Talk:Cross-quarter day
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[edit] Dates of the Solstices and Equinoxes
[|The US Naval Obseravtory publishes "the" national standard data for the dates and times of the solstices and equinoxes. The times given there are in UT (Universal Time -similar to GMT) so they read 5 hours ahead of what clocks are reading in the US's Eastern Standard Time or 4 hours during Eastern Daylight Saving Time. Neopagan publications have been mis-stating the dates of the solstices and equinoxes for generations now, probably just by copying from each other and being befuddled by the seemingly ambiguous dates they find when referencing the astronomical data. The following values represent the actual/correct dates based on USA time (EST/EDT).
MARCH EQUINOX: usually March 20th; occasionally the 21st; NEVER the 24th or 25th...
JUNE SOLSTICE: usually June 21st; occasionally the 20th...
SEPTEMBER EQUINOX: usually Sept. 23rd; occasionally the 22nd; NEVER (never) the 20th, 21st 24th, 25th...
DECEMBER SOLSTICE: usually Dec. 21st; occasionally the 22nd
August 1 hardly marks the start of autumn so I would say these are all shifted by a season!
Yes, indeed. Cross-Quarter Days mark the middle of the seasons. It is the Quarter days (solstices and equinoxes) which mark the beginnings of seasons.
- Cross-quarter days mark the start of traditional seasons, but the middle of astronomical seasons. November, for example, is the start of traditional winter, but in the middle of astronomical autumn. Which makes more sense depends on what part of the world you're in---in some parts of the world it makes sense for November to be mid-autumn, while in other parts of the world, November is decidedly wintry. --Delirium 09:22, 16 February 2007 (UTC)
[edit] British Isles part of northern Europe?
Looking at the article Northern Europe it seems the definition is ambiguous: the British Isles may or may not be included. I think it's worth emphasising that they are included, since the term "cross-quarter day" is a British term, and many Brits would think of countries like Sweden, Finland and Norway when reading the article as it currently stands, and might assume that the cross-quarter days are purely an imported concept. While the UK and Ireland are now part of the EU, they have long been considered somewhat separate from Europe, or "the Continent". Do you mind if I add those four words back? Fuzzypeg★ 22:29, 16 April 2008 (UTC)
- Maybe it would be better to list the countries - removes any ambiguity... Bardcom (talk) 23:44, 16 April 2008 (UTC)
- I just added back British Isles, and suddenly realised that actually wasn't what you meant. ("British Isles" isn't a country!) If you want to list individual countries I'd be happy with that. And feel free to revert me if you wish until we sort out what wording we want. I wasn't trying to be pushy... honest. Fuzzypeg★ 22:15, 17 April 2008 (UTC)
- No worries - there's no panic or hurry on this. If you look at the wikipedia article on Northern Europe, you can see that it does include the British Isles, etc. If we agree to list the countries instead, what about the list of Sweden, Norway, Finland, United Kingdom (or British Islands), and Ireland. Have I missed anybody? Bardcom (talk) 23:06, 17 April 2008 (UTC)
- I don't agree with this change. British Isles and Scandinavia is more succinct and reads better. I'll revert this until we have wider discussion. 86.27.230.177 (talk) 21:08, 27 April 2008 (UTC)
- No worries - there's no panic or hurry on this. If you look at the wikipedia article on Northern Europe, you can see that it does include the British Isles, etc. If we agree to list the countries instead, what about the list of Sweden, Norway, Finland, United Kingdom (or British Islands), and Ireland. Have I missed anybody? Bardcom (talk) 23:06, 17 April 2008 (UTC)
- I just added back British Isles, and suddenly realised that actually wasn't what you meant. ("British Isles" isn't a country!) If you want to list individual countries I'd be happy with that. And feel free to revert me if you wish until we sort out what wording we want. I wasn't trying to be pushy... honest. Fuzzypeg★ 22:15, 17 April 2008 (UTC)
I'm happy with individual countries as suggested by Bardcom. Is Iceland in the list? (I honestly don't know.) Is Iceland part of Scandinavia? Listing individual countries avoids any confusion. Fuzzypeg★ 22:15, 28 April 2008 (UTC)
