Cross Quarter Days
As seen from the Capitol, the sun sets over the White House (to the right below) in May and August , and sets over the Jefferson Memorial (to the left below) in February and November; but the Capitol is Not aligned in an explicit manner to the Solstices, in June and December. As we have already seen, the sun makes it yearly round in 365 days, moving from equinox to solstice in about 91 days; the cross-quarter days, then, mark the half-way points between the solstices and equinoxes, falling in February, May, August and November. Note that the sun moves much faster, through the arc at the equinoxes than at the solstices (a word which means "standstill"); so that in 45 days, the sun covers 71% of it's apparent path between it's equinox and solstice positions. At 39 degrees north latitude (DC's position), the sun moves about 22 degrees in 45 days, placing near the postion noted by Ovason (Aug. 10). Lockyer Sir Norman Lockyer, an astronomer and physicist, and founder and editor of the journal 'Nature', developed a scientific approach to the investigation of prehistoric astronomy, and launched the modern interest in the subject. His surveys of the orientation of Greek and Egyptian temples, and his studies of Stonehenge and other monuments were widely published and widely read in the late 19th and early years of the 20th century. His belief that ancient sites such as Stonehenge were axially oriented towards a place on the skyline where a celestial body -- the sun, the moon, or a star -- crossed the horizon on a particular day has been taken up and elaborated upon by later writers, notably Gerald Hawkins and Alexander Thom. Lockyer concluded that early British megalithic sites were mostly orientated to the rising or setting sun at the cross-quarter days, in November, February, May and August, or to stars which rose before the sun at those times of year. For Lockyer, Stonehenge was neither a megalithic calendar nor an astronomical calculator in the way it was later to be interpreted by Gerald Hawkins. He believed that Stonehenge was a temple and that the ruined stone structure we see today is the remains of a much older temple built to celebrate the ancient Celtic festival of Beltane (May Day). He believed that customs changed over the centuries, and later megalithic sites were orientated mainly towards the solstices. It appears from the evidence that certain changes took place in course of time in the religion; and this is shown in the festivals. While the ancient festivals remained, all festivals of the succeeding religions were added. May-November year The original celebrations belonged to the May-November year, a division of time which follows neither the solstices nor the agricultural seasons; some feel that there these festivals were connected with the breeding seasons of the flocks and herds. The chief festivals were: in the spring, May Eve (April 30), called Roodmas or Rood Day in Britain and Walpurgis-Nacht in Germany; in the autumn, November Eve (October 31), called in Britain All Hallow's Eve. Between these two came: in the winter, Candlemas (February 2); and in the summer, the Gule of August (August 1), called Lammas in Britain. [You may note that while the sun is at it's high point at the solstice the third week in June, the temperature in the northern hemisphere does not peak until about August 6th, about 45 days later, half-way to the equinox; and while the sun makes it low pass in late December, the coldest time is about February 6th. This puts the center of the moderate temperatures in May and November.] To these were added the festivals of the solstitial invaders, St John's Day at midsummer and Yule at midwinter. With the advent of Christianity the names and dates of the festivals were changed, otherwise they were observed as before, but with ceremonies of the new religion. While examining the "station stones" at Stonehenge, Lockyer discovered that a line drawn through thru 91 and 93 marked the sunset on about May 6th and August 8th, and in the opposite direction marked the sunrise at about February 7th and November 8th, the times of the cross quarter days about 45 days before and after the Solstices. This is the same alignment depicted by Pennsylvania Avenue between the Capitol and the White House in DC. Interestingly, the Street of the Dead and the Pyramid of the Sun in Mexico City are perpendicular to the August 13th sunset. To conclude, I would like to say that I disagree with Ovason's conclusion that "the Mystery of Wasington, D.C" (page 347 "Secret Architecture") centers around "only one day" (p. 339); because the sun occupies the position to which he refers TWICE every year, in May AND August. I suggest that the dates of the sunsets that occur on Pennsylvannia and Maryland Avenues point to ancient Druid and Celtic Fire Festivals, and are related to sun worship, considered allegorically by the Masons. One might ask, why, with the Masonic emphasis on the concept of "light", that they would choose to orient themselves toward the sun set and not he sunrise. The answer is that several cultures including Islam, Hebrews and the Druids began their day at sundown; the reason being that they saw the sun's transit across the sky as a allegory for the soul's journey. The Mystery Religions saw the daily and yearly changes that occured to the sun, as well as the moon's monthly changes as symbolic of human incarnation, and enacted dramas that illustrated this in symbols that were easily understandable to Initiates. The story began at sunset, or the FALL Equinox, or New (dark of the) Moon, because that symbolized the soul's incarnation into the earthly plane, which was viewed as the figurative death of the soul, the soul's exile from it's Heavenly Home. This is the story of the Prodigal Son from the Bible. The power of the sun is extinguished at sundown, it is re-born at dawn, and reaches full strength high in the Heavens. Alternately, it crosses the equator heading south at the Equinox, or Fall in September, reaches a low point in December, crosses the Equator again in the spring, and peaks high in the sky in the Summer. Continue

Cross Quarter Days

As seen from the Capitol, the sun sets over the White House (to the right below) in May and August , and sets over the Jefferson Memorial (to the left below) in February and November; but the Capitol is Not aligned in an explicit manner to the Solstices, in June and December.

As we have already seen, the sun makes it yearly round in 365 days, moving from equinox to solstice in about 91 days; the cross-quarter days, then, mark the half-way points between the solstices and equinoxes, falling in February, May, August and November.
Note that the sun moves much faster, through the arc at the equinoxes than at the solstices (a word which means "standstill"); so that in 45 days, the sun covers 71% of it's apparent path between it's equinox and solstice positions. At 39 degrees north latitude (DC's position), the sun moves about 22 degrees in 45 days, placing near the postion noted by Ovason (Aug. 10).

Lockyer
Sir Norman Lockyer, an astronomer and physicist, and founder and editor of the journal 'Nature', developed a scientific approach to the investigation of prehistoric astronomy, and launched the modern interest in the subject. His surveys of the orientation of Greek and Egyptian temples, and his studies of Stonehenge and other monuments were widely published and widely read in the late 19th and early years of the 20th century. His belief that ancient sites such as Stonehenge were axially oriented towards a place on the skyline where a celestial body -- the sun, the moon, or a star -- crossed the horizon on a particular day has been taken up and elaborated upon by later writers, notably Gerald Hawkins and Alexander Thom.
Lockyer concluded that early British megalithic sites were mostly orientated to the rising or setting sun at the cross-quarter days, in November, February, May and August, or to stars which rose before the sun at those times of year.
For Lockyer, Stonehenge was neither a megalithic calendar nor an astronomical calculator in the way it was later to be interpreted by Gerald Hawkins. He believed that Stonehenge was a temple and that the ruined stone structure we see today is the remains of a much older temple built to celebrate the ancient Celtic festival of Beltane (May Day).
He believed that customs changed over the centuries, and later megalithic sites were orientated mainly towards the solstices. It appears from the evidence that certain changes took place in course of time in the religion; and this is shown in the festivals. While the ancient festivals remained, all festivals of the succeeding religions were added.

May-November year
The original celebrations belonged to the May-November year, a division of time which follows neither the solstices nor the agricultural seasons; some feel that there these festivals were connected with the breeding seasons of the flocks and herds. The chief festivals were: in the spring, May Eve (April 30), called Roodmas or Rood Day in Britain and Walpurgis-Nacht in Germany; in the autumn, November Eve (October 31), called in Britain All Hallow's Eve. Between these two came: in the winter, Candlemas (February 2); and in the summer, the Gule of August (August 1), called Lammas in Britain.
[You may note that while the sun is at it's high point at the solstice the third week in June, the temperature in the northern hemisphere does not peak until about August 6th, about 45 days later, half-way to the equinox; and while the sun makes it low pass in late December, the coldest time is about February 6th. This puts the center of the moderate temperatures in May and November.] To these were added the festivals of the solstitial invaders, St John's Day at midsummer and Yule at midwinter. With the advent of Christianity the names and dates of the festivals were changed, otherwise they were observed as before, but with ceremonies of the new religion.
While examining the "station stones" at Stonehenge, Lockyer discovered that a line drawn through thru 91 and 93 marked the sunset on about May 6th and August 8th, and in the opposite direction marked the sunrise at about February 7th and November 8th, the times of the cross quarter days about 45 days before and after the Solstices. This is the same alignment depicted by Pennsylvania Avenue between the Capitol and the White House in DC.

Interestingly, the Street of the Dead and the Pyramid of the Sun in Mexico City are perpendicular to the August 13th sunset.

To conclude, I would like to say that I disagree with Ovason's conclusion that "the Mystery of Wasington, D.C" (page 347 "Secret Architecture") centers around "only one day" (p. 339); because the sun occupies the position to which he refers TWICE every year, in May AND August.
I suggest that the dates of the sunsets that occur on Pennsylvannia and Maryland Avenues point to ancient Druid and Celtic Fire Festivals, and are related to sun worship, considered allegorically by the Masons. One might ask, why, with the Masonic emphasis on the concept of "light", that they would choose to orient themselves toward the sun set and not he sunrise.
The answer is that several cultures including Islam, Hebrews and the Druids began their day at sundown; the reason being that they saw the sun's transit across the sky as a allegory for the soul's journey. The Mystery Religions saw the daily and yearly changes that occured to the sun, as well as the moon's monthly changes as symbolic of human incarnation, and enacted dramas that illustrated this in symbols that were easily understandable to Initiates.
The story began at sunset, or the FALL Equinox, or New (dark of the) Moon, because that symbolized the soul's incarnation into the earthly plane, which was viewed as the figurative death of the soul, the soul's exile from it's Heavenly Home. This is the story of the Prodigal Son from the Bible. The power of the sun is extinguished at sundown, it is re-born at dawn, and reaches full strength high in the Heavens. Alternately, it crosses the equator heading south at the Equinox, or Fall in September, reaches a low point in December, crosses the Equator again in the spring, and peaks high in the sky in the Summer.

Continue