Solar calendar
The ancients prepared for the coming seasons by tracking where the sun rose and set on the horizon. Their rituals and mythology revolved around these events and are still reflected in our holidays today. Stonehenge is one of many stone circles around the planet that serve as a lasting reminder of this knowledge. On many a hilltop were also henges constructed from timbers that have long since rotted and disappeared into the earth. This page is my small effort to record and share that knowledge to make it more widely known and understood in the modern era.
Over the course of a year, the sun’s position at sunrise and sunset moves back and forth from north to south on the eastern and western horizons from one solstice to the next in a 62˚ arc. The equinoxes are at the 31˚ midpoint on that arc between the solstices. Using the solstices and equinoxes as guides and standing in the center of the circle, an observer can determine at what point in the cycle the sun is in by observing its position at sunrise or sunset.
We begin the year on the Winter Solstice, December 21st, when the sun is at its southernmost point in its journey across the horizon. During this time we endure short cold days and long dark nights as it is the beginning of Winter. The sun appears to stall in the sky as it reverses course but will slowly over the next 39 days begin rising and setting further northward toward the first quarter point marked at January 29th.
The sun will then move to the next quarter point in only 19 days which is about half the time it took to travel the length of the first quarter. This point falls on February 17 and is the midpoint between Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox.
From the second quarter point, the sun moves to the third quarter point on March 5th in 16 days and begins to approach the Spring Equinox.
Speeding along and in only 15 days, the sun reaches the Spring Equinox on March 20th and rises exactly in the East and sets directly in the West. This marks the first day of Spring. Day and night are exactly the same length on this day and for every day after, we gain a little daylight as the nights become shorter.
Entering Spring and moving to the next quarter point past the midpoint of the seasonal arc, the sun arrives at April 5th in just 16 days.
16 days later, the sun moves along to the midpoint in it’s journey between Spring and Summer on April 21st.
Slowing slightly, the sun takes 19 days to move to the final quarter point on May 10th.
Slowing even more in its journey, the sun takes 41 days to reach the Summer Solstice on June 20th on the first day of Summer.
At the top of the cycle, the sun now reverses course again toward Fall and spends the next 42 days slowly moving southward until it reaches the first quarter point on August 1st.
Moving quickly through August, the sun hits the midpoint between Summer and Fall in just 20 days on August 21st.
Passing the midpoint and approaching the Fall Equinox the sun reaches the third quarter point in 16 days on September 6th.
Reaching the midpoint in the second half of the seasonal cycle in 16 days, the sun rises due East and sets due West on September 22, the first day of the Fall season and begins moving toward Winter. Day and night are again equal but night will begin to slowly last longer than the day as the sun continues South.
Moving out of September and into October, the sun reaches the first quarter point past Fall on October 7th in only 15 days.
For the next 17 days, the sun moves to the midpoint of the lower quarter cycle between Fall and Winter on October 24th. The days begin to cool and the nights are becoming longer.
The days are noticeably shorter as the sun spends the next 18 days reaching the last quarter point on November 11th before moving on to the Winter Solstice.
Slowing again at the end of its journey through the year, the sun takes 40 days to reach its reversal point at the Winter Solstice and begin the seasonal cycle anew.
