Summary of events for 2026
The days of the cross-quarter fire festivals have been historically corrupted to ensure that events held to celebrate them occur on the wrong days. Prior to christianisation the cross-quarters marked the half-way points between solstices and equinoxes. To calculate them, count the number of days between each pair of natural festivals and halve the result. The earth's orbit is slightly eliptical so the year is not round either. Currently, only one interval is an odd number of days. The other three are even so that there are two possible festival days, or one night.
The date of perihelionPerihelion is the earth's closest approach to the sun. Currently Jan 3rd. for the earth's orbit has changed since prehistoric times so the distribution of days between the festivals is not the same now as it was then. Changes in the Obliquity of the Ecliptic The Obliquity of the Ecliptic (tilt of the earth's axis) wobbles with a period of c.25,800 years ±1.2° around 23.1°. Throughout the neolithic it was not far from the maximum and rate of change was slow but now we are rapidly approaching the centre of the oscillation. also mean that the sun travelled a bit further north and south along the horizon than it does now. The net result is that prehistoric solar rise / set positions (declinations Angular distance of a celestial object North or South of the celestial equator (a projection of the earth's equator). + for North and - for South, the declination of a celestial object is the same as the latitude at which it would pass vertically overhead. c.-16.6 / c.+16.7 for winter / summer cross-quarters) are generally different to modern ones. For those wishing to observe them from prehistoric sites, the modern dates for the sun to rise /set at prehistoric cross-quarter positions work out to be:
For up to date lunistice timings see Lunistices 2026. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Winter Solstice 2025: This year the sun reaches its most southerly point at at 15:04 on December 21st but
you would have to be very eagle-eyed to spot any difference in solar rising & setting positions for several days to either side of this date.
At winter solstice, south lunistices are too close to new moon to be visible at all whilst north lunistices are at or close to full moon and thus, normally, visible both rising and setting. This year, the preceding and closest full moon is at 23:14 on Dec 4th. Its related lunistices are, setting in the north-west on Dec 5th and rising in the north-east on Dec 6th. The following full moon is at 22:26 on Jan 13th with the intervening new moon on Dec 20th, the day before the solstice. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Samhain 2025: The sun is half-way between autumn equinox and winter solstice on Nov 6th but the equivalent prehistoric solar rise & set positions are on Nov 9th. The nearest full moon is on Nov 5th at 13:20. Lunistices may be seen: as a waxing fat crescent, setting in the south-west early evening of Oct 26th; fat gibbous and waning, rising in the north-east in twilight on Nov 8th; waxing thin crescent, setting in the south-west in twilight on Nov 22nd. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Autumn Equinox 2025: One of the traditional fire festivals, celebrated when the sun crosses the equator from north to south. This year that happens on September 22nd at 18:20.
Night and day are then briefly equal before northern hemisphere nights begin to get longer. The sun rises and sets pretty much due east / west.
The nearest full moon is a couple of weeks earlier, on September 7th at 18:13, and is also a total lunar eclipse, confirming that we are currently in a period of "Major Lunar Standstill". This means that lunistices are now occurring at their maximum distance north & south of the equator. The standstill period lasts quite some time (more than a year) with some slight positional "wobbles" month by month that are negligeable in terms of naked eye observation. We are now in the process of leaving it. New moon and a partial solar eclipse (visible in New Zealand) occur on Sept 21st at 19:43. At equinoxes, the lunistices are at or near quarter moons. So, after the waxing gibbous one setting in the south-west late on Sept 1st the next one rises in the north-east on the evening of Sept 14th with last quarter having been at 10:34 that morning. Sept 28th sees an early evening lunistice setting in the south-west with first quarter the next day at 23:55. Then we have a full moon on Oct 7th at 03:49, almost a full month before the cross-quarter day of Samhain. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Lughnasadh / Lammass 2025: Is August 6th/7th this year and not August 1st as as given by the modern western (Gregorian) calendar,
because this fire festival was originally the half-way marker between summer solstice and autumn equinox.
It is traditionally associated with funeral games that are (presumably) related to the supposed death of a corn deity as this is also the festival of "the first fruits" of the harvest.
Many localities still have races and similar competitive activities around this time.
The equivalent prehistoric solar positions are sunset of Aug 4th & sunrise of Aug 5th.
Bracketing full moons are July 10th at 20:38 and August 9th at 07:56, the closest. Lunistices are: early on July 22nd, waning crescent, rising in the north-east; early again on Aug 5th & 6th, waxing gibbous, setting in the south-west; earlier again on Aug 19th, waning crescent, rising in the north-east; late on Sept 1st, waxing gibbous, setting in the south-west. We are currently in a period of "Major Lunar Standstill". This means that lunistices are now occurring at their maximum distance north & south of the equator. This standstill period lasts quite some time (more than a year) with some slight positional "wobbles" month by month that are negligeable in terms of naked eye observation. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Summer Solstice 2025: The moment that the sun reaches its most northerly declination of the year is June 21st at 02:43.
So the markers for it are sunset of June 20th and sunrise of June 21st although the most eagle-eyed observer would be very hard pressed to spot any differences of rise/set positions for a week to either side.
Note that modern solstices fall short of their prehistoric horizon positions to such a degree that they now indicate positions that would have been a couple of weeks away from the solstices then. At solstices, lunistices are at or close to full & new moons. Thus north lunistices are too close to new moon to be visible, while south lunistices may be seen both rising and setting. Closest full moon is on June 11th at 07:45 but is not quite a south lunistice - these happen around sunset of June 11th and sunrise of June 12th. The next full moon is on July 10th at 20:38 with lunistice sets in the south-west during astronomical twilight on June 8/9. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| May Day / Beltane / Bealtaine 2025: Though this festival has been moved to the first of the month, it was originally the half-way point between spring equinox and summer solstice.
This year the markers for it are sunset of May 5th and sunrise of May 6th.
The equivalent prehistoric solar positions now occur at sunrise and sunset of May 4th.
Nearest full moon is May 12th at 16:57 with the preceding one on April 13th at 00:23. A gibbous lunistice may be seen rising in the early hours of April 18th & 19th in the south-east. Next a setting crescent in the north-west around the middle of the night of April 30th / May 1st. Then another rising gibbous lunistice in the south-east at a similar time in the middle of the night of May 15/16th. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Spring Equinox 2025: This year the sun crosses the equator, from south to north, on March 20th at 09:03.
Because the equinox marks the centre point of the wobbles, there is no visual difference between prehistoric equinoctial sun rise / set positions and modern ones.
Nearest full moon is March 14th at 07:00. This is also a total lunar eclipse. Equinoctial eclipses occur during periods of "lunar standstill" when, as now, the distance along the horizon between north and south lunistices is at or close to its maximum value or, at or near to minimum value as it will be in 9 years or so. At equinoxes, the nearest lunistices are at or near to first and last quarter. This year, setting in the north-west a couple of days after first quarter, well before dawn on March 7th & 8th. Then, even earlier in the night, on March 22nd the almost last quarter rises in the south-east. The next lunistice after that is a fat crescent that sets at a similar time on April 4th in the north-west. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Imbolc 2025: The winter cross-quarter day that marks the mid-point between winter solstice and spring equinox.
The beginning of growth and not February 1st but Feb 3rd / 4th.
Originally this fire festival was established by day count but post-pagan calendar changes have moved its official celebration to the first of the month... Now, the interval happens to be an equal number of days so the solar markers for it are sunset of February 3rd and sunrise of February 4th. The equivalent prehistoric solar positions are sunset of Jan 31st and sunrise of Feb 1st. Nearest full moons are Jan 13th @ 22:28 and, a bit closer, Feb 12th @ 13:54. A waxing gibbous lunistice setting in the north-west may be seen around dawn on Jan 12th, then a waning crescent rising in the south-east occurs before dawn on Jan 26th. The next pair of lunistices are about an hour earlier, setting in the north-west on Feb 8th and rising in the south-east on Feb 23rd. Get details of all lunistices in 2025 here |
Ancient Sacred Places
The prehistoric sites: pictures, information & explanations
Axial Alignments
Axial alignments: pictures, interpretations and statistics
Prehistoric Horizon Calendars
The calendrical views: panoramic or by sector
Whole Horizon Analysis
Statistics and pictorial examples
Summaries
Introduction & explanations
Hyperborea
This essay corrects common errors of attribution. Thus confirming that a Hyperborean 19 year calendar was documented some considerable time before 19 year lunar cycles were officially discovered by Meton in 432BCE.
Stellarium Landscapes
Download landscapes for use with a planetarium app.
The prehistoric sites: pictures, information & explanations
Axial Alignments
Axial alignments: pictures, interpretations and statistics
Prehistoric Horizon Calendars
The calendrical views: panoramic or by sector
Whole Horizon Analysis
Statistics and pictorial examples
Summaries
Introduction & explanations
Hyperborea
This essay corrects common errors of attribution. Thus confirming that a Hyperborean 19 year calendar was documented some considerable time before 19 year lunar cycles were officially discovered by Meton in 432BCE.
Stellarium Landscapes
Download landscapes for use with a planetarium app.
News and updates
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