Orionids Archives - Owl Medicine: Shamanic Healing

Orionid Bummer

I admit it; I dropped the ball this year. Tonight, starting right about now (just before midnight – or perhaps closer to 1:00 a.m) and extending into the wee hours of the morning, the Earth will be traveling through the dirtiest part of the tail of Halley’s Comet. That means that the greatest display of meteors created thusly will be visible at that rather inconvenient time – and if I’d been thinking ahead, I would’ve mentioned them last night. As it is, I’m stuck with writing about my Orionid Bummer.

I’ve written about these beauties before. The reason why they’re called ‘Orionids’ is because they appear to be originating in the night sky from the constellation Orion. But, of course, that’s just an illusion, as they are actually teeny tiny little bits of debris – some as small as a grain of sand – impacting our atmosphere at such great speed that they burn up in a dramatic flair that actually lingers a bit due to their distinctive composition. Indeed, it’s the lingering flourescent effects that make the Orionids distinctive from the usually more numerous Perseids, in August, and Geminids in December.

Early Heads Up

Indeed, just so I don’t drop the ball again two months from now, I want to urge you all to mark your calendars for December 13-14, 2020. This is when the Geminids will be at their peak this year. And because the peak of the Geminids, like tonight’s Orionids, will be cascading through the atmosphere very close to a new moon, then our view of them should be spectacular. Assuming there’s no cloud cover, of course.

But all is not lost. Technically, we’ll be traveling through Halley’s Comet’s detritus until November 7^th. So while we may not be privy to 20 per hour, which is the upper end of the number of meteors usually spotted at the height of the Orionids, we may very well spot a couple good ones fairly easily over the next few nights. If we’re patient. And if the weather holds.

And I have to say, even the temperature outside is conducive to hanging out and staring at the cosmos for an hour or two. OK. I’ll admit it; there’s no way I’ll be spread out on the ground looking up for that long, even though that’s what’s recommended by the articles I’ve read.

The only way I would lay outside tonight after 1:00 a.m. and watch the sky for a couple of hours is if I were in a sleeping bag and intending to permit myself to fall asleep in the process.

Honestly, as I sit here writing about it, I feel sad that I’m not choosing to grab a sleeping bag and do just that. The simplicity and connection to the Earth that it promises seems like a great thing opportunity, especially in the midst of all the human-generated chaos swirling around us.

Pre-Orionid Sunset, 10/20/2020 – Photo: L. Weikel

Two Weeks From Tonight

Which reminds me. Two weeks from tonight, I doubt any of us will be thinking about laying outside and watching ‘shooting stars.’ I wonder what we’ll be experiencing.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been finding myself saturated with all of it. (Of course, I’m referring to politics and the crisis we’re facing as a country.) At this stage of the game, it’s essential for us to just stay the course and refrain from burning out. Do what we can in each moment and then consciously make an effort to slow ourselves down. After all, we don’t want to be like a piece of dust from Halley’s Comet, hitting the atmosphere at 148,000 miles an hour and flaring out.

We need to survive.

(T-402)

Halley’s Comet – Photo: space.com

Comet Detritus Alert

I want to get this post written as quickly as I can this evening because I’d like to heed my own alert. I’m hoping I’ll manage to see at least a couple ‘shooting stars’ this evening before I head to bed. Yes: I am posting a Comet Detritus Alert.

You’ve all probably seen the articles posted recently on social media that entreat us all to make sure not to miss this cosmic show. Here’s an interesting article on the subject too. So, yes, tonight is the best night to ‘catch a falling star’ for quite a while, but it’s definitely not the only night, and of course it’s not the only meteor shower we’ll enjoy this year.

From Whence Detritus?

Halley’s Comet. That’s the source of the little pieces of rock strewn in a path through which we pass, and which cause a magical light show twice a year now, in May and October.

What I find pretty intriguing is contemplating that I made a point of peering skyward in 1986, when Halley’s Comet came blowing thorough for the first time in 76 years. I was so excited! Hard for me to believe that it was 32 years ago already.

I remember recalling how I’d heard about ‘Halley’s Comet’ all my life. In fact, it is probably the comet we know best by name – it’s sort of the cliché name that most people think of when they think ‘comet.’

Halley’s Comet – Photo: cnet. com

The Real Deal

Weirdly, though, when we located the comet in the sky that night, it looked stationary! We could see, especially using binoculars, the ‘tail’ of the comet – but it didn’t appear to our naked eyes to be really moving through the sky.

I don’t know why it felt strange, but it did. It’s not as if other heavenly bodies are stationary – and yet I readily accept that they appear stationary. Even the moon – it’s moving. But it’s not as if my eyes can detect that movement.

I think it’s because of the comet’s tail. Because the splash of light trailing the main chunk of the comet literally looks like it is moving through space, it stands to reason that it shouldn’t appear stationary from our point of view.

And yet it does.

Tonight’s Display

Actually, we’ve already begun passing through the detritus left by the tail of the comet as it passed through our inner solar system 32 years ago. It takes us just over a month to pass through that space debris twice a year (in May and October). But tonight is when the debris is thickest, and thus the meteors raining down through our atmosphere should be the most active and impressive.

Even if it isn’t the primary event, it’s nevertheless a humbling experience to realize how short our little lives here are when compared to celestial cycles such as this.

I Remember…

I remember making a point of looking for the famous Halley’s Comet when it passed by. It was in February of 1986, and the air was cold and had a bite to it, and the night sky was that midnight blue that is peculiar to deep winter.

I remember waking little Karl up so he could look at it too. Seeing Halley’s Comet is often thought of as a ‘once in a lifetime’ activity, since it shows up only every 75-76 years. But I remember specifically trying to simply explain to my little boy that he might be one of the lucky people who would actually be able to say they’d seen this amazing occurrence twice.

Karl was four and a half years old when Halley’s Comet last made its appearance. And yes, it was anticlimactic precisely because we couldn’t see it streaking across the sky. My son was decidedly not ‘wowed’ by the spectacle.

Nevertheless, I loved imagining him seeing it again when he was 79 years old or so – certainly not an outrageous dream – and telling his grandchildren how his mother, their great grandmother, dragged him out of bed so he could witness an event – twice – that’s only supposed to be a ‘once in a lifetime’ experience.

(T-767)