Spring trivia
You probably know that the first day of spring this year falls on March 20th.
The first day of spring is known as the spring or Vernal equinox. Literally, equinox means "equal night". From there, a smart person could guess that means that on that one day, there are an equal number of day and night hours. And if you're really smart, you may even deduce that this is only true at the equator.
But I'll bet you didn't know that the Persian new year (aka Norooz)begins on the spring equinox. That's right, those Iraqi dudes will be getting psyched up for a happy new year pretty soon!
Also, the Great Sphinx of Giza (that half man, half lion thingy) that guards the great pyramids, was said to have been built facing not only the sunrise of the vernal equinox, but also the rise that same day of the constellation Leo (the lion). That way he could gaze at both the sun, who he is honoring, and an image of himself as a lion.
And at sunset on the vernal equinox in Itza, Mexico, at the pyramid of Kulkulkan, also known as Quetzalcoatl to the Aztecs, the evening shadows form a giant snake gliding down the northern stairway. The snake signifies the descent of the serpent god, Kulkulkan from his temple. You can kinda see it in the photo below.
And here you thought the firsts day of spring merely meant a national holiday in Japan... What? You didn't already know that?? :)
The first day of spring is known as the spring or Vernal equinox. Literally, equinox means "equal night". From there, a smart person could guess that means that on that one day, there are an equal number of day and night hours. And if you're really smart, you may even deduce that this is only true at the equator.
But I'll bet you didn't know that the Persian new year (aka Norooz)begins on the spring equinox. That's right, those Iraqi dudes will be getting psyched up for a happy new year pretty soon!
Also, the Great Sphinx of Giza (that half man, half lion thingy) that guards the great pyramids, was said to have been built facing not only the sunrise of the vernal equinox, but also the rise that same day of the constellation Leo (the lion). That way he could gaze at both the sun, who he is honoring, and an image of himself as a lion.
And at sunset on the vernal equinox in Itza, Mexico, at the pyramid of Kulkulkan, also known as Quetzalcoatl to the Aztecs, the evening shadows form a giant snake gliding down the northern stairway. The snake signifies the descent of the serpent god, Kulkulkan from his temple. You can kinda see it in the photo below.
And here you thought the firsts day of spring merely meant a national holiday in Japan... What? You didn't already know that?? :)
posted by Derek L. at
2/08/2005 07:58:00 PM
3 Comments:
Actually Persians are from Iran. ;-)
By
Bruce, at 11:08 AM
Actually, the modern Safavid persian empire (circa 1500-1700) included all of present day Azerbaijan, Iran, Iraq and parts of Afghanistan.
By
Derek L., at 11:32 AM
Iran is actually a more correct term of a group of peoples that include Persians, Azeris, Armenians, and more.
Iran itself means land of the Aryans; it was from here that India was subjugated thousands of years ago, and the caste system was introduced.
Persia comes from the Greek Perseis, which is a corruption of the modern Persian word Fars, referring to a province in Iran. The official language of Iran is Farsi, or the language of Fars. In older Persian, Fars was known as Pars.
More at Wikipedia.
By
Bruce, at 11:53 AM
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