Spring Equinox

Spring Equinox

The Spring Equinox is also known as: Alban Eilir, Eostar, Eostre,
Feast of Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Festival of Trees,
Lady Day, NawRuz, No Ruz, Ostara, Ostra, Rites of Spring, and the
Vernal Equinox.

http://www.religioustolerance.org/spring_equinox.htm

Overview:
Religious followers from around the world observe many seasonal days
of celebration during March and April. Most are religious holy days,
and are linked in some way to the spring or vernal equinox. On that
day, the daytime and nighttime hours are approximately equal -- each
being 12 hours long.

Christianity and other religious associate three themes with the
vernal equinox:

Conception and pregnancy leading to birth on the winter solstice.

Victory of a god of light (or life, rebirth, resurrection) over the
powers of darkness (death).

The descent of the goddess or god into the underworld for a period
of three days. This is such a popular theme among religions that
mythologists refer to it as "the harrowing of Hell." 13

People view other religions in various ways, and thus treat the
celebrations of other faiths differently:

Some people value the worldwide variety of March and April
celebrations, because demonstrates the diversity of religious belief
within our common humanity. They respect both their own religious
traditions and those of other faiths for their ability to inspire
people to lead more ethical and fulfilled lives. Religious diversity
is, to them, a positive influence.

Others reject the importance of all celebrations other than the holy
days recognized by their own religion. Some go so far as rejecting
some of their religion's holy days when they are discovered to have
Pagan origins (e.g. Easter and Christmas).

Some consider religions other than their own as being inspired by
Satan. Thus the equinox celebrations of other religions are viewed as
Satanic in origin, and intrinsically evil.

When and why the vernal equinox happens:
The seasons of the year are caused by the 23.5º tilt of the earth's
axis. Because the earth is rotating like a top or gyroscope, it
points in a fixed direction continuously -- towards a point in space
near the North Star. But the earth is also revolving around the sun.
During half of the year, the southern hemisphere is more exposed to
the sun than is the northern hemisphere. During the rest of the year,
the reverse is true. At noontime in the Northern Hemisphere the sun
appears high in the sky during summertime and low in the sky during
winter. The time of the year when the sun reaches its maximum
elevation occurs on the day with the greatest number of daylight
hours. This is called the summer solstice, and is typically JUN-21 --
the first day of summer. The lowest elevation occurs about DEC-21 and
is the winter solstice -- the first day of winter, when the night
time hours are maximum. Almost exactly half-way between the winter
and summer solstice is the time of the vernal or spring equinox. It
is one of two times during the year when the daytime and nighttime
are almost exactly 12 hours long, and very close to being equal to
each other.

History of the spring equinox:
The early Romans used a lunar calendar in which months alternated
between 29 and 30 days. It was not a precise measure; it gradually
fell out of step with the seasons. Julius Caesar reformed the
calendar by switching its base from lunar to solar. The day on which
the vernal equinox occurred was defined as MAR-25. The length of the
year was fixed at 365 days, with an additional leap-year day added
every fourth year. This made the average length of a year equal to
365.25 days, which was fairly close to the actual value of 365.2422
days.

The annual error of 0.0078 days accumulated over time until it became
unmanageable. A second reform of the calendar was ordered by Pope
Gregory XIII. Under the new system, 1582-MAR-21 CE became the date of
the vernal equinox, the year 1582 was shortened by ten days, and
future centennial years (1600, 1700...2000) were not considered leap
years unless they were divisible by 400. 1 The Gregorian Calendar
continues in general usage today. Eventually, its 0.0003 day annual
error will accumulate and necessitate an elimination of a leap-year
day circa 4915 CE.

The linkage between the equinox, Pagan celebrations & Easter:
Many, perhaps most, Pagan religions in the ancient Mediterranean
region had a major seasonal day of religious celebration at, or
following, the spring equinox. In one religion, Cybele, the Phrygian
fertility goddess, had a consort who was believed to have been born
via a virgin birth. He was Attis, who was said to have died and been
resurrected each year during the period MAR-22 to MAR-25; i.e. at the
time of the vernal equinox in the Julian calendar.

Wherever Christian worship of Jesus and Pagan worship of Attis were
active in the same geographical area in ancient times, Christians
"used to celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus on the same
date; and pagans and Christians used to quarrel bitterly about which
of their gods was the true prototype and which the imitation." Since
the worship of Cybele was brought to Rome in 204 BCE, about 250 years
before Christianity, it is obvious that if any copying occurred, it
was the Christians that copied the traditions of the Pagans.

Today, no consensus exists on the linkage between the Attis legend
(and the stories associated with many other god-men) and Jesus
Christ:

Some religious historians believe that the god-man's death and
resurrection legends were first associated with Pagan deities many
centuries before the birth of Jesus. They were simply grafted onto
stories of Jesus' life in order to make Christian theology more
acceptable to Pagans in the Roman Empire.

Ancient Christians had an alternate explanation; they claimed that
Satan had created counterfeit Pagan deities with many of the same
life experiences as Jesus had. Satan and his demons had done this, in
advance of the coming of Christ, in order to confuse humanity.

Most modern-day Christians regard the Attis legend as being a Pagan
myth of little value. They regard Jesus' death and resurrection
account as being an exact description of real events, and unrelated
to the earlier Pagan traditions.

Among the Roman Catholic church and Protestant denominations, Easter
Sunday falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon after
MAR-20, the nominal date of the Spring Equinox. Its ancient linkages
to sun and moon worship are obvious. Many sources incorrectly state
that the starting date of the calculation is the actual day of the
Equinox rather than the nominal date of MAR-20. Other sources use an
incorrect reference date of MAR-21.

Easter Sunday can fall on any date from March 22 to April 25th. The
year-to-year sequence is so complicated that it takes 5.7 million
years to repeat. Eastern Orthodox churches sometimes celebrate Easter
on the same day as the rest of Christendom. However if that date does
not follow Passover, then the Orthodox churches delay their Easter -
sometimes by over a month.

Spring celebrations by various faiths - ancient and modern

ANCIENT BRITAIN: Both the solstices and equinoxes "were the highly
sophisticated preoccupation of the mysterious Megalithic peoples who
pre-dated Celt, Roman and Saxon on Europe's Atlantic fringe by
thousands of years." The equinoxes were not otherwise celebrated in
ancient Britain, until recent years.

ANCIENT IRELAND: The spring and fall equinox were celebrated in
ancient times. A cluster of megalithic cairns are scattered through
the hills at Loughcrew, about 55 miles North West of Dublin in
Ireland. Longhcrew Carin T is a passage tomb which is designed so
that the light from the rising sun on the spring and summer equinoxes
penetrates a long corridor and illuminates a backstone, which is
decorated with astronomical symbols. 19,20

ANCIENT GERMANS: Ostara, the Germanic fertility Goddess was
associated with human and crop fertility. On the spring equinox, she
mated with the solar god and conceived a child that would be born 9
months later on DEC-21: Yule, the winter solstice.

ANCIENT MAYANS: The indigenous Mayan people in Central American have
celebrated a spring equinox festival for ten centuries. As the sun
sets on the day of the equinox on the great ceremonial pyramid, El
Castillo, Mexico, its "western face...is bathed in the late afternoon
sunlight. The lengthening shadows appear to run from the top of the
pyramid's northern staircase to the bottom, giving the illusion of a
diamond-backed snake in descent." This has been called "The Return of
the Sun Serpent" since ancient times. 14

ANCIENT GREEKS: The god-man Dionysos was a major deity among the
ancient Greeks. "As a god of the spring rites, of the flowering
plants and fruitful vines, Dionysos was said to be in terrible pain
during winter, when most living things sicken and die, or hibernate."
Persephone, a daughter of Demeter, descended into the Otherworld and
returned near the time of the spring equinox. This story has close
parallels to various Goddess legends, stories of the life of King
Arthur, and of Jesus Christ. 10

ANCIENT PERSIA; ZOROASTRIANISM: Various ancient civilizations
(Mesopotamia, Sumeria, Babylonia, Elam) circa 3000 to 2000 BCE
celebrated new years at the time of the spring equinox. "No Ruz," the
new day or New Year has been celebrated in the area of modern-day
Iran since the Achaemenian (Hakhamaneshi) period over 2500 years ago.
It survived because of Zoroastrianism which was the religion of
Ancient Persia before the advent of Islam 1400 years ago. Many
religious historians trace the Judeo-Christian concepts of Hell,
Heaven, Resurrection, the arrival of the Messiah, and the last
judgment to Zoroastrianism. In that faith, the Lord of Wisdom
"created all that was good and became God. The Hostile Spirit, Angra
Mainyu (Ahriman), residing in the eternal darkness created all that
was bad and became the Hostile Spirit." 16 This dualistic God/Satan
concept is surprisingly close to the views of conservative
Christianity today.

ANCIENT ROMANS: In "about 200 B.C., mystery cults began to appear in
Rome just as they had earlier in Greece. Most notable was the Cybele
cult centered on Vatican hill ...Associated with the Cybele cult was
that of her lover, Attis ([the older Tammuz, Osiris, Dionysus, or
Orpheus under a new name)...The festival began as a day of blood on
Black Friday and culminated after three days in a day of rejoicing
over the resurrection." Attis was born of a human woman, a virgin
named Nana. He "grew up to become a sacrificial victim and Savior,
slain to bring salvation to mankind. His body was eaten by his
worshipers in the form of bread...[He was] crucified on a pine tree,
whence his holy blood poured down to redeem the earth." 2 The
celebration was held on MAR-25, 9 months before his birth on DEC-25.
In Rome, the rituals took place where St. Peter's now stands in
Vatican City. 8 The similarities between the stories of Attis and
Jesus are obvious.

ANCIENT SAXONS: Eostre was the Saxon version of the Germanic lunar
goddess Ostara. She gave her name to the Christian Easter and to the
female hormone estrogen. Her feast day was held on the full moon
following the vernal equinox -- almost the identical calculation as
for the Christian Easter in the west. One delightful legend
associated with Eostre was that she found an injured bird on the
ground one winter. To save its life, she transformed it into a hare.
But "the transformation was not a complete one. The bird took the
appearance of a hare but retained the ability to lay eggs. ..the hare
would decorate these eggs and leave them as gifts to Eostre." 10

BAHÁ'Í WORLD FAITH: Naw-Rúz is an ancient Iranian New Years day
festival which occurs near the Spring Equinox. It is now a world
holiday of the Bahá'í faith. If the equinox occurs before sunset,
then New Year's Day is celebrated on that day in the Middle East;
otherwise it is delayed until the following day. In the rest of the
world, it is always on MAR-21. It is celebrated with many symbols
indicating regrowth and renewal - much like the Christian Easter.
Some members follow the ancient Iranian "haft-sin" custom on this day
involves arranging seven objects whose name begin with the letter "S"
in Persian; e.g. hyacinths, apples, lilies, silver coins, garlic,
vinegar and rue.

CHRISTIANITY: The record of the Roman Army's execution date of
Yeshua Ben Nazareth (later known as Jesus Christ) has been lost.
Dates linked to the Jewish Passover celebration in the years 30 to 33
have been suggested. Easter commemorates Jesus' execution, visit to
Hell, and resurrection. Easter Sunday is a moveable holy day, being
celebrated from late MAR to late APR. It is named after the
"Teutonic goddess Eostre, whose name is probably yet another variant
of Ishtar, Astare and Aset..." 8

The Feast of Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary is held on
MAR-25, on the nominal date of the spring equinox, according to the
old Julian calendar. This is the time when the angel Gabriel told
Mary that she was pregnant. (Luke 1:26-38) Nine months later, at
Christmas/Yule, Mary is traditionally believed to have given birth to
Jesus, while still a virgin.

JUDAISM: "In its origin, the Passover dinner itself was a spring
fertility festival–the unleavened bread coming from the agricultural
past of the people and the paschal lamb from its more distant
pastoral years." 6 The Bible passages of Leviticus 23:5-8 and Numbers
28:16-18 state that Passover is to be celebrated in the springtime,
on the 14th day of the Jewish month of Nissan. The Feast of
Unleavened Bread to the Lord is held on the 15th.

NATIVE AMERICAN SPIRITUALITY: There are countless stone structures
created by Natives in the past and still standing in North America.
One was called Calendar One by its modern-day finder. It is in a
natural amphitheatre of about 20 acres in size in Vermont. From a
stone enclosure in the center of the bowl, one can see a number of
vertical rocks and other markers around the edge of the bowl "At the
winter solstice, the sun rose at the southern peak of the east ridge
and set at a notch at the southern end of the west ridge." The summer
solstice and both equinoxes were similarly marked. 4

"America's Stonehenge" is a 4,000 year old megalithic site located
on Mystery Hill in Salem NH. Carbon dating has estimated the age of
some charcoal remnants at 3,000 and 4,000 years ago. Researchers have
concluded that the site was erected either by Native Americans or an
unknown migrant European population. 15 The site contains five
standing stones and one fallen stone in a linear alignment which
point to both the sunrise and sunset at the spring and fall
equinoxes.

NEOPAGANISM: This is a group of religions which are attempted
re-creations of ancient Pagan religions. Of these, Wicca is the most
common; it is loosely based on ancient Celtic beliefs, symbols and
practices, with the addition of some more recent Masonic and
ceremonial magic rituals.

Monotheistic religions, like Judaism, Christianity and Islam, tend to
view time as linear. It started with creation; the world as we know
it will end at some time in the future. Aboriginal and Neopagan
religions see time as circular and repetitive, with lunar (monthly)
and solar (yearly) cycles. Their "...rituals guarantee the continuity
of nature's cycles, which traditional human societies depend on for
their sustenance." 3

Wiccans recognize eight seasonal days of celebration. Four are minor
sabbats and occur at the two solstices and the two equinoxes. The
other are major sabbats which happen approximately halfway between an
equinox and solstice. Wiccans may celebrate Lady Day on the evening
before, or at sunrise on the morning of the solstice/equinox, or at
the exact time of vernal equinox.

Near the Mediterranean, this is a time of sprouting of the summer's
crop; farther north, it is the time for seeding. 8 Their rituals at
the Spring Equinox are related primarily to the fertility of the
crops and to the balance of the day and night times. Where Wiccans
can safely celebrate the Sabbat out of doors without threat of
religious persecution, they often incorporate a bonfire into their
rituals, jumping over the dying embers to assure fertility of people
and crops. It is experienced as a time of balance.

The date and time of the spring equinox:
The exact date and time of the vernal equinox, when the sun moves
into the astrological sign of Aries, varies from year to year. Each
year, the date/time moves progressively later in March until the year
before leap-year is reached. On leap-year, it returns to an earlier
date/time. The four-year cycle is then repeated.

Between the years 1503 CE and 2496 CE, the earliest spring equinox
will be on 2496-MAR-19 at 12:28 UT. The latest was on 1503-MAR-21 at
8:42 UT.

The above dates and times were derived from the astronomical
calculations on The Dome of the Sky web site. 7 Times are in UT
(Universal Time). This used to be called Greenwich Mean Time or GMT.
In North America, you can find your local time by subtracting:

3 hours 30 minutes for Newfoundland time
4 hours for ATL
5 hours for EST
6 hours for CST
7 hours for MST
8 hours for PST
9 hours for ALA
10 hours for HAW

Egg-balancing belief:
There is a rumor that surfaces twice a year at the time of the spring
and fall equinoxes. Many people believe that since the equinox is a
time of balance where the daylight hours and nighttime hours are
equal, that -- by some mystical force -- one can balance eggs on
their end on these days. Some believe that one can only balance an
egg within a few hours before or after the exact time of the equinox.
17

Philip Plait (a.k.a. the Bad Astronomer) writes: "Usually you cannot
stand a raw egg because the inside of an egg is a very viscous
(thick) liquid, and the yolk sits in this liquid. The yolk is usually
a bit off-center and rides high in the egg, making it very difficult
to balance. The egg falls over. However, with patience, you can
usually make an egg stand up. It may take a lot of patience!" He has
a photo on his web site that shows himself and three eggs standing on
their end. 18

Being able to stand an egg on its end is clearly determined by the
internal structure of the egg, gravity, condition of the surface of
the egg at its end, the condition of the surface that the egg is
being balanced on, how level the surface is, etc. None of these
factors have anything to do with the passage of the seasons. So, a
person probably has as much luck standing an egg on its end on the
equinox as on any other day of the year.

Plait reports that only a small percentage of eggs can be balanced.
He believes that the successfully balanced eggs have small
irregularities that act as miniature legs and prop up the egg.

Needless to say, balancing an egg on it stubby end is a lot easier
than on its pointed end.

References:
J.G. Walshe, et al., "Dates and meanings of religious and other
festivals," Foulsham, (1997).
B.G. Walker, "The Woman's Encylopedia of Myths and Secrets," Harper &
Row, San Francisco CA, (1983), Pages 77 to 79.
Yisrayl Hawkins,"Ancient Pagan Religious Expression," at:
http://yahweh.com/pages/pw3_96/1_396pg1.shtml
J.W. Mavor & B.E. Dix, "Manitou: The sacred landscape of New
England's Native Civilization." Inner Traditions (1989).
"Of Gods and Men: The A-Z of mythology and legend: Dionysos." at:
http://www.clubi.ie/lestat/ofgodsd.html
A.M. Greely, "The greatest mysteries; an essential catechism," at:
http://www.usao.edu/~facshaferi/greeley/mysteries7.htm
"Find the equinoxes and solstices for a particular year," at
http://einstein.stcloudstate.edu/Dome/equiSol.html
Janet & Stewart Farrar, "Eight Sabbats for Witches," Phoenix
Publishing, (1981), Page 14; Pages 72 to 79.
"Gwyl Alban Eilir Ritual (Performed 1990) A Celtic-Wiccan Ritual" at:
http://www.goodnet.com/~merlyn/ALBANEL.htm
"Lady Day: March 19-20 (The Vernal Equinox)," at:
http://ladyhedgehog.hedgie.com/ladyday.html
"About.com guide to alternative religions: The call of spring: Rites
for the Equinox," at:
http://altreligion.about.com/culture/altreligion/library
"Vernal Equinox: Dates and times of day each year from 1096 years ,
1452 - 2547," at: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/3116/eqindex.html
"Gwyl Canol Gwenwynol (Spring Eqinox) page," at:
http://www.tylwythteg.com/Spring.html
"Mayan spring equinox sacred sites tor and cruise: The return of the
sun serpent," at: http://www.solunatours.com/st-mayan.htm
"America's Stonehenge" is at: http://www.stonehengeusa.com/
"Iranian New Year: No Ruz," at:
http://tehran.stanford.edu/Culture/nowruz.html
Von Del Chamberlain, "Equinox Means Balanced Light, Not Balanced
Eggs," at: http://www.clarkfoundation.org/astro-utah/
Philip Plait, "Standing an egg on end on the Spring Equinox," at:
http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/
"Loughcrew Megalithic Cairns," Knowth.com at:
http://www.knowth.com/loughcrew.htm
"Equinox - Loughcrew Cairn T," Knowth.com, 2002-MAR-23, at:
http://www.knowth.com/loughcrew-equinox.htm