Dark forces of the Universe switching ascendancy.
In myth, the goddess Persephone departs the earth to join her husband in the underworld. It is time to give thanks for the summer and to welcome the increasing dark. Traditionally, this was when some of the heaviest work of the agricultural year began, the final harvest was still to be stored away and the fields readied for the coming Winter.
Summer begins in the Northern Hemisphere on June 21 this year. The word Solstice is Latin in origin and translates as, Sol =the Sun, + stitere =standing still.
On that day, the North Pole tilts most directly Sunward. Those of us in the Northern Hemisphere experience this as the longest day and shortest night of the year. Around December 21, the Winter Solstice, the North Pole points away from the Sun giving us in the Northern Hemisphere, our shortest day, and longest night. This tilting of the Earth’s rotational axis gives us our seasons. During each Solstice, the Sun appears to both rise and set at the exactly opposite spot on the horizon. The Solar Calendars like Stonehenge and the Sun Dagger in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico operate by indicating this point.
Symbols of Summer:
The rose, bees, the fast-growing vine and the bright sun. Modern symbols include flip-flops, Outdoor weddings, icy pitchers of lemonade, beach umbrellas and baseball games!
The solstice is the first day of Cancer – July 22, Leo from July 23 – August 22, and Virgo from August 23 – September 8 this year.
The Stones of Summer:
Cancer resonates with white stones like shell and pearl. Leo with gold stones like citrine and tiger-eye. Virgo with blue stones like sodalite and sapphire.
Activities of Summer:
picnics, gardening, parades and festivals, fireworks, weeding, swimming outside, long walks in the sunshine.
These are just a few of the photos I took on my walk to the mailbox. I’ve been watching the birds refurbish that nest in the cholla for about a week. The nest was just a pile of straw after it had fallen apart completely from last year and first they carefully rewove a structure, then lined it with a dryer sheet and then rebuilt the entrance. So many changes all around. We have a hummingbird nest in our palo blanco, I’ll try to get some pictures.
Spring is the dawn of the new zodiacal year in the Northern Hemisphere. Don’t you just love the word “equinox?” I have to decide each time whether to say it with a short or long “e”. The equinoxes are the two times during the year when the dark of night and the light of day are in balance or equal. Another name for the Vernal Equinox is Ostara, from the name of a German Goddess of fertility, Oestarae.
She is the deific equivalent of the Greco-Roman goddess, Aurora, the personification of the sunrise. Consider that the Sun rises in the East and her name is where East and Easter both come from. The Christian Easter date was decided by the Council of Nicaea to fall the first Sunday after the first full Moon occurring on or after the March Equinox. This effectively removed its observance from conflicts with either Ostara or Passover. Continue reading Happy Spring!→
A new PBS video shows a sleeping octopus changing colors in her sleep. I love to watch my dogs dream, but I never thought about whether octopi did too. Well, apparently they do. Click the link below to watch the clip, it is pretty cool.
On September 23rd, the Sun enters Libra and Autumn begins. In the same way that the Solstice marks the days of longest and shortest “light,” the Equinoxes mark the day of equal light. Nox is the Roman goddess of night so equinox literally means “equal night.” The glyph for Libra represents the setting sun expressing the balance between night and day. In traditional Astrology, the Sun is “exalted” in Aries while halfway through its circuit along the ecliptic, it is in “fall” in Libra, Aries’ opposite sign.
The rising of the constellation Libra marked the beginning of the New Year in ancient Egypt. Equinoxes are the two points in the year (March 19-21 and September 21-23) when the Sun crosses the celestial equator. At these times, day and night in Northern and Southern hemispheres are of equal length. The Spring (vernal) Equinox occurs midway between the Winter and Summer solstices; the Autumnal Equinox occurs midway between the Summer and Winter solstices. The Autumn equinoctial festival of Mabon mirrors the spring equinoctial festival of Oestara with the Light and Dark forces of the Universe switching ascendancy.
In myth, the goddess Persephone departs the earth to join her husband in the underworld. It is time to give thanks for the summer and to welcome the increasing dark. Traditionally, this was when some of the heaviest work of the agricultural year began, the final harvest was still to be stored away and the fields readied for the coming Winter.
Illumination of Earth by Sun on the day of winter solstice on northern hemisphere. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Summer begins in the Northern Hemisphere on June 21, 2019. The word Solstice is Latin in origin and translates as, Sol =the Sun, + stitere =standing still.
On that day, the North Pole tilts most directly Sunward. Those of us in the Northern Hemisphere experience this as the longest day and shortest night of the year. Around December 21, or 22nd of each year, the Winter Solstice, the North Pole points away from the Sun giving us in the Northern Hemisphere, our shortest day, and longest night. This tilting of the Earth’s rotational axis gives us our seasons. During each Solstice, the Sun appears to both rise and set at the opposite spot on the horizon. The Solar Calendars like Stonehenge and the Sun Dagger in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico operate by indicating this point. The Autumnal Equinox will be on September 24th.
Symbols of Summer:
The rose, the fast-growing vine, and the bright sun. Modern symbols include flip-flops, outdoor weddings, icy pitchers of lemonade, beach umbrellas and baseball games!
Cancer from June 22 – July 24, Leo from July 24 – August 24, and Virgo from August 24 – September 24 this year.
The Stones of Summer:
Cancer resonates with white stones like shell and pearl. Leo with gold stones like citrine and tiger-eye. Virgo with blue stones like sodalite and sapphire.
