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Pagans celebrate solstice Photo by Steve Johnson Bigger and brighter: The full moon rose over Roxy Anne Peak (left) and Mount McLoughlin just before sunset Tuesday in this view from Cady Road, south of Jacksonville. Brighter moon adds to annual pre-Christian customs, rituals By BILL KETTLER It wasn't just your imagination that the moon seemed to shine more brightly last night. Two celestial events converged Tuesday to turn up the lunar lantern, and you'll have a second chance to see the show tonight, if fog blocked your view. The moon turned full within hours of its closest approach to Earth since 1930. The combined effect made the moon appear about 14 percent brighter and seven percent larger. "It won't be much different on Wednesday," said Jim Todd, planetarium director at Oregon Museum of Science and Industry in Portland. Moonrise If you missed Tuesday's dramatic moonrise, you can try again today. The moon rises at 5:09 p.m. in the Rogue Valley, according to the U.S. Naval Observatory. To get above the valley fog, find a perch at least 2,500 feet above sea level. The effect of the full moon will be most spectacular on snow, said Jim Todd, planetarium director at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry in Portland. The convergence happened within hours of the winter solstice. That made it an auspicious evening for people who mark the season of long nights with rites that predate the Christian era. Pagans and druids of many stripes gathered Tuesday to mark the shortest day of the year and celebrate the sun's return. Many of the pagan ceremonies featured customs that are seen in the modern observance of Christmas. Elrond d'Arsenault, of Ashland, said he and his pagan friends planned to mark the solstice with a feast, plenty of candles, songs and an exchange of presents. "We eat and drink and have a tree and wreaths and lights," said d'Arsenault, who goes by another name in the workaday world, where he works as a mortgage agent. He said many pagans conceal their spiritual persuasion to avoid harassment. Winter began at 11:44 p.m. Tuesday, when the sun reached its lowest point in the sky. Near Grants Pass, a group of Druids staged an overnight vigil to welcome the sun's return in the morning. Druid observances of the solstice typically include offerings to ancestors, nature spirits and the Earth Mother, said Art, a Grants Pass man who declined to give his last name. "We have a reciprocal relationship with the deities," he said. "We give to them and they give to us." Art noted that many of the symbols associated with Christmas came from the pre-Christian Norse, Celtic and Germanic people. Many of those people worshipped trees and decorated their homes with greenery during the winter. d'Arsenault said there are more pagans in Southern Oregon and Northern California than many people might realize. About 20 groups of pagans in the Ashland area mark the seasonal changes with rituals, and there are probably at least 300 to 400 active pagans living between Roseburg and Redding, Calif. d'Arsenault serves as a spokesperson for the Jefferson Index, a group that provides common ground for pagans to meet and exchange ideas. He defined a pagan as anyone who follows a spiritual path other than the five major faiths: Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu, Jewish. Many of the pagan traditions honor an Earth Mother goddess, rather than a Father god. d'Arsenault said some people are attracted to the pre-Christian traditions because they seek a personal spiritual experience without harshly defined gender roles. "People are looking for something that's earth-oriented," he said. "Maybe it's a rebellion against technology, or against religions that have lot of rules." The pagans marked their rituals under a celestial convergence that has happened six times since 1866. What makes this convergence unusual is the three events' close proximity: the solstice occurred at 11:45 p.m. Tuesday; the moon came closest to earth today at 2:44 a.m. and the moon turned precisely full at 9:32 a.m. today. The three events happened within 23 hours in 1991, and 20 hours in 1866, said Roger W. Sinnott, associate editor of Star and Sky magazine. Todd, the OMSI planetarium director, said most people probably wouldn't really notice the moon's slightly brighter face. He noted that the first full moon of the new year will offer a far more dramatic spectacle: a total lunar eclipse will occur on Jan. 20, 2000. "That will be far more spectacular in my mind," he said, "than what happened Tuesday." (The Associated Press contributed to this story.) Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA