Mendalla
Happy headbanging ape!!
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
So we have the Spring Equinox looming in a couple weeks (11:33am on March 20 to be precise). Here in the mid-latitudes, these are fairly significant events in the calendar, marking as they do the seasons. At the equator, of course, they are less of a thing since the tropics (between the Tropic of Cancer at 23.5 degrees North and Tropic of Capricorn at 23.5 degrees South) don't experience the same seasonal cycle as mid-latitudes, both North and South, do.
As a consequence of this, many cultures in the mid-latitudes commemorate these solar events as important cultural or religious festivals. We see it in places like Stonehenge, where certain of the stones align to the solstices, and the medicine wheels of North America, which sometimes show similar alignments. Even today, modern pagans often keep these dates as important religious celebrations.
But Christianity, perhaps as part of trying to detach itself from pagan and other faiths, kind of lost that. Easter kind of follows the Spring Equinox (first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox) but also incorporates the full moon due to its association with Passover, which follows the Jewish lunisolar (moon and sun) calendar. Really, the only major, universal Christian festival that is really closely tied to one of these events is Christmas, which comes just after the Winter Solstice and has many cultural practices derived from Solstice festivals (e.g. Christmas trees and yule logs). There is really no Christian festival tied to the Summer Solstice and All Hallow's comes some time after the Fall Equinox and tied as much to the harvest as the equinox.
So are the equinoxes and solstices still important in a spiritual sense outside of the few traditions that still keep them? Do you have any spiritual associations with them, or are they just "oh cool, it's (insert season) finally"?
Of course, there's also the many cultural and faith festivals still tied to old lunar calendars. The Jewish and Islamic faiths still have their major festivals set according to lunar, or partly lunar, calendars. The Chinese New Year, aka Lunar New Year, and Moon Festival (harvest/Fall festival) similarly though the Chinese do also have events tied to the solar events, esp. in pre-modern times. But we don't really attach much importance to the moon phases at all. Our calendars often mark them, but it seems to me that most of us just use the full moon as a chance to oo and ah at the moon, especially if an event like a lunar eclipse happens.
So we seem to have lost the spiritual significance of the moon and sun both. Thoughts? Is this part of us losing touch with nature and our connection to the greater universe around us? What would it mean to have the solstices and equinoxes acknowledged and celebrated in our religious practices? Would that be "too pagan" for our "Christian" society?
As a consequence of this, many cultures in the mid-latitudes commemorate these solar events as important cultural or religious festivals. We see it in places like Stonehenge, where certain of the stones align to the solstices, and the medicine wheels of North America, which sometimes show similar alignments. Even today, modern pagans often keep these dates as important religious celebrations.
But Christianity, perhaps as part of trying to detach itself from pagan and other faiths, kind of lost that. Easter kind of follows the Spring Equinox (first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox) but also incorporates the full moon due to its association with Passover, which follows the Jewish lunisolar (moon and sun) calendar. Really, the only major, universal Christian festival that is really closely tied to one of these events is Christmas, which comes just after the Winter Solstice and has many cultural practices derived from Solstice festivals (e.g. Christmas trees and yule logs). There is really no Christian festival tied to the Summer Solstice and All Hallow's comes some time after the Fall Equinox and tied as much to the harvest as the equinox.
So are the equinoxes and solstices still important in a spiritual sense outside of the few traditions that still keep them? Do you have any spiritual associations with them, or are they just "oh cool, it's (insert season) finally"?
Of course, there's also the many cultural and faith festivals still tied to old lunar calendars. The Jewish and Islamic faiths still have their major festivals set according to lunar, or partly lunar, calendars. The Chinese New Year, aka Lunar New Year, and Moon Festival (harvest/Fall festival) similarly though the Chinese do also have events tied to the solar events, esp. in pre-modern times. But we don't really attach much importance to the moon phases at all. Our calendars often mark them, but it seems to me that most of us just use the full moon as a chance to oo and ah at the moon, especially if an event like a lunar eclipse happens.
So we seem to have lost the spiritual significance of the moon and sun both. Thoughts? Is this part of us losing touch with nature and our connection to the greater universe around us? What would it mean to have the solstices and equinoxes acknowledged and celebrated in our religious practices? Would that be "too pagan" for our "Christian" society?
