Solstice Lunar Eclipse

First Solstice Lunar Eclipse since 1638

The actual instant of Winter Solstice 2010 will occur Tuesday, December 21 at 6:38pm EST in the Northern Hemisphere. This year the full moon coincides with the Solstice and for the third leg of the Triple Play, those of us who live in North America will also be able to witness a total Lunar Eclipse beginning at 1:33Am EST on the morning of the 21st, and will reach totality at 2:41 AM. The eclipse will be visible in many parts of the world including Europe, and it is estimated that 1.5 billion people may view it.

I "borrowed" this wonderful picture from the blog page of a friend - it wasn't credited, but in style it reminds me of some of the wonderful "Vogue" magazine covers from the early part of the 20th Century ... all style and grace and full of the mysticism the age so wonderfully represented in its Art Nouveau. This particular illustration is titled "Christmas Moon," and the coloring is very appropriate for this year's Solstice Lunar Eclipse because it is a good representation of the rusty, cinnamon-ish color of the moon at the moment of total eclipse.

Ancient cultures had many myths to explain all the celestial phenomena which they constantly observed ... the great henges, earth works and even the temples of the Mayans all recorded the instant of the solstices and equinoxes - the Chinese and other Asian cultures explained that a giant dragon was eating the "pearl" that was the moon and in villages and cities and temple courtyards drums were beaten vigorously until the dragon relented and the moon began to reappear. This evening in my part of the US, the skies will be overcast and I won't be able to see the eclipse, but I will have a fire on the sparkling snow and at the moment of totality, I will light incense and listen for the sounds of ancient drums and bell as my ancient ancestors chase the dragons away from the moon.

December 23, 2010

My favorite childhood memory is of walking along downtown sidewalks with my father during the Christmas season and stopping to look in the shop windows ... one of the most magical was a window with a decorated Christmas tree glowing with lights and beneath, a toy electric train endlessly circling its own infinite track. There were other wonderful toys in that window as well, and my father and I talked earnestly about each one. I was probably no more than four years old, so this could have been during the War, or just following. Anyway, one of my gifts on Christmas morning that year was an electric train. I've still got pictures of that Christmas morning; small, black and white snap shots produced by a little Kodac box camera. That year is my "Christmas Story" memory ... the wonder and excitement of all those windows, being with my father, holding his hand so tightly and sharing a special time with him.

Sixty years and more have passed since the Christmas that produced my enchanted memory; my daughter and I are partners in a little antique shop in the southern part of the state, and this year we decorated the store windows for the "Hometown Holiday Festival." I helped with some of the less strenuous work, untangling lights, wrapping dummy packages and so forth, but Jen and another partner did the concept and the actual staging of the windows. I puttered all afternoon, I helped customers and generally kept busy away from the windows.

So, wouldn't you know, just before the official beginning of the "festival," when I looked into the window the girls had created, there was my "Christmas Story" memory come to life again ... the shock of deja vu was so strong it was almost physical ... it is a very strange feeling. Almost as though I've come full circle.

Dreams of visits from St. Nick, and Christmas toys must be nearly universal and almost as old as the legend of St. Nick himself, for they've been the subject of artist imagination for well over a century now.