Tag: Goddess for Today

December 29 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 Waning Crescent phase. In this phase the Moon’s illumination is growing smaller each day until the New Moon. During this part of the Moon cycle, the Moon is getting closer to the Sun as viewed from Earth and the night side of the Moon is facing the Earth with only a small edge of the Moon being illuminated. This phase is best viewed an hour or 2 before the sunrise and can be quite beautiful if you’re willing to get up early. It can also be a great time to see the features of the Moon’s surface. Along the edge where the illuminated portion meets the dark side, the craters and mountains cast long shadows making them easier to observe with a telescope or binoculars.

Visit the December 2021 Moon Phases Calendar to see all the daily moon phase for this month.

Today’s Waning Crescent Phase

The Waning Crescent on December 29 has an illumination of 24%. 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 29 the Moon is 24.66 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: Waning Crescent
Illumination: 24%
Moon Age: 24.66 days
Moon Angle: 0.54
Moon Distance: 367,507.86 km
Sun Angle: 0.54
Sun Distance: 147,105,224.66 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 this Custom Planetary Positions is from the local time in Frankfurt, Germany, Europe

29 December 2021
04:00 pm GMT 5:00 PM CEST
Zodiac: Tropical (Standard Western)

Sun:08 Capricorn 09
Moon:11 Scorpio 05
Mercury:24 Capricorn 47
Venus:24 Capricorn 21 Rx
Mars:11 Sagittarius 27
Jupiter:00 Pisces 06
Saturn:11 Aquarius 39
Uranus:10 Taurus 59 Rx
Neptune:20 Pisces 38
Pluto:25 Capricorn 52
True Lunar Node:01 Gemini 12
Mean Lunar Node:29 Taurus 39 Rx

Lilith (Black Moon):18 Gemini 12

Chiron:08 Aries 29
Ceres:28 Taurus 52 Rx
Pallas:15 Pisces 53
Juno:16 Capricorn 29
Vesta:23 Sagittarius 16
Eris:23 Aries 42 Rx

Fire:4
Earth:8
Air:3
Water:4
Cardinal:7
Fixed:5
Mutable:7

Northwestern Hemisphere

The time for this Custom Planetary Positions is from the local time in Chicago, Illinois, USA

December 29, 2021
11:00 pm GMT 5:00 PM CST
Zodiac: Tropical (Standard Western)

Sun:08 Capricorn 27
Moon:15 Scorpio 17
Mercury:25 Capricorn 13
Venus:24 Capricorn 13 Rx
Mars:11 Sagittarius 39
Jupiter:00 Pisces 09
Saturn:11 Aquarius 41
Uranus:10 Taurus 59 Rx
Neptune:20 Pisces 38
Pluto:25 Capricorn 52
True Lunar Node:01 Gemini 13
Mean Lunar Node:29 Taurus 38 Rx

Lilith (Black Moon):18 Gemini 14

Chiron:08 Aries 29
Ceres:28 Taurus 51 Rx
Pallas:15 Pisces 57
Juno:16 Capricorn 35
Vesta:23 Sagittarius 26
Eris:23 Aries 42 Rx

Fire:4
Earth:8
Air:3
Water:4
Cardinal:7
Fixed:5
Mutable:7

Calm Communication Candle Spell

December 29 Today In History

Today’s Important Historical Events

1835 Treaty of New Echota is signed between the US government and representatives of a minority Cherokee political faction to cede all lands of the Cherokee east of the Mississippi River to the United States

1845 Texas admitted as 28th state of the Union

1903 French Equatorial Africa separates into Gabon, Chad and Ubangi-Shari

1911 Sun Yat-sen elected 1st President of the Republic of China

1997 Hong Kong begins slaughtering all its chickens to prevent bird flu

Today’s Historical Events

1170 English Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket assassinated before the high altar of Canterbury Cathedral by four knights

1503 Battle of Garigliano: Spanish army under Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba defeats French forces in Italy, giving Spain control of the Kingdom of Naples

1539 St Jacob’s Church burns after being hit by lightning

1541 Isabella of Poland and King Ferdinand of Austria sign Treaty of Gyalu

1558 Charles V, King of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor, buried in El Escorial, San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain

1653 Dutch painter Jan Vermeer becomes a member of the Guild of Saint Luke for painters in Delft

1705 Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon’s play “Idoménée” premieres in Paris

1708 Great Alliance occupies Gent

Today’s Historical Events in Film and TV

1806 Thomas Dibdin’s pantomime “Harlequin and Mother Goose” starring Joseph Grimaldi, in his most famous clown performance, opens at the Covent Garden Theatre, London

1913 1st movie serial “Adventures of Kathlyn” premieres in Chicago

1932 Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers‘ 1st joint movie “Flying Down to Rio,” directed by Thornton Freeland, premieres in NYC

1933 “Sons of the Desert” film directed by William A. Seiter starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy is released

1937 Lou Thesz beats Everett Marshall in St Louis, to win NWA World heavyweight title – youngest ever

1949 1st UHF television station operating regular basis Bridgeport, Connecticut

1955 Barbra Streisand‘s 1st recording “You’ll Never Know” at age 13

1965 “Thunderball”, 4th James Bond film starring Sean Connery and Claudine Auger premieres in Tokyo, Japan

Today’s Historical Music Events

1857 Franz Liszt‘s symphonic poem “Die Hunnenschlacht” premieres in Weimar

1902 “The Entertainer” is one of several piano rag compositions copyrighted for Scott Joplin by the US Copyright Office

1911 San Francisco Symphony forms

1948 “Rape of Lucretia” opens at Ziegfeld Theater NYC for 23 performances

1982 Bob Marley postage stamp issued in Jamaica

1984 Blues took 27 shots against Islanders in 1 period

1993 Courtney Love sues doctors for leaking news of her methadone treatment

1996 “Dreams & Nightmares” closes at Martin Beck Theater NYC

Today’s Historical Events in Sports

1906 Stanley Cup, Montreal Arena, Westmount, Quebec: Montreal Wanderers beat New Glasgow (NS), 7-2 for 17-5 aggregate challenge series victory

1933 New York Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert refuses to release future Baseball Hall of Fame slugger Babe Ruth to manage the Cincinnati Reds

1934 First collegiate basketball doubleheader is played at Madison Square Garden, NYC; New York University beats Notre Dame, 25-18; Westminster edges St. John’s, 37-33

1937 Lou Thesz beats Everett Marshall in St Louis, to win NWA World heavyweight title – youngest ever

1940 3rd NFL All Star Game: Chicago Bears beats NFL All-Stars, 28-14

1945 Montreal right wing Maurice Richard scores twice in Canadiens’ 5-4 loss to Chicago Black Hawks to record his 100th NHL career goal; reaches mark in 145 games, then fastest in history; since broken by Mike Bossy, 100 goals in 129 games

1955 NHL officials wear new vertically striped black-and-white sweaters for the first time in Montreal Canadiens’ 5-2 win over Toronto Maple Leafs

1957 National Football League Championship, Briggs Stadium, Detroit: Detroit Lions beat Cleveland Browns, 50-14; Lions score 2 touchdowns in each quarter

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 29

Giant Storms and High Clouds on Jupiter

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS; Processing & License: Kevin M. Gill

Explanation: What and where are these large ovals? They are rotating storm clouds on Jupiter imaged last month by NASA’s Juno spacecraft. In general, higher clouds are lighter in color, and the lightest clouds visible are the relatively small clouds that dot the lower oval. At 50 kilometers across, however, even these light clouds are not small. They are so high up that they cast shadows on the swirling oval below. The featured image has been processed to enhance color and contrast. Large ovals are usually regions of high pressure that span over 1000 kilometers and can last for years. The largest oval on Jupiter is the Great Red Spot (not pictured), which has lasted for at least hundreds of years. Studying cloud dynamics on Jupiter with Juno images enables a better understanding of dangerous typhoons and hurricanes on Earth.

 

Follow APOD in English on: Facebook, Instagram, Podcast, Reddit, or Twitter

29 December Daily Correspondence Digest for the Southern 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 Waning Crescent phase. In this phase the Moon’s illumination is growing smaller each day until the New Moon. During this part of the Moon cycle, the Moon is getting closer to the Sun as viewed from Earth and the night side of the Moon is facing the Earth with only a small edge of the Moon being illuminated. This phase is best viewed an hour or 2 before the sunrise and can be quite beautiful if you’re willing to get up early. It can also be a great time to see the features of the Moon’s surface. Along the edge where the illuminated portion meets the dark side, the craters and mountains cast long shadows making them easier to observe with a telescope or binoculars.

Visit the December 2021 Moon Phases Calendar to see all the daily moon phase for this month.

Today’s Waning Crescent Phase

The Waning Crescent on December 28 has an illumination of 35%. 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 28 the Moon is 23.59 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: Waning Crescent
Illumination: 35%
Moon Age: 23.59 days
Moon Angle: 0.54
Moon Distance: 370,965.10 km
Sun Angle: 0.54
Sun Distance: 147,109,039.38 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

Southeastern Hemisphere

The time for this Custom Planetary Positions is from the local time in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

29 December 2021
06:00 am GMT 5:00 PM AEDT
Zodiac: Tropical (Standard Western)

Sun:07 Capricorn 44
Moon:05 Scorpio 08
Mercury:24 Capricorn 10
Venus:24 Capricorn 31 Rx
Mars:11 Sagittarius 09
Jupiter:00 Pisces 01
Saturn:11 Aquarius 36
Uranus:11 Taurus 00 Rx
Neptune:20 Pisces 37
Pluto:25 Capricorn 51

True Lunar Node:01 Gemini 12

Mean Lunar Node:29 Taurus 41 Rx
Lilith (Black Moon):18 Gemini 09
Chiron:08 Aries 29
Ceres:28 Taurus 55 Rx
Pallas:15 Pisces 47
Juno:16 Capricorn 19
Vesta:23 Sagittarius 03

Eris:23 Aries 42 Rx
Fire:4
Earth:8
Air:3
Water:4
Cardinal:7
Fixed:5
Mutable:7
 

Southwestern Hemisphere

The time for this Custom Planetary Positions is from the local time in Sao Paulo, Brazil, South America

29 December 2021
08:00 pm GMT 5:00 PM BRT
Zodiac: Tropical (Standard Western)

Sun:08 Capricorn 19
Moon:13 Scorpio 29
Mercury:25 Capricorn 02
Venus:24 Capricorn 16 Rx
Mars:11 Sagittarius 34
Jupiter:00 Pisces 08
Saturn:11 Aquarius 40
Uranus:10 Taurus 59 Rx
Neptune:20 Pisces 38
Pluto:25 Capricorn 52

True Lunar Node:01 Gemini 13
Mean Lunar Node:29 Taurus 39 Rx
Lilith (Black Moon):18 Gemini 13
Chiron:08 Aries 29
Ceres:28 Taurus 51 Rx
Pallas:15 Pisces 56
Juno:16 Capricorn 33
Vesta:23 Sagittarius 22
Eris:23 Aries 42 Rx

Fire:4
Earth:8
Air:3
Water:4
Cardinal:7
Fixed:5
Mutable:7

An Easy Printable Spell to Release Your Troubles

December 28 Today In History

Today’s Important Historical Events

1065 Westminster Abbey Consecrated in London

1612 First observation of Neptune – Galileo observes and records a “fixed star” without realising it is a planet

1767 King Taksin crowned King of Thailand and establishes Thonburi as his capital

1836 Spain recognizes the independence of Mexico

1860 Harriet Tubman arrives in Auburn, New York, on her last mission to free slaves, having evaded capture for 8 years on the Underground Railroad

1908 Earthquake strikes Messina in Italy, killing nearly 80,000

1943 All Kalmyk inhabitants of the Republic of Kalmukkie deported by the Soviet Union to Central Asia and Siberia. Many die en route.

Today’s Historical Events

418 St Boniface I begins his reign as Catholic Pope

801 Louis the Vrome occupies Barcelona

1065 Westminster Abbey Consecrated in London

1308 The reign of Emperor Hanazono, Emperor of Japan, begins

1612 First observation of Neptune – Galileo observes and records a “fixed star” without realising it is a planet

1614 Sperm whale beached at Noordwijk

1732 Benjamin Franklin under the pseudonym Richard Saunders begins publication of “Poor Richard’s Almanack”

1767 King Taksin crowned King of Thailand and establishes Thonburi as his capital

Today’s Historical Events in Film and TV

1895 Filmmakers the Lumiere brothers, hold the first commercial film screening at Salon Indien du Grand Café, Paris

1927 Arthur Honegger‘s opera “Antigone” premieres with a libretto by Jean Cocteau, sets by Pablo Picasso and costumes by Coco Chanel at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, Brussels

1934 Film “Bright Eyes” premieres starring Shirley Temple and featuring the song “On the Good Ship Lollipop”

1949 20th Century Fox announces it will produce TV programs

1953 WLBT TV channel 3 in Jackson, MS (NBC) begins broadcasting

1954 KEPR TV channel 19 in Pasco-Kennewick-Richl, WA (CBS) 1st broadcast

1956 Miss Frances [Horwich], last Ding Dong School on NBC-TV

1957 CBS states it won’t broadcast baseball where minor league games are on

Today’s Historical Music Events

1821 Composer Gioachino Rossini moves to Bologna

1910 Opera “Konigskinder” is produced (NYC)

1925 George and Ira Gershwin‘s musical “Tip-Toes” premieres in New York City

1928 Ma Rainey, “Mother of the Blues” makes her last record “Big Feelin’ Blues”

1944 Leonard Bernstein‘s musical “On the Town” premieres in NYC

1958 Chipmunks (Alvin, Simon & Theodore with David Seville) hits #1

1963 “Double Dublin” closes at Little Theater NYC after 4 performances

1963 “Jennie” closes at Majestic Theater NYC after 82 performances

Today’s Historical Events in Sports

1887 John Layton Jarvis becomes first British race horse trainer to be knighted for services to racing

1905 Intercollegiate Athletic Association of US founded (becomes NCAA in 1910)

1918 Montreal’s Georges Vezina becomes the first NHL goalie to record an assist during the Canadiens’ 6-3 win over the Toronto Arenas

1934 First ever Women’s cricket international begins England vs Australia in Australia

1938 Paul Gibb scores 106 on Test Cricket debut v South Africa

1940 Cricketer Arthur Morris scores 111 in 2nd innings of 1st game after 148

1944 Former Wash 3rd baseman Buddy Lewis wins Distinguished Flying Cross

1944 Montreal right wing Maurice ‘Rocket’ Richard becomes first player in NHL history to score 8 points in one game with 5 goals and 3 assists in the Canadiens’ 9-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings

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 28

Sun Halo over Sweden

Video Credit & Copyright: Håkan Hammar (Vemdalen Ski Resort, SkiStar)

Explanation: What’s happened to the Sun? Sometimes it looks like the Sun is being viewed through a giant lens. In the featured video, however, there are actually millions of tiny lenses: ice crystals. Water may freeze in the atmosphere into small, flat, six-sided, ice crystals. As these crystals flutter to the ground, much time is spent with their faces flat and parallel to the ground. An observer may find themselves in the same plane as many of the falling ice crystals near sunrise or sunset. During this alignment, each crystal can act like a miniature lens, refracting sunlight into our view and creating phenomena like parhelia, the technical term for sundogs. The featured video was taken in late 2017 on the side of a ski hill at the Vemdalen Ski Resort in central Sweden. Visible in the center is the most direct image of the Sun, while two bright sundogs glow prominently from both the left and the right. Also visible is the bright 22 degree halo — as well as the rarer and much fainter 46 degree halo — also created by sunlight refracting through atmospheric ice crystals.

December 28 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

Today and tonight the Moon will be in a Waning Crescent phase. In this phase the Moon’s illumination is growing smaller each day until the New Moon. During this part of the Moon cycle, the Moon is getting closer to the Sun as viewed from Earth and the night side of the Moon is facing the Earth with only a small edge of the Moon being illuminated. This phase is best viewed an hour or 2 before the sunrise and can be quite beautiful if you’re willing to get up early. It can also be a great time to see the features of the Moon’s surface. Along the edge where the illuminated portion meets the dark side, the craters and mountains cast long shadows making them easier to observe with a telescope or binoculars.

Visit the December 2021 Moon Phases Calendar to see all the daily moon phase for this month.

Today’s Waning Crescent Phase

The Waning Crescent on December 28 has an illumination of 35%. 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 28 the Moon is 23.59 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: Waning Crescent
Illumination: 35%
Moon Age: 23.59 days
Moon Angle: 0.54
Moon Distance: 370,965.10 km
Sun Angle: 0.54
Sun Distance: 147,109,039.38 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 this Custom Planetary Positions is from the local time in Frankfurt, Germany, Europe

28 December 2021
04:00 pm GMT 5:00 PM CEST
Zodiac: Tropical (Standard Western)

Sun:07 Capricorn 08
Moon:26 Libra 56
Mercury:23 Capricorn 17
Venus:24 Capricorn 44 Rx
Mars:10 Sagittarius 44
Jupiter:29 Aquarius 54
Saturn:11 Aquarius 33
Uranus:11 Taurus 00 Rx
Neptune:20 Pisces 37
Pluto:25 Capricorn 50
True Lunar Node:01 Gemini 11
Mean Lunar Node:29 Taurus 42 Rx
Lilith (Black Moon):18 Gemini 05
Chiron:08 Aries 28
Ceres:28 Taurus 59 Rx
Pallas:15 Pisces 39
Juno:16 Capricorn 06
Vesta:22 Sagittarius 44
Eris:23 Aries 42 Rx
Fire:4
Earth:8
Air:5
Water:2
Cardinal:8
Fixed:5
Mutable:6

Northwestern Hemisphere

The time for this Custom Planetary Positions is from the local time in Chicago, Illinois, USA

December 28, 2021
11:00 pm GMT 5:00 PM CST
Zodiac: Tropical (Standard Western)

Sun:07 Capricorn 26
Moon:01 Scorpio 01
Mercury:23 Capricorn 43
Venus:24 Capricorn 37 Rx
Mars:10 Sagittarius 56
Jupiter:29 Aquarius 58
Saturn:11 Aquarius 35
Uranus:11 Taurus 00 Rx
Neptune:20 Pisces 37
Pluto:25 Capricorn 50
True Lunar Node:01 Gemini 11
Mean Lunar Node:29 Taurus 41 Rx

Lilith (Black Moon):18 Gemini 07

Chiron:08 Aries 29
Ceres:28 Taurus 57 Rx
Pallas:15 Pisces 43
Juno:16 Capricorn 12
Vesta:22 Sagittarius 54
Eris:23 Aries 42 Rx

Fire:4
Earth:8
Air:4
Water:3
Cardinal:7
Fixed:6
Mutable:6

28 December Daily Correspondence Digest for the Southern 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

Today and tonight the Moon will be in a Waning Crescent phase. In this phase the Moon’s illumination is growing smaller each day until the New Moon. During this part of the Moon cycle, the Moon is getting closer to the Sun as viewed from Earth and the night side of the Moon is facing the Earth with only a small edge of the Moon being illuminated. This phase is best viewed an hour or 2 before the sunrise and can be quite beautiful if you’re willing to get up early. It can also be a great time to see the features of the Moon’s surface. Along the edge where the illuminated portion meets the dark side, the craters and mountains cast long shadows making them easier to observe with a telescope or binoculars.

Visit the December 2021 Moon Phases Calendar to see all the daily moon phase for this month.

Today’s Waning Crescent Phase

The Waning Crescent on December 28 has an illumination of 35%. 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 28 the Moon is 23.59 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: Waning Crescent
Illumination: 35%
Moon Age: 23.59 days
Moon Angle: 0.54
Moon Distance: 370,965.10 km
Sun Angle: 0.54
Sun Distance: 147,109,039.38 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

Southeastern Hemisphere

The time for the Custom Planetary Positions is from the local time in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

28 December 2021
06:00 am GMT 5:00 PM AEDT
Zodiac: Tropical (Standard Western)

Sun:06 Capricorn 42
Moon:21 Libra 09
Mercury:22 Capricorn 39
Venus:24 Capricorn 53 Rx
Mars:10 Sagittarius 26
Jupiter:29 Aquarius 49
Saturn:11 Aquarius 30
Uranus:11 Taurus 01 Rx
Neptune:20 Pisces 36
Pluto:25 Capricorn 49
True Lunar Node:01 Gemini 10
Mean Lunar Node:29 Taurus 44 Rx
Lilith (Black Moon):18 Gemini 03
Chiron:08 Aries 28
Ceres:29 Taurus 02 Rx
Pallas:15 Pisces 33
Juno:15 Capricorn 56
Vesta:22 Sagittarius 31
Eris:23 Aries 42 Rx

Fire:4
Earth:8
Air:5
Water:2
Cardinal:8
Fixed:5
Mutable:6

 

Southwestern Hemisphere

The time for the Custom Planetary Positions is from the local time in Sao Paulo, Brazil, South America

28 December 2021
08:00 pm GMT 5:00 PM BRT
Zodiac: Tropical (Standard Western)

Sun:07 Capricorn 18
Moon:29 Libra 16
Mercury:23 Capricorn 32
Venus:24 Capricorn 40 Rx
Mars:10 Sagittarius 51
Jupiter:29 Aquarius 56
Saturn:11 Aquarius 34
Uranus:11 Taurus 00 Rx
Neptune:20 Pisces 37
Pluto:25 Capricorn 50
True Lunar Node:01 Gemini 11
Mean Lunar Node:29 Taurus 42 Rx
Lilith (Black Moon):18 Gemini 07

Chiron:08 Aries 28

Ceres:28 Taurus 58 Rx
Pallas:15 Pisces 41
Juno:16 Capricorn 09
Vesta:22 Sagittarius 49
Eris:23 Aries 42 Rx

Fire:4
Earth:8
Air:5
Water:2
Cardinal:8
Fixed:5
Mutable:6

December 27 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

Today and tonight the Moon will be in a Third Quarter phase. Sometimes called a Last Quarter Moon, this phase occurs roughly 3 weeks after the New Moon when the Moon is three quarter of the way through it’s orbit around the earth. If you live in the northern hemisphere the Moons left side will be illuminated and the right side will be dark. For those of you in the southern hemisphere it will be the opposite with the right side illuminated. On the day of the Third Quarter phase the Moon will rise around midnight on the eastern horizon and set in the west around noon the next day. In the days following the Third Quarter Phase the Moon’s illumination will decrees each day until the New Moon.

Visit the December 2021 Moon Phases Calendar to see all the daily moon phase for this month.

Today’s Last Quarter Phase

The Last Quarter on December 27 has an illumination of 46%. 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 27 the Moon is 22.55 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: Last Quarter
Illumination: 46%
Moon Age: 22.55 days
Moon Angle: 0.53
Moon Distance: 375,131.19 km
Sun Angle: 0.54
Sun Distance: 147,113,615.84 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

27 December 2021
04:00 pm GMT 5:00 PM CEST
Zodiac: Tropical (Standard Western)

Sun:06 Capricorn 07
Moon:13 Libra 10
Mercury:21 Capricorn 46
Venus:25 Capricorn 05 Rx
Mars:10 Sagittarius 01
Jupiter:29 Aquarius 43
Saturn:11 Aquarius 26
Uranus:11 Taurus 02 Rx
Neptune:20 Pisces 36
Pluto:25 Capricorn 48
True Lunar Node:01 Gemini 10
Mean Lunar Node:29 Taurus 46 Rx
Lilith (Black Moon):17 Gemini 59
Chiron:08 Aries 28
Ceres:29 Taurus 07 Rx
Pallas:15 Pisces 25
Juno:15 Capricorn 42
Vesta:22 Sagittarius 12
Eris:23 Aries 42 Rx
Fire:4
Earth:8
Air:5
Water:2
Cardinal:8
Fixed:5
Mutable:6

Northwestern Hemisphere

The time for the Custom Planetary Positions is from the local time in Chicago, Illinois, USA

December 27, 2021
11:00 pm GMT 5:00 PM CST
Zodiac: Tropical (Standard Western)

Sun:06 Capricorn 25
Moon:17 Libra 08
Mercury:22 Capricorn 13
Venus:24 Capricorn 59 Rx
Mars:10 Sagittarius 14
Jupiter:29 Aquarius 46
Saturn:11 Aquarius 28
Uranus:11 Taurus 01 Rx
Neptune:20 Pisces 36
Pluto:25 Capricorn 48
True Lunar Node:01 Gemini 10
Mean Lunar Node:29 Taurus 45 Rx
Lilith (Black Moon):18 Gemini 01
Chiron:08 Aries 28
Ceres:29 Taurus 04 Rx
Pallas:15 Pisces 29
Juno:15 Capricorn 49
Vesta:22 Sagittarius 21
Eris:23 Aries 42 Rx
Fire:4
Earth:8
Air:5
Water:2
Cardinal:8
Fixed:5
Mutable:6

Days Of The Week In Wicca

From a Wiccan viewpoint, it is marvellous how the traditional names of days have survived all through the dark times. It is no secret that all seven days of the week have been named after Gods and Goddesses worshipped by the Old Tradition. Let’s explore the way we could bring a little magic in our everyday use.

According to modern Wicca traditions, all seven days of the week has different attributes and represent a certain element. It is down to you individually, how you use this information but it is believed that an understanding of the wheel of the week can bring a nice change to a hectic lifestyle.

The seven-day week was first introduced by ancient Egyptians, when according to Egyptian astrology they assigned a name to every day by the planet that was regent during the first hour of that particular day. As ancient Egyptian astrology knew only seven celestial bodies, we now have seven days of the week. But all this has also a deeper meaning not only within Wicca.

Sunday was named after Sunna – the Germanic goddess of the Sun. In modern Wicca traditions it…

Click here to read the rest of this article from wicca.in

 

December 27 Today In History

Today’s Important Historical Events

1512 Spanish Crown issues the Laws of Burgos, governing the conduct of settlers with regards to native Indians in the New World

1657 “Flushing Remonstrance” petition signed in the Dutch colony of New Netherland, protesting the ban on Quaker worship

1939 Between 20,000 and 40,000 die in magnitude 8 earthquake in Erzincam, Turkey

1945 International Monetary Fund formally established by 29 member countries based on ideas of Harry Dexter White and John Maynard Keynes

1949 Queen Juliana of the Netherlands grants independence to Indonesia

1979 After invading Afghanistan two days earlier Soviet forces pull off a coup in Kabul, killing President Hafizullah Amin

Today’s Historical Events

418 [Etalius] begins his reign as Catholic Pope

537 Hagia Sophia inaugurated by the Emperor Justinian I as an Eastern Orthodox cathedral

795 Leo III begins his reign as Pope after his election the previous day

1437 Albrecht II von Habsburg becomes king of Bohemia

1512 Spanish Crown issues the Laws of Burgos, governing the conduct of settlers with regards to native Indians in the New World

1521 The “Zwickau Prophets” appear in Wittenberg

1657 “Flushing Remonstrance” petition signed in the Dutch colony of New Netherland, protesting the ban on Quaker worship

1679 Dutch troops capture Madurees prince Trunudjojo in Java

Today’s Historical Events in Film and TV

1927 Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II’s “Show Boat” premieres in New York City

1937 Mae West performs Adam & Eve skit that gets her banned from NBC radio

1947 1st “Howdy Doody Show” (Puppet Playhouse), telecast on NBC

1964 The Supremes 1st appear on “The Ed Sullivan Show” singing “Come See About Me”

1974 Dear Abby show ends run on CBS radio after 11 years

1978 CBS Television’s premiere of its version of “Les Miserables”, starring Richard Jordan and Anthony Perkins

1979 Soap Opera “Knots Landing” premieres on CBS-TV

1986 2nd Soap Opera Digest Awards – Days of Our Lives wins

Today’s Historical Music Events

1903 “Sweet Adeline”, a barbershop quartet favorite, is first sung

1932 Radio City Music Hall opens in New York City

1934 “Thumbs Up” a musical revue, including music and lyrics by Vernon Duke & James Hanley premieres in NYC

1941 Dmitri Shostakovich completes his 7th Symphony in Siberia

1954 Gian Carlo Menotti’s Pulitzer Prize winning opera “The Saint of Bleecker Street” opens at Broadway Theater in ,NYC; runs for 92 performances

1961 Styne, Comden and Green’s musical “Subways Are For Sleeping” premieres at St James Theater, NYC; runs for 205 performances

1966 “At the Drop of Another Hat” opens at Booth Theater NYC for 105 performances

1967 Leonard Cohen releases his debut album “Songs of Leonard Cohen” on Columbia Records

Today’s Historical Events in Sports

1892 Biddle University beats Livingstone College 5-0 in 1st black college football game, in Salisbury, North Carolina

1897 Stanley Cup, Victoria Rink, Montreal, Quebec: Montreal Victorias beat Ottawa Capitals, 15-2

1919 Red Sox owner Harry Frazee announces they will deal any player except Harry Hooper, Hooper is sent to the White Sox after 1920 season

1937 German immigration officials with no explanation bar Juan Carlos Zabala (Arg), 1932 Olympic marathon champion, from entering Germany

1942 5th NFL All Star Game, Shribe Park, Philadelphia: NFL All-Stars beat Washington Redskins, 17-14

1951 40th Davis Cup: Australia beats USA in Sydney (3-2)

1953 National Football League Championship, Briggs Stadium, Detroit: Detroit Lions beat Cleveland Browns, 17-16 to retain title

1956 45th Davis Cup: Australia beats USA in Adelaide (5-0)

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 27

Comet Leonard behind JWST Launch Plume

Image Credit & Copyright: Matipon Tangmatitham (NARIT)

 

Explanation: Which one of these two streaks is a comet? Although they both have comet-like features, the lower streak is the only real comet. This lower streak shows the coma and tail of Comet Leonard, a city-sized block of rocky ice that is passing through the inner Solar System as it continues its looping orbit around the Sun. Comet Leonard has recently passed its closest to both the Earth and Venus and will round the Sun next week. The comet, still visible to the unaided eye, has developed a long and changing tail in recent weeks. In contrast, the upper streak is the launch plume of the Ariane V rocket that lifted the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) off the Earth two days ago. The featured single-exposure image was taken from Thailand, and the foreground spire is atop a pagoda in Doi Inthanon National Park. JWST, NASA’s largest and most powerful space telescope so far, will orbit the Sun near the Earth-Sun L2 point and is scheduled to start science observations in the summer of 2022.

 

Gallery: Comet Leonard 2021
Gallery: Webb Space Telescope Launch: 2021 December 25

27 December Daily Correspondence Digest for the Southern 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

Today and tonight the Moon will be in a Third Quarter phase. Sometimes called a Last Quarter Moon, this phase occurs roughly 3 weeks after the New Moon when the Moon is three quarter of the way through it’s orbit around the earth. If you live in the northern hemisphere the Moons left side will be illuminated and the right side will be dark. For those of you in the southern hemisphere it will be the opposite with the right side illuminated. On the day of the Third Quarter phase the Moon will rise around midnight on the eastern horizon and set in the west around noon the next day. In the days following the Third Quarter Phase the Moon’s illumination will decrees each day until the New Moon.

Visit the December 2021 Moon Phases Calendar to see all the daily moon phase for this month.

Today’s Last Quarter Phase

The Last Quarter on December 27 has an illumination of 46%. 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 27 the Moon is 22.55 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: Last Quarter
Illumination: 46%
Moon Age: 22.55 days
Moon Angle: 0.53
Moon Distance: 375,131.19 km
Sun Angle: 0.54
Sun Distance: 147,113,615.84 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 

Southeastern Hemisphere

The time for the Custom Planetary Positions is from the local time in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

27 December 2021
06:00 am GMT 5:00 PM AEDT
Zodiac: Tropical (Standard Western)

Sun:05 Capricorn 41
Moon:07 Libra 33
Mercury:21 Capricorn 08
Venus:25 Capricorn 14 Rx
Mars:09 Sagittarius 44
Jupiter:29 Aquarius 38
Saturn:11 Aquarius 24
Uranus:11 Taurus 02 Rx
Neptune:20 Pisces 36
Pluto:25 Capricorn 47
True Lunar Node:01 Gemini 09
Mean Lunar Node:29 Taurus 47 Rx
Lilith (Black Moon):17 Gemini 56
Chiron:08 Aries 28
Ceres:29 Taurus 10 Rx
Pallas:15 Pisces 19
Juno:15 Capricorn 33
Vesta:21 Sagittarius 58
Eris:23 Aries 42 Rx
Fire:4
Earth:8
Air:5
Water:2
Cardinal:8
Fixed:5
Mutable:6

 

Southwestern Hemisphere

The time for the Custom Planetary Positions is from the local time in Sao Paulo, Brazil, South America

27 December 2021
08:00 pm GMT 5:00 PM BRT
Zodiac: Tropical (Standard Western)

Sun:06 Capricorn 17
Moon:15 Libra 26
Mercury:22 Capricorn 01
Venus:25 Capricorn 02 Rx
Mars:10 Sagittarius 09
Jupiter:29 Aquarius 45
Saturn:11 Aquarius 27
Uranus:11 Taurus 01 Rx
Neptune:20 Pisces 36
Pluto:25 Capricorn 48
True Lunar Node:01 Gemini 10
Mean Lunar Node:29 Taurus 45 Rx
Lilith (Black Moon):18 Gemini 00
Chiron:08 Aries 28
Ceres:29 Taurus 05 Rx
Pallas:15 Pisces 27
Juno:15 Capricorn 46
Vesta:22 Sagittarius 17
Eris:23 Aries 42 Rx
Fire:4
Earth:8
Air:5
Water:2
Cardinal:8
Fixed:5
Mutable:6

Celtic Calendar – Birch December 24 – January 20

(I am sorry I did not get this up on December 24 the day it started)

Birch – the tree of birth

The Birch was seen by the Druids as the tree of birth – a symbol of new beginnings. Beth, meaning birch, is the first letter in the Ogham alphabet and the first month in the Celtic Tree Calendar.

From ireland-calling.com – Birch

The birch tree has many uses both medicinal and practical.

Birch wood is durable but quick to rot, making it a good home for insects and birdlife.

It was often used to make May poles and start the fires at Beltane, the festival of new beginnings, due to a highly combustible tar in its bark.

This tar is furthermore believed to be good for the skin and can be used to treat eczema.

Birch is also associated with purification and protection. The leaves of the birch can be brewed into a tea that treats infection, stimulates the gall bladder and kidneys and is said to dissolve gravel and kidney stones.

Birch used to stimulate purification process

In Scandinavia birch is used in saunas to stimulate the purification process and in Russia birch branches are beaten against the skin at steam rooms for the same purpose. This practice was also used as a punishment in old England to purify a criminal of evil.

December 26 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 Waning Gibbous Phase. This is the first phase after the Full Moon occurs. It lasts roughly 7 days with the Moon’s illumination growing smaller each day until the Moon becomes a Last Quarter Moon with an illumination of 50%. The average Moon rise for this phase is between 9pm and Midnight depending on the age of the phase. The moon rises later and later each night setting after sunrise in the morning. During this phase the Moon can also be seen in the early morning daylight hours on the western horizon.

Visit the December 2021 Moon Phases Calendar to see all the daily moon phase for this month.

Today’s Waning Gibbous Phase

The Waning Gibbous on December 26 has an illumination of 56%. 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 26 the Moon is 21.54 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: Waning Gibbous
Illumination: 56%
Moon Age: 21.54 days
Moon Angle: 0.52
Moon Distance: 379,747.45 km
Sun Angle: 0.54
Sun Distance: 147,118,952.52 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

26 December 2021
04:00 pm GMT 5:00 PM CEST
Zodiac: Tropical (Standard Western)

Sun:05 Capricorn 06
Moon:29 Virgo 47
Mercury:20 Capricorn 14
Venus:25 Capricorn 25 Rx
Mars:09 Sagittarius 19
Jupiter:29 Aquarius 32
Saturn:11 Aquarius 20
Uranus:11 Taurus 03 Rx
Neptune:20 Pisces 35
Pluto:25 Capricorn 46
True Lunar Node:01 Gemini 10 Rx
Mean Lunar Node:29 Taurus 49 Rx
Lilith (Black Moon):17 Gemini 52
Chiron:08 Aries 28
Ceres:29 Taurus 14 Rx
Pallas:15 Pisces 11
Juno:15 Capricorn 19
Vesta:21 Sagittarius 39
Eris:23 Aries 42 Rx
Fire:4
Earth:9
Air:4
Water:2
Cardinal:7
Fixed:5
Mutable:7

Northwestern Hemisphere

The time for the Custom Planetary Positions is from the local time in Chicago, Illinois, USA

December 26, 2021
11:00 pm GMT 5:00 PM CST
Zodiac: Tropical (Standard Western)

Sun:05 Capricorn 23
Moon:03 Libra 39
Mercury:20 Capricorn 41
Venus:25 Capricorn 19 Rx
Mars:09 Sagittarius 31
Jupiter:29 Aquarius 35
Saturn:11 Aquarius 22
Uranus:11 Taurus 02 Rx
Neptune:20 Pisces 35
Pluto:25 Capricorn 46
True Lunar Node:01 Gemini 09 Rx
Mean Lunar Node:29 Taurus 48 Rx
Lilith (Black Moon):17 Gemini 54

Chiron:08 Aries 28

Ceres:29 Taurus 12 Rx
Pallas:15 Pisces 15
Juno:15 Capricorn 26
Vesta:21 Sagittarius 49

Eris:23 Aries 42 Rx
Fire:4
Earth:8
Air:5
Water:2
Cardinal:8
Fixed:5
Mutable:6

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 26

James Webb Space Telescope over Earth

Image Credit: Arianespace, ESA, NASA, CSA, CNES

Explanation: There’s a big new telescope in space. This one, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), not only has a mirror over five times larger than Hubble‘s in area, but can see better in infrared light. The featured picture shows JWST high above the Earth just after being released by the upper stage of an Ariane V rocket, launched yesterday from French Guiana. Over the next month, JWST will move out near the Sun-Earth L2 point where it will co-orbit the Sun with the Earth. During this time and for the next five months, JWST will unravel its segmented mirror and an array of sophisticated scientific instruments — and test them. If all goes well, JWST will start examining galaxies across the universe and planets orbiting stars across our Milky Way Galaxy in the summer of 2022.

 

APOD Gallery: Webb Space Telescope Launch

The Witch Said What?!

Please remember if we want Christians to accept us and our beliefs, we need to do the same for them.

The History of Christmas

Christmas may get buried under the catalogues of holiday cheer, present buying, and a lot of food prep stress, but the 2 thousand-year-old holiday commemorating the birth of Jesus has one of the most complex and interesting timelines of any holiday in the history of the world.

The annual festival celebrated on Dec. 24, Dec. 25, January 7, and Jan 19 depending on denomination, is both a cultural and deeply religious occasion celebrated by billions of people around the world. From the inclusion of the Christmas tree to the annual gift-giving, the feast day that spans through modern history has many traditions, myths, and stories that resonate around the globe.

As a main celebration in the Christian liturgical calendar, it follows the season of Advent and ushers in Christmastide, or The Twelve Days of Christmas. It was first decided to the specific date in the Western calendar by Dionysius Exiguus, a Scythian monk who was an abbot in Rome. With Exiguus’ research and biblical texts, Jesus’s birth was decided to have occurred on December 25, 1 C.E. There have been many disputes over the actual date of Jesus’s birth since, but Exiguus’ date has stuck despite them.

Prior to Christian celebrations, Roman pagans celebrated the holiday of Saturnalia, a week of raucous celebrations from December 17-25, where Roman courts were closed and the law dictated that citizens could not be punished for damaging property or injuring people during the feasting. The Romans believed these celebrations, which chose a community victim and forced them to indulge in food and festivities, destroyed the forces of evil when they murdered this victim at the conclusion of the week, on December 25.

In the 4th century, Christian leaders were successful at converting many pagans to Christianity by allowing them to also continue the celebration of Saturnalia, and this was its first connection to Jesus’s birth. Because the festival of Saturnalia had no connection with Christian teachings, leaders tacked on the holiday of Jesus’s birth onto the last day of the festival. For many years, contemporaries of the time continued to allow the celebration.

Click here to read the rest of this article.