Vernal Equinox History and Traditions
by Kevin Buyer
From a technical standpoint the Vernal Equinox is
an astronomical event, it's one of the four quadrature days of the Earth's
orbit. However for people both modern and ancient, the Vernal Equinox marked the
transition from winter into spring. The Vernal Equinox occurs on March 20th or
21st and is one of two days during the year when there are 12 hours of daylight
and 12 hours of darkness, the other day is the Autumnal Equinox.
People have been marking and celebrating the
Vernal Equinox for thousands of years. The Great Sphinx which was constructed
over 4500 years ago on the Giza Plateau in Egypt, faces due east on the Vernal
Equinox. The monoliths located at Stonehenge, which are estimated to be over
3000 years old, mark the position of the rising sun on the Vernal Equinox. In
Central America the Ancient Mayan Caracol Tower and Temples of the Sun and Moon
also have alignments that coincide with the sun's position on the Vernal
Equinox.
Most historians believe that this knowledge was
important to ancient cultures in choosing a time to plant their crops. In Iran
they celebrate Norouz (which roughly translates to "new day") on the
Vernal Equinox. In China they celebrate Chunfen on the Vernal Equinox. In
ancient Europe they celebrated the arrival of the goddess of spring Ostara on
this day. Ostara was also known as Ostera and Eostre in different parts of
Europe. Many historians believe the Christian holiday Easter gets its name from
Eostre, as she had an enchanted rabbit that could lay eggs. In more modern times
the Vernal Equinox marked the first Earth Day celebration in 1971.
One of the odd traditions that that occur on the
Vernal Equinox is egg balancing. The story goes that it is possible to balance a
raw egg on its oblong end on this day. There is no truth to this rumor it's just
as easy (or hard) to balance an egg on its end on this day as it is any other
day. This story is perpetuated by the media who usually run a small segment on
it, during news shows on this day.
This article is © Copyright Holiday-Central.net
About the Author
Kevin Buyer runs the website
http://www.Holiday-Central.net where he writes about origins, history,
legends, and traditions associated with calendrics, celebrations, festivals, and
holidays.
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