Tracking the Fall Equinox – Sundial Project

I was unable to get any readings the following days due to cloud cover.

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Homesteading Wife, Unschooling Mom and perpetual Bible student, continually taking the road less traveled. (@messyanic)
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6 Responses to Tracking the Fall Equinox – Sundial Project

  1. Brian farrell says:

    I am still not clear on what epiphany you, or like Stephen on Scott’s site, have had. No one seems to express a concise summation of what they see that changes moon observances to solar based.
    Just trying to understand.

    • Isha says:

      Brian, the Hebrew word for “year” (“shaneh”) comes from a root that means “to repeat, do again”. Genesis 1 tells us “the greater light” is for the rule of the day; we understand that to be the sun. When looking for a “repeat” (year) of “days”, we watch what the sun is doing. It runs a course that lasts about 365 days before it begins to repeat itself.

      Genesis 1 tells us the lesser light is for the rule of the night; most understand that to be the moon. The problem with looking to the moon for a “repeat” of “nights” is that unlike the sun, which rises and sets *every* day, the moon rises and sets throughout the day *and* the night. It leads us astray.

      Also, the moon when it repeats its course, it does not line up exactly with the sun each time. It falls behind. For example, the moonrise of a particular phase may happen at 2:20 PM on a particular day. But when that particular phase repeats itself the moonrise will be earlier in the day, 29-30 days later. This is why there is a 13th “month” intercalated every 3 years or so with a luni-solar reckoning. (The sun travels its full course in 365 days, but the moon travels its full course 12.33 times in that span.)

  2. Brian farrell says:

    Thank you for your reply. It was such a great start for me, but seemed to stop short as to the next step in understanding how we translate this solar based perspective to determining when the commanded observances are.

    • Isha says:

      It seems that according to Scripture, there are 12 “chodesh” (aka “renewals”) in a year. I’m not sure how exactly each chodesh is determined, but the sun gives a sign to mark each of the four seasons (what we commonly refer to as the equinoxes and solstices).

      I’m thinking there are three chodesh in each quarter, but like I said, I don’t know exactly how to determine the start of each one. I’m thinking the positioning of the stars has something to do with it since there are 12 constellations that make their way across the sky throughout the year.

      Loosely this is how the chodesh would fall out over the seasons of the year:
      1st chodesh = early spring
      2nd chodesh = mid spring
      3rd chodesh = late spring
      4th chodesh = early summer
      5th chodesh = mid summer
      6th chodesh = late summer
      7th chodesh = early fall
      8th chodesh = mid fall
      9th chodesh = late fall
      10th chodesh = early winter
      11th chodesh = mid winter
      12th chodesh = late winter

  3. Brian farrell says:

    Thanks again.
    Still waiting on my epiphany.
    I lurk here and on ProProph looking for something that kinda pulls it all together. A consensus from scripture that aligns the moedim(?) with a way to determine when they are. When we say repeat, does that imply falling on the same day of the week annually, and do the days of the week follow, or reset each “new year”?
    Is this obscure to me because I’m missing a piece of the puzzle, or is this understanding not given to some?

  4. Bat says:

    Great job on the videos! 😀

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