The Spiritual Importance of the Germanic Solstice

 

     The celebrations and feasts of a people not only reflect his spititual and religious life, but at the same time, and interwoven with it, they reflect the height of a people´s spititual and cultural existence. All popular feasts in the North (northern Europe), in their origins, in their meaning and in their substantiation go back to the course of the year, which they fit into well, in an organic and rhythmic way. Far more than we “modern” people of today, our ancestors felt united with the great forces of nature.  They were aware of its divine laws of life and knew how to deal with them. But it is in the nature itself of things that our ancestors were much more dependent on the course of the year and its’ seasonal changes than we are. A clear and methodical division of the year, a “calendar”, was a must for a people of farmers and sailors.

 

      When now, at midsummer, at “the time of the height of life”, the great “high time of the year” (as Georg Stammler put it) solstice fires burn, all this happens due to our NEW awakening of that spirit already present at and living in our ancestors: The deep-rooted inner urge to honour the divine forces of nature in an edifying manner. Thus, in their feasts, at the same time, they celebrated, open-hearted and pious, the manifestations of that creative force and its eternal laws, organizing and animating this world of ours finding its highest incarnation in the sun and its course. The sunborn fire and its forces thus became part of them as well as the symbol of the beneficial vital power of the sun itself. Not the flames consuming the victim, but flames of a bright and loud YES to this great divine order of the universe, an order to be realized and to be lived with was the meaning of their lives. “The Germanic peoples were men near to the earth and near to the sky. Even before the renaissance of the natural sciences in Europe they had been good observers of nature and the sky, people worthy of their ancestors who mankind does owe a great deal of their knowledge of the stars to.”(J. Hogrebe)  On their own they found out how to discover and how to use the four cardinal points, how to observe and measure the stars and their course, the points and the time of rising and setting, and how to calculate that before-hand. They found their own, astronomically exact calculation and division of time, the calendar.

 

      Already in the language proves to be one of the documents of the Germanic astronomy – the four nominations of north, east, south, west – are of Germanic origin, and are acknowledged all over the world. This Germanic image and knowledge of the four cardinal quadrants originated in prehistoric times as a result of the systematic observation of the sky. Only by that knowledge was it possible to leave the coastal waters and to dare out to the open seas! “Thus navigation is part of applied mathematics”, Hogrebe rightly states. We have known of the bold and long seafaring to Iceland, to Greenland, to America (first) discovered by them, sailings without a compass, which had been a riddle for very long times, but had now been clearly solved by the research work of our days. The Germanic peoples “created” these technical and nautical-astronomical conditions for their seafaring by their own without any influence of a “higher culture” in the Mediterranean area – i.e. an almost exact compass-card, based on a very exact knowledge of the course of the sun and its position in the different longitudes and latitudes: “…. Where they drew the sharpminded and true conclusions as is proved by the report of the “Vinland” sailing. (Hogrebe)

 

      The report of the important Greek astronomer Pytheas who visited Norway about 33 B.C. ran as follows: “The natives showed us where the sun set”. (O.S.Reuter III, 325). The Roman history writer Prokop, about 550 A.D., wrote in his “War against the Goths” about Norway and the 40-day long polar night, and how the Northmen calculated the days based on the orbits of the moon and the stars: “As long as 35 days of this long night are over, some are spent on top of the highest mountains – such is the custom – from where they somehow see the sun and tell the people down in the valleys that in five-days time the sun will appear again. This merry message is celebrated by the all the folk when the kark night still lasts. And that is the greatest feast for the inhabitants of Thule.” Conclusion: as a custom – one might even say “by profession” – observers, “experts”, at a given time are sent on top of the highest mountains to announce the exact return of the sun!  But the meaning of those oberservations and calculations is to very exactly define the beginning and end of the solar year, i.e. the enumeration of the 365 days of the year.

 

     In 930, the solar year became Iceland´s exclusive chronology. But in the troubled era of establishing settlements there, the 365th day had been forgotten, though all the northern Germanic peoples had tried to bring a 53rd week into harmony with the course of the sun, though the knowledge of this day 365 had been proved for Norway already 400 years ago. When they soon realized, already by 950, that the course of the sun did not begin at / correspond with the first official summer day, Thorstein Surt (Thorstein the Black), at the “Allthing”, proposed the reform of the calendar. His reform was not a compromise with the “Julian calendar”, but the effort to bring it into harmony with the position of the sun. (See a.Thule, vol. XXIII, p. 46ff.) This historically unique reform of the calendar does still exist in the Iceland of today.

 

     Back in Iceland´s “heathen times” at the end of the 10th century when christianity came to the island, Oddi Helgason, later namend “Star-Oddi” by the people, made his famous observations and measurements / range findings (?) of the highest position(s) of the sun and the length of the twilight during the different months. It is still the era of the insufficient “Julian calendar” before the improvements realized by the “Gregorian calendar, when this talented and intelligent Icelander made his observations and mea-surements. They were made in real arithmetical lines that still nowadays surprise us by their exactitude not only as far as the true “yearpoints” (the two turning points and evenesses) are concerned, but also by the profound searching of the underlying meaning behind those laws of nature. Oddi always started his obsrervations and measurements at the astronomically correct date of the winter solstice. – At the same time the Christian Middle Ages were still working with the “Julian calendar” full of errors.

 

     We have proved so far that our ancesters could have done without the “Julian calendar” as they really did and kept their old one for a long time. The calendar worked out themselves, astronomically speaking, was much more exact. The same is true as to the later reform of the “Gregorian calendar”. They certainly would have been able to develop such a calendar on their own based on their astonishing knowledge and their faculties, and they were on the right track as the “Edda-Schöpfungslieder” (Songs of the “Creation””) tell us. “The chronology of the Germanic peoples was not taken over from the Romans or the Greeks, but from the sky and its divine order itself, i.e. it was based on observation.” (Reuter)

 

      The adjustment / fixation of the Germanic chronology, like that of the place and the direction(s), goes back to the observation of the sky. The chronology was fixed on the top of mountains and hills based on the position findings (same direction, same fixation) concerning the ups and downs of the winter and summer solstices. Whilst our modern chronology starts with the Roman New Year feast, the Germanic year was the time between the two solstices. Old Nordic manuscripts show that the solstice generally was regarded as a day defining the chronology as well as the time for the “Allthing” (general assemby of all free people). The directions so to say served as the dial-plate / clock-face of the “big watch” of the tides. Everywhere in the life of the Germanic peoples, in their religion and in their customs, you can see that position finding, that adjustment. Those adjustments based on the solstice point will finally be dealt with. There is a lot of proof in the territories where the Germanic peoples had lived: in the saga of the creation, for a farmer´s home and the king´s hall, for the village, for the “thing” hill, for the tombs and for prayers. This position finding developed by its own, and it does not lack a certain fascination to note that the west-east position findings of the Christian churches do follow those old Germanic principle(s). Nothing equal is found in the Christian religion. If the “Church” had had the intention of an inclination towards the “Holy Land”, the direction of the position findings of the churches must have been south-east. In fact the position findings of the Christian churches correspond to the Germanic astronomy.

 

     And even nowadays those holy places on Germanic territory, those “solar monuments”, those “cult places”, are still clearly positioned and recognizable. The stone circles of Stonehenge, England, point into the direction of the summer solstice in June. Even today people from near and far come there on solstice day to wait for the sun to rise. The “Süntelstein” (Stone of Sünteln) near Vehrte, distrcit of Osnabrück, Lower Saxony, has a similar position as the “Thing” hill at Värjö, Smäland, Sweden. This position of the “Thing” hill had been proved to be the usual one in the Germanic territories. It is probable that the “Johannissteine” (John´s Stones) at Osnabrück are adjusted to the “Great Bear”. This place is of a special importance as it gives the real position of the “Great Bear” when, at the the time of solstice, with the sun rising you look north. The same is true for the “Rygaard Stone”, Denmark; which is equally supplied with the “Great Bear”, and which on top shows the solar wheel.  A  ”model example” of those adjustments are the clear stone circles at Odry, Tucheler Heide, West Prussia: the main directions of the stone circles go with the summer and winter solstices as well as with the four directions! And a last example the proudest and for us the most important of these stone monuments from prehistoric times are the “Externsteine” (Extern Stones), near Vlotho on the Weser, East Westfalia.  The “stone tower” with its solar peer (spy) hole is one of the most excellent “solar observatories” to have existed in the Germanic speaking world! Its old position findung / place axis has exactly been adjusted to the solstice point (summer solstice in June). This solar observatory allows “a unique possibility of observing the rising sun at the summer solstice.” (R.Müller) The whole room with its circular hole in the stone wall is not adjusted to the east, but to the north-east where at the summer solstice the sun rises. And it is also adjusted to the “rising moon” at the time of its most northern appearance in the sky. There, apart from the solstice celebrations in the old times, calendar observations of the wandering sun had been made. You can hardly imagine a better suited place for such activities. Here, at the “Externsteine” already in the old Germanic times the summer and winter solstices had been celebrated because the place offered everything needed for lots of people to come together. People continued to come together to celebrate the solstices even up to the middle of 20th century. Follows the report of one participant: “I remember that 60 years ago – the text was written in 1904 – when I was in my early childhood, it was the custom among the “valiant” members” of the large farms to make the daylong journey to those old sacred stones at “Johanni” (St. John´s Day) to celebrate the rising sun at the time of the summer solstice. We children were taken with to (be able to) preserve this old custom for the generations to come. – In later times, even though it was hard to travel there, I often went there to celebrate the rising sun at those “Stones” (Externsteine). – W. Teudt, in “Germanische Heiligtümer” (Germanic Sacred Places), 4th edition, 1936, p. 52.

     The way of the sun in the course of the year gave the Germanic peoples their calendar: the tropics, the days, the moons – the “solar year” with the seasons so important for the farmers. They owe the discovery of the “windrose”, the compass of the Nordic sailors, to the observations and measurements of the course of the sun. Those extraordinary discoveries are for us the proud proof of the intellectual height of the Germanic North. Thus not only the “complete independence of the Germanic astronomy from the southern and eastern antique civilizations has been proven” (Reuter), but from that knowledge arises our demand: “The occupation with the questions of the astronomy of the Germanic prehistorical and early historical times will offer profound and beautiful insights that should not be left out.” (Hogrebe) Thus as well the Germanic astronomy becomes an important source for the religious and cultural histories of the old Germanic North: In those days religion and knowledge still were in coincidence / did not yet contradict each other. “Solar observatories” thus could become “holy/sacred solar places”, places of serious observation of the sun as well as places of merry solstice celebrations. Knowledge based observation, pious confidence and a clear-reasoning mind became the origin of those old Germanic solstice celebrations. A clear mind, knowledge and comprehension was an inner must for those people of Nordic blood: To incorporate into the great order of the universe, and to draw their own laws of life from nature, to bring their lives into harmony with the eternal order of creation. That knowledge and that inspiration /intention gave birth to their whole religious life and the feats of the solar year. Thus these solstice celebrations are the expression of a superior, self-assured world-view of their own, of an insight into the laws of the universe, of an ideology and of a religion based on nature.

 

Hans Riegelmann, in “Nordische Zeitung” (Nordic Magazine), 2 / 1967, pp. 21 – 23.

Translated into English by Günter Deckert, Weinheim/Germany, and Duncan Edmister

 

 

Some Literature:

 

Otto Sigfrid Reuter: Germanische Himmelskunde (Germanic Astronomy), 1934

Rolf Müller: Himmelskundliche Ortung auf nordisch-germanischem Boden (Astronomical Position Findings  in the Germanic Territories), 1936

Joseph Hogrebe: Himmelskunde bei den Germanen (Astronomy and the Germanic Peoples), 1936

Wilhelm Teudt: Germische Heiligtümer (Germanic Holy / Sacred Places), 1936, 4th edition