[trystan830]

Dalhanahue, how is the astrological date of Samhain determined? i've always wondered, because in the google search i just did, a few of the hits said it was October 31, and a few that i clicked on had it as November 7th.

[Stabbsworth]

hewwo everypony. bazinga.

[Dalhanahue]

Yeah, the established date is Oct 31st. Astrological date of the Sabbats are determined by the position of sun and stuff. A general way to look at it would be to imagine the Wheel of the Year. You have your Solstices and Equinoxes which are referred to as the Quarter Sabbats. They are all the beginning of the a new season. The Cross Quarter Sabbats are the ones that fall in between those and mark the height of those seasons: Samhain, Imbolc (varied spelling), Lammas(or Lughnasadh), Beltane (all with 50 other ways of spelling as well, depending on your tradition and ect. lol that might be an exaggeration but you get the idea.)

There are established dates of all the Sabbats that a lot adhere to or use and I mean for constancy and planning purposes, I totally get it. And mostly, they are close enough BUT considering those solstices and equinoxes are based on the sun there are years where they technically fall a day before or after, give or take, those established dates. Same with the cross quarters that fall midpoint between those quarters. It feels like the cross quarters can vary more in number of days between the established date and astrological date.

I don't think one way is better than the other but I have a strong connection to nature and the moon and sun so if able to celebrate on the astrological date, I like to and am more particular about sticking to that with the quarter sabbats: the equinoxes and solstices. However, life being as it is lol if I can't it's no biggy and I just feel like as long as it's sometime in between the established date and the astrological, close enough regarding the cross quarters but it does make me a little sad if I miss the quarter dates just because that's in essence what those holidays mostly mean to me: celebrating the balance and offset of nature and light and dark.


OH, also here's a chart for the positions of the sun that determine the astrological dates:

Ostara (Vernal Equinox) – Sun at 0° Aries
Beltane – Sun at 15° Taurus
Litha (Summer Solstice) – Sun at 0° Cancer
Lammas – Sun at 15° Leo
Mabon (Autumn Equinox) – Sun at 0° Libra
Samhain – Sun at 15° Scorpio
Yule (Winter Solstice) – Sun at 0° Capricorn
Imbolc – Sun at 15° Aquarius

I don't have my witchy bookmarks on this computer but there are a few good sites you could probably google that you can easily find the astrological dates for the like the next decade in advanced for planning what not.

Also Stabbsworth: Please tell me you like My Little Pony Friendship is Magic.

[trystan830]

Originally Posted by Dalhanahue

BUT considering those solstices and equinoxes are based on the sun there are years where they technically fall a day before or after, give or take, those established dates. Same with the cross quarters that fall midpoint between those quarters. It feels like the cross quarters can vary more in number of days between the established date and astrological date.

yeah, that makes total sense, because cross-quarter days are between the solstices and equinoxes....when one solstice is earlier than it was last year, and the other equinox is later.... i totally get it. :D
thanks!

[Stabbsworth]

mmmmm astrosciencie

[Espy]

Honestly, it's way too warm here for Samhain to feel like Samhain (it's 81 today), but... eh. I make do.

[Stabbsworth]

it's about 13 degrees here. bit chilly, but preferable compared to it being around 20 degrees in october.

[Espy]

Originally Posted by Stabbsworth

it's about 13 degrees here. bit chilly, but preferable compared to it being around 20 degrees in october.

Weirdly enough, I prefer temps below 10C.

[Stabbsworth]

see, i would take under ten degrees, but my mum's bones are bad.

[trystan830]

*goes to conversion website*

so it's about 20 in my office space, maybe a little cooler?
10 inside is quite chilly for me, actually. it's almost 13 outside right now, and that's about usual for this time of year (i think), but my weather app has a high of 20.5 for today, which is warmer than usual.

[Espy]

I like it warm inside (like upper 70s) and cold outside (below 50)..

[Stabbsworth]

i like it colder because then i can be so seepy cozy.
but then my hands get cold whenever i'm doing work on the site assets.

[Jester]

~I prefer warmer temps. Unfortunately not everything can be warm, especially with the temps changing. I just hope it doesn't rain too much here. I have a lot of walking to do and I don't want to be caught in it. ~

[Espy]

Faaaaack. I straight up missed Samhain bc this week's been so busy.

[Stabbsworth]

i take winter over summer.

[Espy]

Yeah, I'm definitely also more of a winter person. Autumn used to be my favorite season, until I moved to Pittsburgh for a few years. Snow and the silence that comes with it...