Mood: ‘Right Place, Wrong Time’ by Dr. John
Vernal Equinox
Ancient astronomy has been an interest of mine for so many years. It has fascinated me how almost every ancient civilization had some form of astral calendar, from the Medicine Wheel in Wyoming to Stonehenge in Great Britain to the orientation of the pyramids in Egypt and Central America.
The first records of the term vernal equinox come from around 1530. The word vernal means “of or relating to spring.” The word equinox comes from the Latin aequinoctium, meaning “the time of equal days and nights,” from equi-, meaning “equal,” and nocti-, meaning “night.”
Obviously, the turning of the Seasons is bringing us into Spring once more, as they have for time immemorial. For those of us closer to the Equator, this means 12 hours of day and 12 hours of night. Even in Alaska in is close to that, off by maybe 30 minutes. From here on out, at least in the Northern Hemisphere, we gain more daylight hours until June 20-21st when it slowly begins to go back the other way.
Cultural Celebrations
We literally lose something in the US by way of ‘celebration’. There are other interesting ways that this turning of the Season is celebrated elsewhere:
Nowruz is the Iranian/Arabic celebration of their New Year, ‘nowruz’ translating to ‘new day’. It is generally spent in improving the living conditions of a family from repairs to new paint. They share food at the hafsteen table with foods such as apples, signifying beauty; garlic, signifying health; vinegar, signifying patience; hyacinth, signifying spring; samanu, a sweet pudding, signifying fertility; sprouts, signifying rebirth; and coins, signifying prosperity.
Songkran:
Songkran is Thailand’s Spring celebration, also known as The Water Splashing Festival. It also marks the beginning of the Buddhist New Year. Images of Buddha and holy men are sprinkled with water and there are parades and dancing as in many such celebrations. The significance of the water is simply that of cleansing and renewal.
Shunbun No Hi:
Shunbun No Hi translates, more or less, to ‘a time to pay respect to ancestors’.
This encompasses bringing flowers to and cleaning the tombstones of final resting places of the ancestors, and offering food such as a rice cake covered with bean powder called botamochi. It is believed that such gestures would honor their ancestors and help them ‘cross the River’. Modern day celebrations of Shunbun no Hi are largely centered around the idea that the day is one to honor nature, be benevolent to other living things, and strive for the future. Spending time outside in general is a common activity for the day.
Holi Festival:
In India, Holi is Hindu celebration as a way to welcome in spring, and also is seen as a new beginning where people can release all their inhibitions and start fresh. At the Holi Festival, celebrants throw vibrantly colored powders, called gulal (literally meaning ‘red powder’) into the air, covering all in attendance with vibrant colors. In a religious sense, the colors are rich with symbolism and have multiple meanings: they can mean a vibrant new life and even represent sin in a way. For some, washing off the dye at the end of the day can mean new commitment to live well, as cleansing oneself of evils and demons.
There are certainly many other such celebrations, but there are only so many hours in the day, and one less of those today!
Apparently, at least by one account, Daylight Savings was instituted sometime around WWI as a means to fuel. However, the idea was first put forth by Benjamin Franklin in a letter to an editor of a French journal. The idea was championed a century later by a New Zealand artist, George Vernon Hudson. It is observed by most of the Western world at this point, though every year there are ‘battles’ to do away with it. Time, if we have enough, will tell…
Be well, and pax vobis.
