Vernal Equinox Ceremony

The Clifton Improvement Association invites the public to experience the sun rise over the sea on the morning of the spring equinox, Tuesday March 20 at 6:46 am at the inspiring Sun Circle of Swampscott and Marblehead’s Beach Bluff Park. The Sun Circle is a ‘henge’ or ring created by local sculptor Bruce Greenwald to point out the position of the sun rise throughout the year - particularly the position of the sun at the solstices and equinoxes. Observers will gather with poems and songs, visitors and neighbors, to experience the semi-annual sight of the sun rising between the pair of columns which mark due east. 

Gongmaster Don Orne will lead the ceremony, assisted by Astronomer Jim Keating, Sculptor Bruce Greenwald and CIA President Lynn Nadeau, each adding brief comments and explanations which will connect the observance of the equinox with science, art, love and the mysteries of the universe. The equinox is particularly striking in this location as the sun will rise in the east through the paired columns of basalt.