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The 'Astronomology' of the

'New Year Cardinal Festival of Aries♈'

[⊕♈]

Northern 'Springfest' / Southern 'Autumnfest'

A 4 Day Festival (5 in Leap Years*) to celebrate:

The Aries♈ Equinox (aka the 'Nobenox' - the NO-rth B-ound E-qui-NOX)

The passage from the old year to the new

and

The start of the 1st Quarter Season

This period covers one of the 4 major Sun/Earth events, the 2 Equinoxes & the 2 Solstices, which divide our Year into its 4 Quarter Seasons

It is called a 'Cardinal' Festival because Aries♈ is one of the 4 Cardinal Zodiac Signs;

Aries♈, Cancer♋, Libra♎ & Capricorn♑

They are called 'Cardinal' signs because cardinal comes from the Latin 'cardo' which means 'hinge/pole/axis', signifying the poles/axis of the equinoxes & solstices, and the 'hinge' of the symbolic door which opens each Season

So, we can symbolise these events using the Earth symbol ⊕ together with the symbol for the particular equinox or solstice

At this time the Sun is reaching the '1st Point of Aries♈' which is symbolised simply with '♈' so we can add this to the Earth symbol to give a combined symbol for the Festival:

[⊕♈]

This Festival takes in the last 2 days of the old year and the first 2 days of the new year.

So the 4 Days each year are:

Day 1 [⊕♈1]

29th Pisces ♓

Numerical Date [YYYYY.12.29]

Day #364 of the Year

Day 2 [⊕♈2]

30th Pisces ♓

Numerical Date [YYYYY.12.30]

Day #365 of the Year

Also can be called 'New Year's Eve'

(This is also often 'Nobenox Day', the day of the Aries♈Equinox, including the year of this post, 13515 - see 'Stellarium' picture below)

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* In Leap Years this Festival Period has an additional Intercalary Day inserted here, at the start of the New Year:

'Leap Year's Day'

Symbol

'✶'

Numerical Date [YYYYY.00.00]

Day #000 of the Year

Intercalary Day Zero

Leap Year's Day is 'Day Zero' which keeps all the rest of the day numbering the same in all years, and keeps the calendar perennial!

In Leap Years, Leap Year's Day is usually 'Nobenox Day', the day of the Aries♈Equinox

(Most often in our current era this falls on 20th March in the Gregorian Calendar)

-----------------------------

Day 3 [⊕♈3]

'New Year's Day'

Symbol

'❂'

Numerical Date [YYYYY.00.01]

Day #001 of the Year

1st Intercalary Day

(Most often this falls on 21st March in the Gregorian Calendar)

Day 4 [⊕♈4]

'1st Season's Day'

Symbol

'◷'

Numerical Date [YYYYY.00.02]

Day #002 of the Year

2nd Intercalary Day

Can also be called 'Spring Day' in the Northern Hemisphere and 'Autumn Day' in the Southern Hemisphere

It has the symbol '◷' as it introduces the Quarter Season which forms the 'top right' quarter of the Zodiac circle

So... On To The 'Astronomology'

The Aries♈Equinox

The 'No-b-enox'

The following 4 shots from the package Stellarium show the position of the Sun on each of the 4 days of the festival:

[⊕♈1]

[⊕♈2]

[⊕♈3]

[⊕♈4]

The Astronomy

The 2nd of the 4 screen shots above [⊕♈2] shows the Sun on its Ecliptic path crossing the Celestial Equator rising north, arriving at its 'Ascending Node' and the 'First Point of Aries' (♈)

This is the intersection of the Ecliptic with the 0 Hrs Right Ascension (RA) line and the 0° Declination (DE) line (the celestial equator)

This is shown as -  RA/DE (of date) : 0h 00m / 0°00'  - in the top left of the picture

At this point The Sun leaves the Sign Pisces♓ - Pisces♓ correlates to the 2 hours of Right Ascension from 22hours to 24 / 0 hours

We can see that the Sign Pisces♓ is currently occupied by the Constellation Aquarius due to the Precession of the Equinox of the Great Year

The Sun is then entering the Sign Aries♈ - Aries♈  correlates to the 2 hours of Right Ascension from 0 hours to 2 hours

We can see that the Sign Aries♈ is currently occupied by the Constellation Pisces, again due to Precession

We can confirm this 'astronomological' link between the astronomy & the astrology with a shot from the website 'Planet Watcher'

The Astrology

This shot taken at the time of the Aries♈Equinox ('Nobenox') shows the Sun at 0°Aries♈

This confirms the Astrological alignment with the 0 hours Right Ascension line of the Stellarium Astronomy shot

You will notice that the Planet Watcher shot shows the same anti-clockwise cycle of the Zodiac as I have used for the Calendar, but rotated 180° starting with Aries♈ on the left at '9 o'clock'

This is because the astrological Zodiac shows the Eastern Horizon on the left and the North at the bottom, whereas I've followed the Ecliptic path of the Sun, showing the North at the top and the South at the bottom!

So, we can see the historical links between astrology and astronomy reflected in their modern day uses

And in the spirit of left brain/right brain balance and Scientific & Spiritual equilibrium, I think it's time we brought them back together!

After all, achieving balance is what life is ALL about...

Anyway, the main point to remember is that the Aries♈Equinox (the No-b-e-nox) will always occur on one of the days of this New Year Festival EVERY year

Happy New Year!

⊕♈

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