At https://phys.org/news/2026-09-ancient-swedish-goths-accurate-calendars.html … here we learn that Iron Age Scandinavians, the so called Goths, had an accurate calendar. Why? In order to regulate the date of their Great Midwinter Sacrifice. This took place once in every 8 years. Why the 8 year time span?
Velikovskians might think in terms of the planet Venus but on this occasion it seems its all to do with the moon. The date of the sacrifice was defined by the full moon. To be exact, the full moon that takes place between January 28th and February 26th in the Gregorian calendar. Some assumptions may lie there but we have two lines of post holes stretching 2000 feet that provided the astronomical data point. One was aligned to the rising of the Sun between February 6th and 8th and the other to establish the full moon occurrence. The 8 year cycle, it is thought, was determined by the phases of the moon. One human and seven male domestic animals were sacrificed each day for 9 days = 72 of them. They were subsequently hung in a holy tree – somewhat akin to Odin. The author supposes the moon was a Gothic god, ignoring the implications of sacrifice and hanging on a tree. Odin’s tree seems to represent a comet – a well spread out comet phenomenon and possibly related to meteor streams with an origin in such a comet. Unusual auroral shape shifting may also take on a tree like formation. Why would you sacrifice to a benign body such as the moon? Comets, potentially, are far more deadly.
At https://phys.org/news/2026-09-mission-rendezvous-halley-comet.html … there is a plan on how to rendezvous with Comet Halley on its next passage through the solar system in 2061.