The March equinox falls either on the 19th, 20th or 21st day of March but happens at the same moment, even if the clock times reflect a different time zone. For the Northern hemisphere, it is marked as spring equinox and fall for the south of the Earth’s globe. There is no fixed date and it slightly varies every year, because an equinox is dependent to the position of the sun.
Equinoxes occur only twice a year, one in March and the other in September. These astronomical events are the exact moment when the Sun is directly overhead the Earth’s equator. At the equinox, the tilt of the Earth is zero relative comparing to the sun, which means the Earth’s axis is neither point towards nor away from the sun. With the equinox the Earth’s two hemispheres receive about equal but not exactly amount of the Sun’s rays. It signals the beginning of respective seasons, with the length of day and night is nearly equal, hence the Latin words, equinox, which means “equal night” from aequus means equal and nox is night.
Spring Equinox
The spring or vernal equinox is an astronomical event that signals the beginning of astronomical spring. Astronomical perspective, it is first day of spring, but for meteorological and weather scientist’s perspective, the 1st of March is considered as the first day of meteorological spring. The meteorological seasons are based on the annual temperature cycle rather than on the position of the Earth relative to the sun. And meteorologist divides the year in quarters for easy and uniform statistical data.
After spring equinox follows change of lengthening of sunlight or daylight hours, with earlier dawns and late sunsets, since the Earth never stops moving around the sun. With longer spring days the temperature rises, and warm weather brings activities from most plants and animals that are sensitive to warmer weather.
Ancient human civilizations have used astronomical events as indicator to begin or end certain communal activities; majority had been agricultural from planting to herding. The survival of the human race had, is and will always be connected to the sun, in which, observing and tracking the movement of the sun, length of day, and utilizing the sun as a clock and Moon as calendar had been the major occupation, and human ancestors, who did not know better, consequently and naturally revered the Sun as god/s with supernatural powers. This is evident with many ancient sites marks astronomical events like equinoxes and solstices and equated with religious importance, from the Mayans pyramid to Stonehenge.
Who is Easter?
Eostre, the Goddess of Spring
Easter is derived from Eostre, Ostara, Austra, or Eastre, an Anglo-Saxon goddess, also known from other mythologies as Ishtar in Assyrian, Inanna in Babylonian, Astarte in Phoenician, Ashtoreth in Canaan, Isis in ancient Egyptian, Venus in Roman, and Aphrodite in Greek. Regardless, the geo-cultural-linguistic difference, the common denominator is this goddess is revered for her (spiritual) aspect of rebirth, resurrection, love, beauty, sex, pleasure, fertility, procreation, bounty and victory.
She is identified with the brightest planet in the night sky, rising before the sun or setting after it, appearing that this bright planet is following the light of the sun. For that reason, multitudes romanticized myths associating her love for the sun-god and representation of the coming and going of seasons.
What is Easter?
Spring Festival
The return of spring and spring itself are the ultimate symbol of rebirth and resurrection of the Earth from winter slumber. Easter is a celebration of the return of the spring and/or spring together with the goddess that represented the season. The said celebration was briefly described by Bede the Vulnerable, an English monk who lived in England from CE 673-735. In De temporum ratione or The Reckoning of Time he wrote:
In olden times the English people – for it did not seem fitting that I should speak of other nations’ observance of the year and yet be silent about my own nation’s-calculated their months according to the course of the Moon. Hence, after the manner of the Greeks and Romans, (the months) take their name from the Moon, for the Moon is called mona and the month monath. The first month, which the Latins call January, is Giuli; February is called Solmonath; March Hrethmonath; April, Eosturmonath…
Eosturmonath has a name which is now translated “Paschal month” and which was once called after the goddess of theirs named Eostre, in whose honour feasts were celebrated in that month. Now they designate that Paschal season by her name, calling the joys of the new rite by the time-honoured name of the old observance. (Wallis, F., 1999)
Movable Christian Feast
The date of Christian Easter is not a fixed date, the day was agreed by an ecumenical council of Christian churches, called the First Council of Nicaea, whom met in ancient Nicaea, now known as Iznik, Turkey, in CE 325. Under the agreed Nicaean rule, Christian Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday following the fourteenth day of a particular new moon – the one that begins on or after the spring or vernal equinox. The rule was established to make sure that the pilgrimages to Jerusalem and other shrines have the light of a full moon to help guide. Sometimes there is confusion and discrepancies about how to properly date, but regardless, the Christian Easter have been governed by the spring equinox and the phases of the moon – how pagan is that?
Final Thoughts
Easter is a spring celebration named after a spring goddess. All the fun things about it were from various sun-worshipping religions. From the easter bunny, the painted eggs and egg hunts, the baked buns and cakes, and the sunrise services were practiced by non-Abrahamic, polytheistic, or pagan religions before Christianity incorporated it to their version of easter.
Celebrating spring is just natural as it commemorates surviving harsh winter and preparation for the next cycle. And it is not a coincidence that spring is a great and apt time to mark and celebrate resurrection of many gods, including a Christian man-god (god made man), named Jesus. It is very interesting human phenomenon where our ancestors primitive societies attempted to rationalize their shared experience through conflating it with a deity or deities and its worship. Was it to make the celebration more important and somewhat official? Why not just celebrate spring crediting the real factors that aid in surviving winter which human ingenuity and resourcefulness, cooperation, altruism and empathy? It is time to be kind to ourselves by giving the overdue credit to you and humanity deserved.
As always enjoy and embrace humanity as you celebrate spring festivals!
As always enjoy and embrace humanity as you celebrate spring festivals!
References
1. The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. (2013). Encyclopedia Britannica. [Website]. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com
2. Byrd, D. (2017, March 20). March equinox! Happy spring or fall. [Blog Post] Retrieved from http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/everything-you-need-to-know-vernal-or-spring-equinox
3. Holloway, A. (2017, April 20). The Ancient Pagan Origins of Easter. [Blog Post]. Retrieved from http://www.ancient-origins.net/myths-legends/ancient-pagan-origins-easter-001571/page/0/1
4. Wallis, F. (1999). Bede: The Reckoning of Time (Translated Texts for Historians). Liverpool, UK: Liverpool University Press.
5. Rao, J. (2017, April 14). The Full Moon That Determines Easter. [Blog post] Retrieved from https://www.space.com/36460-full-moon-that-determines-easter.html
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