March 18, 2010

Saturday, March 20th, is the first calendar day of spring!

The seasonal calendar dates are all based upon the position of the sun in relation to the repose of the earth. The first day of spring is the date of the Vernal Equinox – that is when the earth is completely vertical, neither tilted to the north or the south, and the day and night are of equal length. The first day of fall is the date that the Autumnal Equinox occurs – again when the earth becomes vertical.

The first day of summer is the date of the Summer Solstice, when the northern axis of the earth is most tilted towards the sun. The Winter Solstice is the opposite- the northern axis is tilted the furthest from the sun. The 2010 dates and the exact moment of these events are as follows:

Vernal Equinox Mar 20 2010 1:32 PM EDT
Summer Solstice Jun 21 2010 7:28 AM EDT
Autumnal Equinox Sep 22 2010 11:09 PM EDT
Winter Solstice Dec 21 2010 6:38 PM EST

Since forever began, people have celebrated these astronomical events with dance, song, and/ or prayer, all in keeping with our connectedness to the rhythms of the earth, the universe, and the Spirit.

The importance of these celestial events has also been captured in early architecture. Throughout the old and new worlds many structures were built whose architectural attributes line up with the sun on equinoxes and/ or solstices. The Mayan “Temple of the Seven Dolls” at Dzibilchaltun on the Yucatan Peninsula and Stonehenge in England which pre dates 3000 BC are but two examples.

There is folklore and mystery based on these celestial dates too. One of the most common “folk facts” is that an egg can be balanced on its end during either equinox, due to the unilateral pull of gravity between the sun and the earth that is thought to occur at the exact time of the equinox.

All of these examples demonstrate that humans have always valued their relationships with the sun and nature. It is important that we still do. I worry that with computers and the flooding rise of technology, we have drifted from our connectedness with the natural world. We may be forgetting that the earth wobbles, and that this imperfection is what gives us life. It’s a “simple importance”.

Spring is an event of our natural world! Maybe take some time off on the 20th and celebrate the Spring! Or maybe take a few seconds and just try to balance an egg…but please, don’t miss out on the wonder of it all.