QUOTE(Zugzwang @ Dec 24 2006, 11:49 AM)
The reason you walk around the circle clockwise is because that's the path the sun appears to take throughout the year on the horizon. Clockwise motion in rituals is sometimes called sunwise because of this. This is a life-affirming movement, for want of a better phrase. The eastern quadrant is where the sun rises every day, bringing new light.
Anti-clockwise movement is sometimes called widdershins, I believe. I'm unsure if this is supposed to be in correspondence with the movement of the black sun through the sky during the year or not. The western quadrant is where the sun sets, bringing the night.
If you're elsewhere in the universe this may be reversed, it depends on local conditions!
Greetings Zugzwangm,
I don't think I agree with this assessment.
First of all, the sun's path along the horizon is not circular. It oscillates from a northern extreme (June solstice) to a southern extreme (December solstice) never traveling more than 47 degrees. I think by "movement along the horizon" what your are referring to is the apparent path of the sun along the ecliptic which moves from Aries to Taurus to Gemini, etc. in an anti-clockwise manner for the northern hemisphere. This is the coordinate system used by astrologers as well as one of the coordinates used by modern astronomers.
Or it could be the apparent path of the sun around the celestial pole. In the northern hemisphere the north celestial pole is above the horizon and the sun's motion is from east to west; hence anti-clockwise for an individual looking at the pole. In the southern hemisphere the southern celestial pole is above the horizon and the sun's motion is also from east to west, but is seen as clockwise for an individual looking at the pole.
It seems like if there was an astronomical reason for the clockwise motion of the LBRP, it would be reverse to what people here are saying. Anti-clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere, and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere. But things get tricky at equatorial latitudes since both the north and south celestial poles are even to the horizon. If you look to the southern pole, the sky and sun appear to rotate in a clockwise manner and if you look north the sky and sun rotate in a counter-clockwise manner. So it basically depends on which direction you are looking.
In sum, I don't think one can argue a hemisphere-based version of the LBRP based on any astronomical/ observational reality. I frequently travel between both hemispheres and use the LBRP successfully in the traditional clockwise motion.
Note:
I've been thinking about this further and there is a possible correlation to clockwise movement in the northern hemisphere if the perspective is from the north celestial pole looking down onto a location in the northern hemisphere. In this this hypothetical perspective, the sun will indeed appear to move in a clockwise manner and the opposite is true for the southern hemisphere (south celestial pole perspective). But there does not seem to be any logical reasoning for taking this perspective since from this location it becomes apparent that the earth is rotating around the sun and thus clockwise or anti-clockwise becomes irreverent.
This post has been edited by Faustopheles: Dec 25 2006, 03:47 AM
Lbrp Ritual, is there any differences in respect of the hemispheres?
mystick Lbrp Ritual Jul 11 2006, 01:13 AM
Jul 11 2006, 01:13 AM
