Fajada Butte
December 21, 2015 –the Winter Solstice, coinciding with the first day of Winter and the shortest day of the year, but celebrated by ancient peoples as the beginning of the time where the days grow longer. More sunlight day by day until the warm seasons, when finally at the Summer Solstice, the day is the longest and the cycle begins again.
Of the Anasazi peoples of the precolumbian American Southwest, the inhabitants of Chaco Canyon in what is now northwestern New Mexico were among the most advanced. They studied the stars and complex astronomical relationships, knowing that the Winter Solstice marked an important turning point in their survival. Many centuries before digital clocks and calendars, they knew that the time to plant was not far away. It was a time of sacred celebration.
the Sun Dagger
On Fajada Butte, they constructed what is now called the Sun Dagger, a solar and lunar rock calendar that allowed the sun and moon to shine through carefully positioned stone slabs onto a wall. The filtered light was in the shape of a dagger, illuminating parts of a spiral carving in the wall corresponding to the precise dates and times of the Solstices and other seasonal events.
From Native American Antiquity . . .
minimum to maximum across the horizon.”
Sun Dagger at Winter Solstice- bottom image
Celebrate the Winter Solstice not just as the first day of Winter, but a day of resurrection and renewal.
Lanes End. Find out what role he has them play in a modern day drama of rebirth . . . (also watch the video trailer).
Copyright 2015, Paul Hill
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Lovely post, thank you for sharing 😉
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Thankyou for reading!
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Reblogged this on Kerberos616.
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Fascinating. Thanks.
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It always impresses me how these ancient tribes were so creative with the primitive tools they had. Unlike today when we rely so much on technology…there is even a computer that surpasses the human brain in studying complex problems and coming up with solutions.
On another note…we are experiencing unusually mild weather for this part of Canada. It’s raining today…no snow and none in the forecast! I look forward to longer days of light.
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