Fragallia

Pirts day

December 15, 2026 · computed for Rīga

Every layer is read at this time; sunrise and sunset are the chosen day's.

Waxing moon 36% illuminated

As the moon waxed, strength was thought to be building. A pirts visit in this phase was taken more for enjoyment and vitality than for deep cleansing — a good time for warmth and company.

1 5 10 15 20 25 30
8

The phoenix

Energy overspend Anti-phase: day 22

Cleansing and repentance. The characteristic practice was cleansing by fire, from a bonfire down to a single candle.

Was favoured
  • + Fasting, cleansing the gut
  • + Preparing herbal remedies
  • + Travelling, moving house
Was avoided
  • − Indulgence, egotism
  • − Carelessness near water
  • − A poor day to fall ill
Symbol
a phoenix, a casket of jewels
Body
the stomach
Stones
garnet, chrysolite, morion

Health — a divinatory system, not medicine

A diagnosis was said to be hard to make today, and illness could drag on — a poor day to fall ill.

Moon in Pisces water

Dreams, intuition, mercy, art. The border between yourself and others thins — it is easy to take on someone else's mood. A good time for meditation and music; a poor one for agreements and alcohol.

Latvian folk tradition

a separate layer · by moon phase, not by numbered day
  • What is sown on the old moon does not grow; on the new moon it grows “twisting upward.”
  • This is the time of planting and gathering.

Source: Pēteris Šmits, Latviešu tautas ticējumi. Not the numbered-day corpus above.

♄︎ Saturn 5. of the night

Planetary week

a third, independent system

Tuesday · Mars ♂︎. Action, sport, conflict, surgery. There is much energy and it wants an outlet: physical effort, repairs, the garden, casting off surplus. Whoever lies idle on their side today feels poorly by evening. A good day to stand your ground and to finish what needs pressure. A poor one for delicate talks and matters of love. The shadow side is quarrels, haste, injury.

Current planetary hour: Saturn ♄︎ — hour 5 of the night.

Limits, discipline, ordering, closing off. Slowness is an advantage here: archives, debts, repairs, fasting, casting off the old, anything where you must say “no.” A poor hour for beginnings and celebrations. The shadow side is heaviness of heart and fear.

♈︎ ♉︎ ♊︎ ♋︎ ♌︎ ♍︎ ♎︎ ♏︎ ♐︎ ♑︎ ♒︎ ♓︎ Meteņi Lieldienas Ūsiņi Jāņi Māras Miķeļi Mārtiņi Ziemassvētki ☉︎ 6.8 h

The year wheel

Last: Mārtiņi
Next: Ziemassvētki, in 7 days

86% through this eighth of the year

The sun

Sign
♐︎ in Sagittarius, 23.9° fire
Day of the solar month
day 24
Next turning point
the winter solstice, in 7 days
Day length
6.8 h · sunrise 08:55 · sunset 15:41

In Sagittarius the sun rode low and the days grew short, yet tradition held that inner fire, not outer warmth, carried a person through this stretch toward the solstice. It was a season for journeys of the mind if not the body — for looking ahead rather than settling in. A restless spirit now was taken as natural, not a fault.

The day, read as one

The Phoenix was a day of cleansing and repentance, above all by fire — from a bonfire to a single candle — when fasting and preparing remedies were favoured and carelessness near water was avoided. Tuesday's Mars also favoured casting off the surplus, while the Moon in Pisces softened the day with dreams and mercy. The waxing moon and Latvian folk lore spoke of growth and gathering, a different mood from the Phoenix's purging. The sun in Sagittarius, a season of inner fire, sat well with the Phoenix's candle.

Generated with Claude · cached for this day and updated when the corpus changes

Your lunar birth day

computed on your device · only the day (1–30) is used, never the date

This is folk and divinatory material, not health advice. It is written in the past tense on purpose — "was avoided", "was considered" — and describes what tradition held, not what you should do. A pirts visit is a real load on the heart and circulation; judge heat, duration and frequency for your own body.