The Sun seems to “rise” and “set” in the same place every day—at least, to the unobservant.
But the reality is quite different. The Sun never “comes up” or “goes down” twice, at the same point on the horizon. Its apparent position changes daily.
Many human societies have monitored this change and evolved lifestyles to accommodate it—making equinox a momentous global event, both astronomically and culturally.
Equinoxes, like solstices, are seasonal markers, devoid of material manifestation. No visual displays or physical effects accompanied the March 20th event.
Yet the cultural repercussions are profound and palpable, as our planet roils with rituals and ceremonies, celebrating fertility and the lunar New Year.
Whether it is the well-dipping of women in Switzerland, fire-leaping in Iran or Christian “Easter egg” painting, all these customs have a common origin: Pagan homage to the equinox.
Even without visual cues, early Africans used equinoxes as measures of time. Over a thousand Stone Circles, around the continent—including Cross River State—serve as proof.
Perhaps you’d like to know how they did it. Well, just select a tree, or rooftop, as a visual reference. Then, check the Sun’s position periodically, over three-to-six months.
You’ll see, that each sunrise or sunset inches farther away from (or closer to) your marker—and that the Sun swings back and forth, in a pendulous biannual rhythm.
This rhythm greatly influences human behavior. It marks the cadence of the seasons, which explains why festivals tend to cluster in December, March, June and September.
“Equinoxes” and “solstices” fall in these months: When the Sun is either as far north or south of the equator, as it will go—or at the midway point, in its six-month migration.
The “equator” is an imaginary border, separating the top and bottom halves of Earth.
Running parallel to the equator, are two other imaginary lines, which lie north or south of it.
These “tropics” or “turning points,” are where the solar disc reverses direction. They indicate the farthest point from the equator, at which the noon-day Sun will shine directly overhead.
On June 21st, the Sun will beam its rays straight down onto Mali, before it “turns” and heads south again. Astronomers refer to such maneuvers as “solstices” (“Sun stops,” in Latin).
Should an eclipse darken Malian skies, at solstice, the constellation Cancer would appear among the background stars. So, this turning point, is aptly termed the “Tropic of Cancer”.
Now moving southward, our restive star will arrive above the Lesotho-Botswana area, December 21st, then pivot, once more—this time, at the Tropic of Capricorn.
In the course its pendulous swing, the Sun makes two high-profile passages over the equator, annually (in March and September).
During the short intervals, when it is precisely overhead, nature apportions nearly equal amounts of darkness and light, to all of Earth: Resulting in the “equinoxes” (or “equal nights”).
This is where Calendar (Stone) Circles and festivals come in. The rains follow the Sun; and food-crops follow the rain.
Dr. Thebe Medupe, the famous South African cosmologist, explained in his lecture before the British Royal Society, that these circles were almost always connected with agriculture.
It greatly enhanced food security, in those days, to know the movement of the sun (or some other celestial body)—in order to predict seasonal change and prepare for planting.
The circles usually consist of stones, arranged so that the head piece is aligned with the rising Sun at equinox or solstice. (I tested the equinox alignment, in Cross River State.)
Meanwhile, most modern festivals also originated as agriculture-linked calendrical systems—methods of intercalation, devised to synchronize the lunar and tropical (solar) years.
It is by no means accidental, that virtually all equinox- and solstice-linked festivals are “New Year” celebrations, with “fertility” as major themes.
To be continued.
By
J.K. Obatala
