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The vernal equinox and Earth Day
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Subject: The vernal equinox and Earth Day From: Rustic Rebel Date: 19 Mar 02 - 02:31 AM The first day of spring or the vernal equinox is March 20,2002. 19:16 UGM (universal greenwich mean) time. On the spring equinox the sun rises exactly in the east, travels through the sky for 12 hours and sets exactly in the west. If you are on the equator at noon you will cast no shadow. (This day is also the first day of Autumn south of the equator.) March 20 is also Earth Day.The peace bell will ring at 2:16 EST in New York City at the United Nations, at the same moment, 8:16 p.m. the peace bell will ring in Austria at the United Nations. I wish you all a new season of plentiful growth and warm blessings of global harmony. this will be my first attempt to link you all to some interesting information and celebration.spring equinox and another Rustic |
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Subject: RE: The vernal equinox and Earth Day From: MMario Date: 19 Mar 02 - 08:18 AM Thanks Rustic! |
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Subject: RE: The vernal equinox and Earth Day From: Mrrzy Date: 19 Mar 02 - 08:52 AM Now THIS is a holiday! |
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Subject: RE: The vernal equinox and Earth Day From: Janie Date: 19 Mar 02 - 08:57 AM Thanks for sharing those sites. Here is a simple chant to honor the Earth and all creation on Earth Day. I don't know where it came from but believe it is has its roots in a Native American tradition. I see Grandfather sitting in the East. He is sacred. He is looking at us. I pray to him. He is sacred. He is looking at us. 2nd verse repeat except in the South 3rd verse Grandmother sitting in the West 4th verse Grandmother sitting in the North 5th verse I see Grandfather sitting in the Sky 6th verse I see Grandmother sitting in the Earth All Our Relations! Janie |
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Subject: RE: The vernal equinox and Earth Day From: Peg Date: 19 Mar 02 - 10:17 AM I though Earth Day was April 20th??? Didn't it used to be??? |
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Subject: RE: The vernal equinox and Earth Day From: catspaw49 Date: 19 Mar 02 - 10:30 AM Whatever it is, we're going to have a 50 degree day followed by a 30 degree day............The plants are very confused. So am I........... Spaw |
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Subject: RE: The vernal equinox and Earth Day From: Peg Date: 19 Mar 02 - 10:34 AM Feeling warm, Spaw? We have more snow here in Boston this week than we've had all winter! Ridiculous. Keep on driving those SUVS everyone! |
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Subject: RE: The vernal equinox and Earth Day From: MMario Date: 19 Mar 02 - 10:35 AM Peg - In the US at least I believe so. 'spaw - not only the plants are confused! I swear - the animals around here can't decide whether to shed their winter coats or go back into hibernation! and the idiot geese are STILL flying overhead - southwest! |
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Subject: RE: The vernal equinox and Earth Day From: CapriUni Date: 19 Mar 02 - 12:17 PM Season's Greenthings! Thanks, Janie, that is indeed a wonderful chant. If you have Realplayer, you can also hear another of my favorite chants by clicking here. (Copyright Susan Arrow, 1985, recorded on her "Sweet Pleasures" CD. On that recording, the line "From your sons and daughters" was originally "Thank you from your daughter" but was changed for singing with mixed gender groups.) The man singing goes by the name Panpipe. |
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Subject: RE: The vernal equinox and Earth Day From: Rustic Rebel Date: 19 Mar 02 - 12:25 PM Earth day is observered in the U.S. on April 22. It will be the 31st Anniversary. The International Earth day is tomorrow. Int.Earth Day Rustic |
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Subject: RE: The vernal equinox and Earth Day From: greg stephens Date: 19 Mar 02 - 12:31 PM Who decides these things? How come some things get a whole week, but the earth only gets a day? |
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Subject: RE: The vernal equinox and Earth Day From: CapriUni Date: 19 Mar 02 - 01:52 PM Greg: Because merchants and advertisers can't figure out how to sell the earth... What I wonder is why the March Equinox (as the first day of "spring") must be the only Earth Day -- after all, it's only spring for half the planet. Why not celebrate Earth Day on the September Equinox, too? |
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Subject: RE: The vernal equinox and Earth Day From: katlaughing Date: 19 Mar 02 - 02:57 PM Thanks, Rustic, for the reminder and the great links. It is also the beginning of the New Year for the Rosicrucian Order A.M.O.R.C., of which I am a member. The music on that first site was beautiful! Capri, love the chant, too. nicely done. Janie, thanks for the other chant. I like the reminder, too about going down new roads and new beginnings, something Rog and I will be doing here in the next month. In the stress of that coming about, it is good to remember that it is a change we sought and are looking forward to. Anyone else know this one? It's very pretty and a great chant: We all come from the Mother And to her we shall return Like a drop of rain Flowing to the o-ocean Merry Spring! And Autumn downunder! kat |
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Subject: RE: The vernal equinox and Earth Day From: Micca Date: 19 Mar 02 - 05:10 PM Just for you Kat Come Kore*, Maiden Come bring Holy hours of Thy most Holy Spring Come with leaf and with new growth Come with fiery Beltane flowers. Come Kore, Maiden Come bring Holy hours of Thy most Holy Spring *( Kore was the Greek Maiden that with the Kouros(the youth symbolised the rebirth) |
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Subject: RE: The vernal equinox and Earth Day From: katlaughing Date: 19 Mar 02 - 05:24 PM Ah, Micca, thank you, darlin'...I'd love to hear you intone it in that gorgeous accent of yours!*bg* |
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Subject: RE: The vernal equinox and Earth Day From: Bobert Date: 19 Mar 02 - 05:50 PM So'z why won't this danged egg stand up on its end like its spozed to? Nevermind. Spawz: So your say your plants are cornfuesed. Well, just got a call from your criptomera (I know, watch my mouth...) and the plants ain't sure about you... MMario: Our geese fly in circles all year round (no pun intended...). Kat: Congrates to you and Roger on the new house. Gotta a guest room in it? And what's Wyoming near? |
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Subject: RE: The vernal equinox and Earth Day From: GUEST,MAG at work Date: 19 Mar 02 - 07:52 PM I know that one as "We all come from the Goddess," Kat. MAG who seems to have crashed her computer at home. |
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Subject: RE: The vernal equinox and Earth Day From: lardingo Date: 19 Mar 02 - 09:54 PM Isn't Earth Day also Vladimir Lenin's birthday? And aren't both celebrated simultaneously on April 22nd? I'm asking here, not pontificating. |
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Subject: RE: The vernal equinox and Earth Day From: hesperis Date: 19 Mar 02 - 10:28 PM Yes, that "We all come from the Goddess" is a beautiful chant, one of my absolute faves! And thanks for posting that, Micca... it's a good reminder of a very beautiful song! I'll get back on that, and see what happens tomorrow. |
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Subject: RE: The vernal equinox and Earth Day From: CapriUni Date: 19 Mar 02 - 11:05 PM One of my favorite folktales is from Norway, called "East of the Sun, West of the Moon" (an etext version of it is online here.) One day, I got to thinking: "Is such a place as East of the Sun, West of the Moon even possible in the so-called real world?" After visualizing the Earth, Moon and Sun, I realized that such a place is possible: It is the point where you, yourself, are standing when the sun is setting in the west while a full moon rises in the east -- especially if that full moon occurs at either of the two equinoxes. The "Castle East of the Sun, West of the Moon" can be understood as the still point inside yourself, at the cusp between waking and dreaming... Cool, huh? ;-) Because the story centers around the waking of a bear-prince from a deep, hibernation-like sleep, I've always associated the story with the vernal equinox. |
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Subject: RE: The vernal equinox and Earth Day From: katlaughing Date: 19 Mar 02 - 11:28 PM Ah, Mag, thank you! I knew it didn't look right, but the brain just wasn't firing up; it IS Goddess. :-) Bobert, thanks, but not quite there, yet. As for Why-Oh-Myn...it's a landlocked, third world country with a capitol called Shy-Anne and, as far as I know, it ain't near too much of anything!**BG** Well, except wide open spaces of beauty, mostly, except where humans have been...lots of wildlife and not a criptomeria in site, that I know of...jest lots o'them pinus contorta. |
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Subject: RE: The vernal equinox and Earth Day From: CapriUni Date: 20 Mar 02 - 02:14 PM Only a few more minutes of winter/summer left! I think it is now save to say that we've all survived another season. So plant those seeds, and reap that harvest with joy! Okay, to turn this into a music thread: What are your favorite songs about spring/autumn? I nominate "Tower of Julian" (I think that's the title), with the lines:
All shall be well, I'm telling you |
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Subject: RE: The vernal equinox and Earth Day From: Ringer Date: 21 Mar 02 - 12:14 PM Why, if the equinoces (is that the plural of "equinox"?) are known as the first day of Spring (or Autumn), are their counterparts the solstices known as mid- (not first day of-) Summer/Winter? |
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Subject: RE: The vernal equinox and Earth Day From: CapriUni Date: 21 Mar 02 - 12:51 PM Ringer -- that's because we have a mix of cultures going on with the celebrations of the seasons as holidays prior to the coming of Christianity. The Norse, generally, celebrated the start of their seasons as we do today, marked by quarters of the sun's apparent through the heavens: the equinoxes, and the solstices (the shortest or longest days of the year, depending whether you are north or south of the equator). The Celts tended to mark the beginning of the seasons by human activity, and put their dates at the beginning of certain months. February 1 was the start of spring (when the sheep and goats started to lactate, and the shepards had to prepare for the coming babies... this was also the day that the left over vegetaion in the fields was burned, to prepare for the new planting) [this survives as the Christain holiday Candlemas, and the secular holiday Ground Hog Day] May 1 was the start of summer (hence line in the May Day carol 'Hal an' Tow': "Summer is a-comin' in, and winter's gone away-o!). This was the day that the herds of cattle were released into the summer pastures up in the hills. August 1 was the start of autumn, marking the first barley harvest and the starting of the beer-making. November 1 was the start of winter, when the cattle were brought back down from the mountains, and the weaker animals were slaughtered to provide food for the winter. Things got complicated when the Norse-cultured Anglo-saxons mixed things up with the Celts in the British Isles -- and then even more complicated when the Christian Church came along and tried to incorporate all these celebrations into one sacred calendar. In short, the equinoxes stuck with their Norse significance, but the solstices were named based on the Celtic calendar. December 21 is midway between November 1 and February 1 (midwinter) and June 21 is midway between May 1 and August 1 (midsummer). It may be confusle-ing, but take them together, and you have a reason to have a major party every six weeks or so -- three weeks to recuperate, and three weeks to plan for the next one ;-) |
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Subject: RE: The vernal equinox and Earth Day From: kendall Date: 21 Mar 02 - 01:56 PM Idiot geese is redundant |
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Subject: RE: The vernal equinox and Earth Day From: Ringer Date: 22 Mar 02 - 05:18 AM A most complete explanation, CapriUni. Thanks. |
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Subject: RE: The vernal equinox and Earth Day From: Peg Date: 22 Mar 02 - 11:32 PM If I may add to all the fine information above, the so-called "cross-quarter" days (May 1, August 1, October 31, and February 2) also are astrologically significant in that they mark the moment when the sun enters 15 degrees of their corresponding zodiac signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Pisces--whose ancient symbols, the bull, the lion, the eagle and the serpent also correspond to magical properties in western esoteric tradition). The "true" cross quarter usually occurs a few days after the calendar date; which makes sense when one considers that the true equinox and solstice occurs on varying calendar days every year, varying by as much as 3 or 4 days from year to year...
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Subject: RE: The vernal equinox and Earth Day From: CapriUni Date: 22 Mar 02 - 11:53 PM Interesting, Peg. I'v never studied astrology. Did the ancient Celts have similiar images for these four zodiac signs as the ancient Greeks (from what you say, it would appear so, but I'm just curious)? I realize that it is impossible to know for sure, since the only records we have of ancient Celtic beliefs have been filtered through the Christian missionaries that wrote them down (and a large part of their job was propaganda!), but I can't help but wonder if the animals in the Song of Amerigin (the ancient one, not the 'Catter we all know and love) are a reference to the zodiac signs... Just a thought. |
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Subject: RE: The vernal equinox and Earth Day From: Peg Date: 23 Mar 02 - 10:45 AM CapriUni; there are some attempts to map out a "Celtic astrology" including one woman's book on the Celtic lunar zodiac which includes Celtic totem animals...it is all a bit silly. One very interesting book came out in the 1970s about the Glastonbury Zodiac; you still see mention of this from time to time and I think the book is stil in print...
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Subject: RE: The vernal equinox and Earth Day From: Celtic Soul Date: 23 Mar 02 - 12:10 PM My daughter was born on the U.S. version of "Earth Day", April 21st, 1992. I dunno if it is still around that date, but it was then. |
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Subject: RE: The vernal equinox and Earth Day From: CapriUni Date: 23 Mar 02 - 12:27 PM Peg -- It may be all rather silly... But that has a strong tradition in Neo-Paganism. After all, were didn't the ADF start out as a protest/joke? And then there's the bit from the long version of the Rede about Mirth and Reverence... The problem comes when the silly people take themselves too seriously and become supercilious ;-). |
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Subject: RE: The vernal equinox and Earth Day From: Wolfgang Date: 25 Mar 02 - 04:43 AM On the spring equinox the sun rises exactly in the east, travels through the sky for 12 hours and sets exactly in the west This statement from the starting post is not true on nearly every place on earth. For instance, the day on which the sun shines for twelve hours depends upon the latitude of the place where you are living. The exact date can be as early as in February. Wolfgang |
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Subject: RE: The vernal equinox and Earth Day From: CapriUni Date: 25 Mar 02 - 11:31 AM "For instance, the day on which the sun shines for twelve hours depends upon the latitude of the place where you are living. The exact date can be as early as in February." Really, Wolfgang? I never learned that (even in highschool and college Earth Science classes -- I guess textbooks tend to over simplify everything). I'm assuming there's a formula for figuring out the exact day of the equinox for where you are... Would you please share it (this is fascinating, [at least for my quirky brain -- your miliage may vary])? |
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Subject: RE: The vernal equinox and Earth Day From: Celtic Soul Date: 25 Mar 02 - 09:19 PM I suppose that makes sense...I mean, the day that the sun is exactly over the equator will not be the same as that for the northeast in the US, and that will not be the same as that for Australia. I had never really thought about it, but I suppose it is the same issue as the fact that when it's "Winter" for us, it's "Summer" for the folks in Oz. |
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Subject: RE: The vernal equinox and Earth Day From: Wolfgang Date: 26 Mar 02 - 05:07 AM A fine FAQ section for such questions I think without being completely sure that the solistices are at the same day (slightly varying from year to year) independent of latitude except for the hemisphere distinction. The vernal equinox is also independent of latitude. But the day on which day and night have equal length varies with latitude. On the vernal equinox the length of the day in Germany was roughly 12 hours and 20 minutes. I wonder how the equinoxes have been determined in old times. I have not the slightest idea. Wolfgang |
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Subject: RE: The vernal equinox and Earth Day From: Abby Sale Date: 26 Mar 02 - 10:40 AM lardigo: yes, Vladimir Ilich Lenin was born 4/22/1870 (NS) (d1/21/1924) |
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Subject: RE: The vernal equinox and Earth Day From: CapriUni Date: 26 Mar 02 - 10:53 AM thanks for the link, Wolfgang! I'll check it out and bookmark it.. |
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