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Aphelion Day
"One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious."
~ "Psychology and Alchemy", Carl Jung, 1944
This tartan, shown in white and black, draws from the heraldic tradition of Armorican Brittany, whose ancient name - Armor, meaning “Land of the Sea” - was attributed to the Celts but may predate their language entirely. Here, the term serves both as identity and essence, grounding the design in a sense of place older than memory.
In this pattern, white signifies day and black signifies night, charting the Earth's journey from perihelion to aphelion—from the closest to the farthest point in its orbit around the sun. As the months progress from the darkest days of winter to the longest days of summer, the shifting widths of the tartan’s lines mirror the changing balance of light and darkness. In doing so, the design becomes a visual meditation on time’s continuity and variation—on permanence, fragility, and transience.
Night, in this symbolic language, is inert and void of meaning, offering only resistance and distress. Day, by contrast, reaches toward light and understanding, justifying action. It begins at the center of the design and radiates outward, instilling movement and dynamism. Thus, the tartan honors both the collective identity of Celto-Armorican heritage and the materialist, secular civilization that emerges from human reason and order.
The Breton title, Heolnezva ha Materi, Kelt hag Armor—“Aphelion and Matter, Celt and Armorican”—underscores this philosophical foundation. At aphelion, the body turns away from the sun yet symbolically reaches back toward its source—toward light, toward matter. In the ongoing tension between the rational and the irrational, this tartan marks a celebration of reason’s triumph. It is ideally worn during the days surrounding aphelion in early July and perihelion in early January—thresholds of cosmic balance and human reflection. 🤍 🖤 🤍 ☀️
Designed by Berner Gwihur Tramoriad, this tartan and it's companion tartan with the colourways reversed has the following register notes:
The design is shown in white and black following the heraldic history of Armoric Brittany whose most ancient known name, Armor, attributed to the celts, means 'Land of sea'. Here the term is taken as a noun or adjective. It may be more ancient than the Celtic language which has claimed it for its own. In the pattern, white represents the day and black the night. The months with the shortest days and longest nights give way to the longest days and shortest nights between the perihelion and the aphelion of the earth’s orbit round the sun. The width of the lines that represents them grows or lessens as one year gives way to another. The continuity and variation of time are shown in this way. We are essentially talking about permanence and fragility, transience. The night is inert, empty of meaning. Symbolically and politically, we can expect nothing from it except to come up against an obstacle, except distress. In contrast, the day tends towards light, comprehension justifying action. It begins at the centre of every design ands spreads out to its edges. Visually the result is movement, dynamism. In this respect, this tartan is dedicated to the civility of people in relation to their collective Celto-Armoric identity, as well as to the materialistic, atheist, secular community and the civilisation that results from it. The breton title means 'Aphelion and matter, Celt and Armorican or Armor'. In the language of symbolism and philosophy, the body submitted to the aphelion turns towards the source of light, matter. Thus in the struggle between the rational victor and the irrational vanquished, this tartan should ideally be worn between the 3rd, 4th, 5th or 6th July and the 3rd, 4th, 5th or 6th January, the dates varying a little according to the year.
To keep track of aphelion and perihelion during the year, click the artist's conception of the light year turning to dark.