The equinox happens twice.
The vernal equinox is the spring equinox.
The old name is Point Ares.
Point Ares is now in the constellation of Pisces.
To work out approximately how many years it has been since the sun rose in Ares, at the equinox:
The date of the Vernal equinox in the northern hemisphere is around the 21st March, and it happens when the Earth's axis of spin is at right angles to the line from Sun to Earth.
On that day there is no 'declination', meaning, the sun will be at a maximum elevation angle (height in the sky at midday) of: 90 degrees minus your latitude.
It means that if you put a post up and mark the tip of the shadow throughout the day, the shadows will create a north-south, straight line.
There are two equinox per year, and the second one occurs in the autumn, 21 - 23rd of September in the north.
At the equinox, everyone sees the sun rise in the east (azimuth 90 degrees) and set in the west (azimuth 270).
At the poles of the earth, a day is roughly 6 months long followed by a night of equal length. There, the sun finally crosses the horizon at the equinox. Six months of light, or six months of darkness begin.
At the equinox, the angle of the sun to the zenith and upwards, from the ground (elevation angle) corresponds to the celestial equator. This means that if you measure a shadow cast by a pole at midday, you have the elevation angle of the celestial equator.
90 degrees - elevation angle of celestial equator = latitude.
The Akitu and Nowruz.
The history of Easter.
Jewish spring Passover is celebrated on the night of a full moon after the vernal equinox, as Judaism uses a Mesopotamian calendar, it is clear that the Moon determines months but an extra month once called Adaru was added to keep solar and lunar years in synch.
The Jewish name for the extra month is still Adar.
The Mesopotamians determined which year required the thirteenth month by observing the Pleiades:
As Christianity follows on from Judaism, and Jesus was crucified after Passover, Easter is determined by the date of the full Moon closest to the equinox. The First Council of Nicaea (AD 325) established the date of Easter as the first Sunday after the full moon (the Paschal Full Moon) following the March equinox.
The equinox is reckoned to be on 21 March (even though the equinox occurs, astronomically speaking, on 20 March in most years), and the "Full Moon" used by the church to determine Easter is not necessarily the astronomically correct date. So the date of Easter varies between 22 March and 25 April.
Eastern Christianity bases its calculations on the Julian calendar whose 21st of March corresponds, during the 21st century, to 3 April in the Gregorian calendar, So that celebration of Easter therefore varies between 4 April and 8 May.
Summing up religious festivals:
Akitu refers to barley.
The name is from the Sumerian for "barley", originally marking two festivals celebrating the beginning of each of the two half-years of the Sumerian calendar, marking the sowing of barley (Tashritu) in autumn and the cutting of barley in spring (Nisannu).
In Babylonian religion the Akitu came to be dedicated to Marduk's victory over Tiamat. The god Marduk split the water-dragon Tiamat (Terthys in Greek myth) into two to create the world and the heavens, as the equinox splits night and day into two, equal halves.
This also goes someway to explaining how the term Draconitic cycle for the Moon's passage across the ecliptic came about.
In 539 BCE, Mesopotamia was invaded by Cyrus the Great, king of the Persian empire. This brought to an end over 3000 years of Mesopotamian dominance of the near east. The Persians maintained and did not interfere in the native culture and religion, and the traditions of Assyria and 'Babylon' continued to exist.
The Vernal equinox is celebrated by Iranians as Nowruz.
The term Nowruz in writing, first appeared in Persian records in the 2nd century AD, and it had remained an important day during the time of the Achaemenids c. 548–330 BC), where kings from different nations under the Persian empire used to bring gifts to the Emperor, also called King of Kings (Shahanshah), of Persia on what had once been the Akitu, and is now Nowruz.
The Haft Sin- seven items- is a part of the Nowruz table decoration.
I believe that that the Haft Sin are all that remains of the Pleiades in the festival of Nowruz.
The Haft Sin items are:
Seven are they, seven are they!
In the channel of the deep seven are they!
In the radiance of heaven seven are they!
In the channel of the deep in a palace grew they up.
Male they are not, female they are not.
In the midst of the deep are their paths.
Wife they have not, son they have not.
Order and kindness know they not.
Prayer and supplication hear they not.
The cavern in the mountain they enter.
Unto Hea are they hostile.
The throne-bearers of the gods are they.
Disturbing the lily in the torrents are they set.
Baleful are they, baleful are they.
Seven are they, seven are they, seven twice again are they.
May the spirits of heaven remember, may the spirits of earth remember.
http://www.sacred-texts.com/ane/seven.htm
The vernal equinox is the spring equinox.
The old name is Point Ares.
Point Ares is now in the constellation of Pisces.
To work out approximately how many years it has been since the sun rose in Ares, at the equinox:
1/ How many degrees does each constellation take up?
Answer: 360 /12 = 30
2/ How far is Ares from Pisces?
Answer: 30 degrees.
3/ Precession moves at 1 degree every 71 years
So: 71 x 30 = 2,130 years
The date of the Vernal equinox in the northern hemisphere is around the 21st March, and it happens when the Earth's axis of spin is at right angles to the line from Sun to Earth.
On that day there is no 'declination', meaning, the sun will be at a maximum elevation angle (height in the sky at midday) of: 90 degrees minus your latitude.
It means that if you put a post up and mark the tip of the shadow throughout the day, the shadows will create a north-south, straight line.
There are two equinox per year, and the second one occurs in the autumn, 21 - 23rd of September in the north.
At the poles of the earth, a day is roughly 6 months long followed by a night of equal length. There, the sun finally crosses the horizon at the equinox. Six months of light, or six months of darkness begin.
At the equinox, the angle of the sun to the zenith and upwards, from the ground (elevation angle) corresponds to the celestial equator. This means that if you measure a shadow cast by a pole at midday, you have the elevation angle of the celestial equator.
90 degrees - elevation angle of celestial equator = latitude.
The history of Easter.
 |
| Bas-relief in Persepolis—a symbol Zoroastrian Nowruz—in day of a spring equinox power of eternally fighting bull (personifying the moon), and a lion (personifying the Sun, the bulls crescent horn resembling the moon,the lions mane, representing the sun. |
Jewish spring Passover is celebrated on the night of a full moon after the vernal equinox, as Judaism uses a Mesopotamian calendar, it is clear that the Moon determines months but an extra month once called Adaru was added to keep solar and lunar years in synch.
The Jewish name for the extra month is still Adar.
The Mesopotamians determined which year required the thirteenth month by observing the Pleiades:
'If the Moon is close to the Pleiades on the first day of the year (Vernal equinox) there will not be a thirteenth month'.This is recorded in a text known as the Mul-Apin, the cuneiform tablet dated to around 687 BC.
Cyrus The Great (Persian empire) conquered 'Babylon' and Cyrus ruled around 600 or 576 – 530 BC. Cyrus is famous as being the good king who let the exiled people return to Palastine.
As Christianity follows on from Judaism, and Jesus was crucified after Passover, Easter is determined by the date of the full Moon closest to the equinox. The First Council of Nicaea (AD 325) established the date of Easter as the first Sunday after the full moon (the Paschal Full Moon) following the March equinox.
The equinox is reckoned to be on 21 March (even though the equinox occurs, astronomically speaking, on 20 March in most years), and the "Full Moon" used by the church to determine Easter is not necessarily the astronomically correct date. So the date of Easter varies between 22 March and 25 April.
Eastern Christianity bases its calculations on the Julian calendar whose 21st of March corresponds, during the 21st century, to 3 April in the Gregorian calendar, So that celebration of Easter therefore varies between 4 April and 8 May.
Summing up religious festivals:
- Jewish spring Passover is celebrated on the night of a full moon after the vernal equinox
- In Akkadian times an extra month called Adaru was added to keep solar and lunar years in synch.
- The Babylonian New Year festival- The Akitu- traditionally starts on 21 Adar - 1 Nisannu.
Akitu refers to barley.
The name is from the Sumerian for "barley", originally marking two festivals celebrating the beginning of each of the two half-years of the Sumerian calendar, marking the sowing of barley (Tashritu) in autumn and the cutting of barley in spring (Nisannu).
In Babylonian religion the Akitu came to be dedicated to Marduk's victory over Tiamat. The god Marduk split the water-dragon Tiamat (Terthys in Greek myth) into two to create the world and the heavens, as the equinox splits night and day into two, equal halves.
This also goes someway to explaining how the term Draconitic cycle for the Moon's passage across the ecliptic came about.
The Vernal equinox is celebrated by Iranians as Nowruz.
The term Nowruz in writing, first appeared in Persian records in the 2nd century AD, and it had remained an important day during the time of the Achaemenids c. 548–330 BC), where kings from different nations under the Persian empire used to bring gifts to the Emperor, also called King of Kings (Shahanshah), of Persia on what had once been the Akitu, and is now Nowruz.
The Haft Sin- seven items- is a part of the Nowruz table decoration.
I believe that that the Haft Sin are all that remains of the Pleiades in the festival of Nowruz.
The Haft Sin items are:
- Sabzeh (wheat or lentil sprouts representing rebirth),
- Samanu (creamy pudding made from wheat germ regarded as holy and symbolizes affluence),
- Seeb (apple symbolizing health and beauty),
- Senjid (dried fruit of lotus tree stands for love),
- Sir (garlic regarded as medicinal and represents health),
- Somagh (sumac berries signifying the colour of the sun and the victory of good over evil) and
- Serkeh (vinegar representing old age and patience).
In Mesopotamian myth, 'The Seven' were the Ilu Sibitti (Seven Gods) and not unlike the '4 horsemen of the Apocalypse'.
They were given to the Lord of War and followed in his wake, as plague and famine.
They were given to the Lord of War and followed in his wake, as plague and famine.
The Seven Gods.
Seven are they, seven are they!
In the channel of the deep seven are they!
In the radiance of heaven seven are they!
In the channel of the deep in a palace grew they up.
Male they are not, female they are not.
In the midst of the deep are their paths.
Wife they have not, son they have not.
Order and kindness know they not.
Prayer and supplication hear they not.
The cavern in the mountain they enter.
Unto Hea are they hostile.
The throne-bearers of the gods are they.
Disturbing the lily in the torrents are they set.
Baleful are they, baleful are they.
Seven are they, seven are they, seven twice again are they.
May the spirits of heaven remember, may the spirits of earth remember.
http://www.sacred-texts.com/ane/seven.htm
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