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Interesting post, Faldage. I had no clue on the sunsets. BobYB, great question, I'd love to know if there's any connection. Meanwhile, any of y'all heard about the solstice "rolling blackout" that folks are proposing to protest energy waste? (get thee behind me, Dubya). The idea is to eschew electricity between 7 and 10 pm, local time -- starts with y'all, I guess, MaxQ. Now, if I get one more E-mail about this, I will scream. But the idea is cool. 
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This is just a guess but...
In promoting Christianity to those with Pagan faiths, early Christian missionaries would plan for a Christian celebration at the time of popular Pagan rituals. At least, this is one theory why Christmas Day falls when it does - it is half way between the 'actual' day of Christ's birth and the (at one time) largest Pagan celebration of the year. Thus over a few years, the missionaries would change the belief system of a group by promoting their God as supreme, while being careful not to be offensive to the original beliefs. With the increasing influence of the Christian lifestyle, the original Pagan celebrations were all but forgotten. And we'll ignore the odd bit of bribery, torture and persecution of non-believers along the way. Naturally, the equinoxes and solstices would have been important days in a Pagan society more attuned to nature than we are today, and hence made likely targets for the early preachers of the Christian faith.
As to why two saints called John are involved ... I have no idea. I figure both these Johns are fairly important as far as saints go, and hence would have been matched to the larger Pagan festivals.
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Mars also happens be the closest to Earth it will be all year in conjunction with the solstice, and can be seen as a bright red star in the Eastern sky just after nightfall (at least in this Hemisphere). Anyone know the astrological implications of this? A few weeks back I got an E-mail chain letter about the Rolling Blackout on Solstice Eve to protest W. Bush's energy/environmental policies...it encouraged everyone to turn-off and unplug between 7-10p.m., and to light candles as a symbol of solidarity and as a ritual way of sending some positive energy towards the cause. Love the idea!...except here at a shore resort at the height of the summer tourist season I doubt our household's dimness will obfuscate the glare of all the boardwalk amusement and hotel lights...so I guess the U.S. East Coast inaugural motion for the blackout will have to begin across the marshes and back-bays on the immediate mainland. But I encourage everyone to join in and, at least, light a candle if they can to contribute to the thought-energy.  And I never knew my birthday, Dec. 27, was the Feast Day of St. John the Evangelist! I even went to Catholic school, but I never heard of that one! I do know, however, how I always used to get gipped out of parties and gifts being so near to Christmas.   Happy Solstice!...Especially for any of the Wiccan faith for whom it has extra-special meaning!
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and today's solar eclipse (Africa) is the first on the June solstice since 16xx (58?). Something else for the astrologers to worry about. As for the Druids, there are as many orders in Britain as there are Palestine Liberation organisations in "Life of Brian". I don't know what the relationships are between them. The Ancient Druid Order and the Ancient Order of Druids, the Order of Bards Ovates and Druids, and the British Druid Order. They all celebrate at Stonehenge but on different days round the solstice. The solstice itself is reserved for a public gathering mainly populated with what we call "New Age Travellers". It got out of hand a while back and was banned for many years, with annual pitched battles between some of the more violent demonstrators and the police. It was restarted in 1999, and so far, so good. Just a few drug arrests this year. I have never been to the festival, but Stonehenge is one of my all time favourite historical sites, up there with the Great Wall, the Pyramids and Abu Simbel, Lascaux caves. And Maverick, a virgin in Wales? a sheep than can run faster than a Welsh Shepherd perhaps Rod
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Dear Rod: With regard to Stonehenge, I have always wondered how the horizon could have been visible with the enormous trees that must have surrounded it.
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Dr. Bill wonders how the horizon could have been visible with the enormous trees that must have surrounded it.
If *I were building a large conglomeration of huge stones hauled from Who knows where and propped up by Who knows what means for the explicit purpose of determining the timing of great celestial events and there were a few trees blocking the view of the horizon that I required to make these determinations, I would cut down the trees.
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Bill, Stonehenge is on the top of a hill in an area with few trees. I don't know how long that part of Salisbury Plain has been like that, but I imagine they would have chopped down any close ones in line of sight, if only to keep themselves warm during the festivals. (Another complaint English Heritage have against the new age travellers is their use of any remaining scrub on their fires). A lsit of Stonehenge web links is available at http://scivis.net/pages/stonehenge.html along with some rather interesting homework assignments! Rod
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Dear Faldage: I would like to see you cut down one five foot thick oak with a bronze axe. And it would mean cutting thousands of trees. The pictures of Stonehenge that I have seen do not give the impression of being on a hill high enough to make seeing horizon possible But they would not have built an edifice requiring so much labor unless they could see horizon, or all the work would have been wasted.
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