This year's winter solstice - an event that will occur on Tuesday, ready or not - will coincide with a full lunar eclipse - this hasn't been seen in 456 years; and is considered by some to ominous. There is a religious slant that apparently is more than metaphorical, if you can identify the current Mary. What is the omen, exactly - at least insofar as its heritage derives from the previous events (in 1554)? It certainly seems to be a 'gal thing' if you have a yin for history :-)
This celestial convergence holds significance for a number of cults and spiritualities that tap into the mysticism of the winter solstice, including Celts and Brits and assorted Wiccans - and the shortest day of the year is associated with the rebirth of the sun in many cultures going back to the Pharaohs. There is plenty of significance to these things in Catholicism as well, so it is not pure paganism. But if there is an present omen at all - it probably relates to religion in some way or another and to the feminine side. As for the last time around, Mary I (aka "Bloody Mary") had become Queen of England after beheading a few of her rivals, including the reigning Queen - formerly Lady Jane Grey (also known as "The Nine Days' Queen"). Bloody Mary is remembered for restoring England to Roman Catholicism after her Protestant brother, Edward VI had gone the other way. Those Tudors were 'bi' in many ways. In the process of establishing domestic tranquility, she ordered at least 300 Protestants burned at the stake. Her re-establishment of Catholicism was reversed by her successor and half-sister Elizabeth I, another 'bi'. Bloody Mary herself died childless at an early age - or else much of the subsequent history of the USA could have been much different. Another well-known Mary - aka 'Queen of Scots' was on the scene, having been regent since the age of one. She had actually been Queen of France as well for a few days, but alas - as omen would have it - she too lost her head and after spending the nearly half her life in prison. So there you have a few hints of the historical significance, in this winter solstice at the highest (or lowest) levels . at least insofar as the direct cultural heritage for the USA goes back through an important period in English history. And you thought we have high drama today in politics, Ha. It could be a stretch to find a real parallel today . unless one sees the tea-baggers as somehow the inheritors of the religious conservatism, epitomized in one or the other of the Marys. . think it's time to ponder that one over a bloody . no celery please.
