~Litha~Summer Solstice Song~Lisa Thiel~
There is beautiful harmony in this song.
Blessed be dear ones.
Day: December 7, 2021
Let’s Have Some Fun – Northern Hemisphere Yule/Winter Solstice
Winter Solstice Ritual Potpourri
Recipe by Gerina Dunwich
20 drops musk oil
25 drops pine oil
1 cup oak moss
2 cups dried mistletoe
1 cup dried poinsettia flowers
1 cup dried bayberries
1/2 cup dried rosemary
1/2 cup dried holly leaves and berries
3 crushed pinecones
Mix the musk and pine oils with the oak moss, and then add the remaining ingredients. Stir the potpourri well and store in a tightly covered ceramic or glass container.
(The above recipe for “Yule Ritual Potpourri” is quoted directly from Gerina Dunwich’s book “The Wicca Spellbook: A Witch’s Collection of Wiccan Spells, Potions and Recipes”, page 162, A Citadel Press Book, Carol Publishing Group, 1994/1995)
Let’s Have Some Fun – Southern Hemisphere Litha/Summer Solstice
Magickal Activity for December 21, The Summer Solstice
Floating Candles
Midsummer is a celebration of light and life, symbolized by the flame of a candle and the movement of water. A large glass bowl filled with an assortment of floating candles makes a wonderful point of focus for ritual. Choose bright yellow sunflowers, white lilies, and red tulip-shaped candles. Have each person participating in the ritual inscribe his or her desire, with a pin, on a candle. Have each person come forward, place his or her candle in the bowl and light it as he makes his wish. Following the ritual, the bowl is placed outdoors, and the candles are left to burn out.
The Sun Wheel
One of the most popular symbols of Midsummer is the Sun Wheel, the turning of which suggests the turning, or progression, of the seasons. The Wheel is decorated with flowers, fresh herbs, and brightly colored ribbons.
The simplest method for making a Sun Wheel is to buy an already-prepared natural-branch wreath from an arts and crafts store. Affix small branches of rowan to form the spokes of the wheel (four spokes to represent the elements and cross-quarter days or eight to symbolize the eight Wiccan Sabbats). Use floral wire to attach fresh flowers and herbs to the wreath. Embellish with brightly colored ribbons. The wheel can be used as the focal point for your Midsummer rites or hung on the front door of your home for decoration.
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
2021 December 7
Ninety Gravitational Wave Spectrograms and Counting
Image Credit: NSF, LIGO, VIRGO, KAGRA, Georgia Tech, Vanderbilt U.; Graphic : Sudarshan Ghonge & Karan Jani
Explanation: Every time two massive black holes collide, a loud chirping sound is broadcast out into the universe in gravitational waves. Humanity has only had the technology to hear these unusual chirps for the past seven years, but since then we have heard about 90 — during the first three observing runs. Featured above are the spectrograms — plots of gravitational-wave frequency versus time — of these 90 as detected by the giant detectors of LIGO (in the USA), VIRGO (in Europe), and KAGRA (in Japan). The more energy received on Earth from a collision, the brighter it appears on the graphic. Among many science firsts, these gravitational-radiation chirps are giving humanity an unprecedented inventory of black holes and neutron stars, and a new way to measure the expansion rate of our universe. A fourth gravitational wave observing run with increased sensitivity is currently planned to begin in 2022 December.
December 7 Daily Correspondence Digest for the Northern Hemisphere’s Moon Phase and Planetary Positions
You can use this link to go forward or backward in time for Moon phase information. If you are curious you can even find out what phase the Moon was in when you or anyone else, you know was on the date the person was born.
From Moongiant.com
The Moon’s current phase for today and tonight is a Waxing Crescent Phase. A Waxing Crescent is the first Phase after the New Moon and is a great time to see the features of the moon’s surface. During this phase the Moon can be seen in the wester sky after the sun dips below the horizon at sunset. The moon is close to the sun in the sky and mostly dark except for the right edge of the moon which becomes brighter as the days get closer to the next phase which is a First Quarter with a 50% illumination.
Visit the December 2021 Moon Phases Calendar to see all the daily moon phase for this month.
Today’s Waxing Crescent Phase
The Waxing Crescent on December 7 has an illumination of 14%. This is the percentage of the Moon illuminated by the Sun. The illumination is constantly changing and can vary up to 10% a day. On December 7 the Moon is 3.66 days old. This refers to how many days it has been since the last New Moon. It takes 29.53 days for the Moon to orbit the Earth and go through the lunar cycle of all 8 Moon phases.
The 8 Lunar Phases
There are 8 lunar phases the Moon goes through in its 29.53 days lunar cycle. The 4 major Moon phases are Full Moon, New Moon, First Quarter and Last Quarter. Between these major phases, there are 4 minor ones: the Waxing Crescent, Waxing Gibbous, Waning Gibbous and Waning Crescent. For more info on the Moon Cycle and on each phase check out Wikipedia Lunar Phase page.
Phase Details
Phase: Waxing Crescent
Illumination: 14%
Moon Age: 3.66 days
Moon Angle: 0.54
Moon Distance: 368,605.97 km
Sun Angle: 0.54
Sun Distance: 147,361,017.23 km
Illumination: 14%
Moon Age: 3.66 days
Moon Angle: 0.54
Moon Distance: 368,605.97 km
Sun Angle: 0.54
Sun Distance: 147,361,017.23 km
Useful Moon Resources
Check the weather before a night of Moon gazing at weather.com
For a list of all the current meteor showers visit American Meteor Society
If you need to calculate the planetary positions for a specific use and time, click on this link
Currentplanetarypositions.com
To figure out GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) to your local time use this link
For Your Local Time and Date
Northeastern Hemisphere
The time for the Custom Planetary Positions is from the local time in Frankfurt, Germany, Europe
7 December 2021
04:00 pm GMT 5:00 PM CEST
Zodiac: Tropical (Standard Western)
Sun:15 Sagittarius 46
Moon:02 Aquarius 32
Mercury:20 Sagittarius 28
Venus:23 Capricorn 53
Mars:26 Scorpio 00
Jupiter:26 Aquarius 19
Saturn:09 Aquarius 31
Uranus:11 Taurus 32 Rx
Neptune:20 Pisces 25
Pluto:25 Capricorn 13
True Lunar Node:01 Gemini 40 Rx
Mean Lunar Node:00 Gemini 49 Rx
Lilith (Black Moon):15 Gemini 46
Chiron:08 Aries 30 Rx
Ceres:02 Gemini 41 Rx
Pallas:11 Pisces 28
Juno:08 Capricorn 08
Vesta:11 Sagittarius 24
Eris:23 Aries 48 Rx
Moon:02 Aquarius 32
Mercury:20 Sagittarius 28
Venus:23 Capricorn 53
Mars:26 Scorpio 00
Jupiter:26 Aquarius 19
Saturn:09 Aquarius 31
Uranus:11 Taurus 32 Rx
Neptune:20 Pisces 25
Pluto:25 Capricorn 13
True Lunar Node:01 Gemini 40 Rx
Mean Lunar Node:00 Gemini 49 Rx
Lilith (Black Moon):15 Gemini 46
Chiron:08 Aries 30 Rx
Ceres:02 Gemini 41 Rx
Pallas:11 Pisces 28
Juno:08 Capricorn 08
Vesta:11 Sagittarius 24
Eris:23 Aries 48 Rx
Fire:5
Earth:4
Air:7
Water:3
Earth:4
Air:7
Water:3
Cardinal:5
Fixed:5
Mutable:9
Fixed:5
Mutable:9
Northwestern Hemisphere
The time for the Custom Planetary Positions is from the local time in Chicago, Illinois, USA
December 07, 2021
11:00 pm GMT 5:00 PM CST
Zodiac: Tropical (Standard Western)
Sun:16 Sagittarius 04
Moon:06 Aquarius 45
Mercury:20 Sagittarius 55
Venus:24 Capricorn 00
Mars:26 Scorpio 12
Jupiter:26 Aquarius 22
Saturn:09 Aquarius 33
Uranus:11 Taurus 32 Rx
Neptune:20 Pisces 25
Pluto:25 Capricorn 13
True Lunar Node:01 Gemini 39 Rx
Mean Lunar Node:00 Gemini 48 Rx
Lilith (Black Moon):15 Gemini 48
Chiron:08 Aries 30 Rx
Ceres:02 Gemini 37 Rx
Pallas:11 Pisces 31
Juno:08 Capricorn 15
Vesta:11 Sagittarius 33
Eris:23 Aries 47 Rx
Moon:06 Aquarius 45
Mercury:20 Sagittarius 55
Venus:24 Capricorn 00
Mars:26 Scorpio 12
Jupiter:26 Aquarius 22
Saturn:09 Aquarius 33
Uranus:11 Taurus 32 Rx
Neptune:20 Pisces 25
Pluto:25 Capricorn 13
True Lunar Node:01 Gemini 39 Rx
Mean Lunar Node:00 Gemini 48 Rx
Lilith (Black Moon):15 Gemini 48
Chiron:08 Aries 30 Rx
Ceres:02 Gemini 37 Rx
Pallas:11 Pisces 31
Juno:08 Capricorn 15
Vesta:11 Sagittarius 33
Eris:23 Aries 47 Rx
Fire:5
Earth:4
Air:7
Water:3
Earth:4
Air:7
Water:3
Cardinal:5
Fixed:5
Mutable:9
Fixed:5
Mutable:9
Sunset Time for the Shortest Day of 2021 for the Northern Hemisphere
The shortest day of the year, in terms of daylight, is December 21, the winter solstice. But the days will actually begin to feel a bit longer two weeks before the solstice. That’s because the earliest sunset of the year happens before the solstice, and in 2021, it occurs on Tuesday, December 7.
For more about the shortest day of 2021 click here
From The Farmers Almanac
Frankfurt, Germany, Europe
Daylight
8:09 am – 4:23 pm
8 hours, 13 minutes
| Current Time: | Dec 7, 2021 at 4:11:59 pm |
|---|---|
| Sun Direction: | 232.10° SW↑ |
| Sun Altitude: | 1.02° |
| Sun Distance: | 91.578 million mi |
| Next Solstice: | Dec 21, 2021 4:59 pm (Winter) |
| Sunrise Today: | 8:09 am↑ 126° Southeast |
| Sunset Today: | 4:23 pm↑ 234° Southwest |
London, England, Europe
Daylight
7:51 am – 3:52 pm
8 hours
| Current Time: | Dec 7, 2021 at 3:19:11 pm |
|---|---|
| Sun Direction: | 226.54° SW↑ |
| Sun Altitude: | 3.30° |
| Sun Distance: | 91.578 million mi |
| Next Solstice: | Dec 21, 2021 3:59 pm (Winter) |
| Sunrise Today: | 7:51 am↑ 127° Southeast |
| Sunset Today: | 3:52 pm↑ 233° Southwest |
New York,, New York, USA
Daylight
7:06 am – 4:28 pm
9 hours, 22 minutes
| Current Time: | Dec 7, 2021 at 10:08:33 am |
|---|---|
| Sun Direction: | 155.25° SSE↑ |
| Sun Altitude: | 22.60° |
| Sun Distance: | 91.578 million mi |
| Next Solstice: | Dec 21, 2021 10:59 am (Winter) |
| Sunrise Today: | 7:06 am↑ 120° Southeast |
| Sunset Today: | 4:28 pm↑ 240° Southwest |
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Daylight
7:04 am – 4:19 pm
9 hours, 15 minutes
| Current Time: | Dec 7, 2021 at 9:02:02 am |
|---|---|
| Sun Direction: | 141.98° SE↑ |
| Sun Altitude: | 15.65° |
| Sun Distance: | 91.578 million mi |
| Next Solstice: | Dec 21, 2021 9:59 am (Winter) |
| Sunrise Today: | 7:04 am↑ 120° Southeast |
| Sunset Today: | 4:19 pm↑ 240° Southwest |
Phoenix, Arizonia, USA
Daylight
7:19 am – 5:20 pm
10 hours, 1 minute
| Current Time: | Dec 7, 2021 at 8:09:45 am |
|---|---|
| Sun Direction: | 124.20° SE↑ |
| Sun Altitude: | 8.30° |
| Sun Distance: | 91.578 million mi |
| Next Solstice: | Dec 21, 2021 8:59 am (Winter) |
| Sunrise Today: | 7:19 am↑ 117° Southeast |
| Sunset Today: | 5:20 pm↑ 243° Southwest |
Los Angeles, California, USA
Daylight
6:45 am – 4:43 pm
9 hours, 58 minutes
Witches Of The Craft® 
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