Wild Signs and Star Paths: Key #10, The Sky Map

This series is an exploration of the works of Tristan Gooley. I’ll document my efforts to learn to read nature’s signs. If you enjoy reading, I encourage you to support the author by purchasing a copy of Wild Sings and Star Paths (UK) or The Nature Instinct (US). I’m in no way affiliated with the author, nor do I profit from sales of the book.

Last Week’s Work

To observe the pink compass. The rising and setting sun casts a pink glow onto nearby clouds and treetops, even after it’s below the horizon.

New World

I corrected an error in the last essay in this series, where I stated that the pink compass is found opposite the sun. Not true. The brightest spots will be those closest to the sun. This one was easy to spot, and often dramatic. At a certain angle at sunrise, the black sky turns dark blue, which lightens and bleeds across the horizon until it passes to yellows and oranges and pinks on clouds near the sun, and finally a uniform pale blue with brightly lit clouds. In the evening, we see the blue turns to bands of pink and orange, narrow, converge on a single point, and disappear. It’s as if the sun were an extravagant king whose entourage arrives long before he does and takes some time to trail off in his passing. ( Read more... )