Yup, there is plenty of corroboration out there in Historyland. That's the place where most of the answers can be found. Research is the vehicle with which to travel throughout this place and its fun to dig through the past, but just as at any theme park, not everyone likes the roller coasters.
“Back at the time of the Greeks,” Odenwald explains, “the first day of spring started when the sun appeared in the constellation Aries and then everything was marked from that time forward around the circuit of the year.”(1)
There are plenty of cultures which are celebrating the Spring Solstice and to them we say Happy New Year!
Nowruz (Persian New Year): This is one of humanity's oldest celebrations, going back thousands of years. Nowruz is a word in the Farsi language of Iran, and it means new day.
The United Nations says more than 300 million people celebrate Nowruz. This includes Iran as well as places that have felt Persian influence through the ages: the Balkans, the Black Sea Basin, the Caucasus, Central Asia and the Middle East.
Despite the tradition predating the rise of Islam by many centuries, it's a national holiday in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Vernal Equinox Day: On the other side of Asia from Iran is another country with a public holiday: Japan.
The holiday has its roots in the ancient Shintoism religion. Adherents believed that every natural object possessed a spiritual force. During spring, trees and flowers thrive, so eventually the vernal equinox became the official day for celebrating.
The holiday is now a secular one. To celebrate, people will hold family reunions, visit shrines and seek out cherry blossoms and other natural wonders.
Holi: Yet another Asian religion -- Hinduism -- has an arrival-of-spring holiday. Holi a very old festival. The first known mention of it is in a fourth century poem.
It's a national holiday in India, and it is celebrated on the day after the full moon in the Hindu month of Phalguna. It's not a uniform holiday -- the start and end dates can vary by region and the duration of the celebration can be different, too. For many Indians in 2019, Holi will start on Wednesday, March 20, and end the next day.
For many Westerners, the holiday is known for the vibrantly colored powders with which people cover themselves and others.
Easter: It's no coincidence that Christians around the world celebrate the resurrection of Jesus around the same time that spring brings a rebirth to nature (in the temperate zones of the Northern Hemisphere, at any rate).
The date of each Easter is set on the first Sunday after the full moon that occurs on or after the spring equinox. That allows Easter to fall anywhere from March 22 to April 25. In 2019, Easter will be April 21. (Eastern Orthodox churches will celebrate on April 28).
Ancient sites and gatherings
Our ancestors had a keen awareness of the seasons and the movements of the sun and other stars. They built mysterious sites that have at least one obvious use: that of giant calendars, often aligned to prominently display shafts of sunlight during solstices and equinoxes.
Here are just a few of them:
Chichen Itza, Mexico: This complex of Mayan ruins on the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico is popular all year but especially during the spring and autumn equinoxes.
At the "El Castillo" pyramid dedicated to Kukulcán (or Quetzalcoatl), the late afternoon sun creates the shadow illusion of a snake slowly sliding down the northern staircase. Thousands come here to witness this spectacle, and the day now has a carnival atmosphere, with music, dancers and more.
Mnajdra Temples, Malta: On the Mediterranean island of Malta, the Mnajdra complex consists of three temples. The buildings are estimated to date from 3600 B.C. to 2500 B.C.
During the spring and fall equinoxes, the rising sun is in exact alignment with the main doorway of the lower temple, which allows sunlight to fill the main corridor into the innermost altar. It's a celebrated event on the island.
Stonehenge, England: The most famous Neolithic structure in England if not the world is the gathering place for pagans, druids and the plain curious during spring equinox.
You can arrange a tour during either of the equinoxes or solstices and watch the same awe-inspiring, clockwork sunrise that our ancient ancestors witnessed thousands of years ago.
2019 equinox bonus: Supermoon!
This year's vernal equinox has something special: The last supermoon of 2019. It's called the Full Worm Moon, and it will rise on the same day as the equinox. (2)
Celebrations are abound globally as we also happen to be under the actual, factual, beginning of the fabled Mayan Calendar's New Age!
In an interview with New Scientist magazine, world renowned theoretical physicist, Steven Hawking, has claimed the Mayan Calendar’s apocalyptic end date of 2012 is based on flawed calculations.
“In many ways the Mayan’s were ahead of their time,” Hawking is quoted as saying, “but in others they were a little too clever for their own good. In this instance they made the mistake of double counting bank holidays, meaning their calendar isn’t due to run out for a further eight years. People should actually be worrying about 2020, that’s the real end of the civilized world.”
We were seemingly misled once again by the media apparatus and all that. We can now readjust and rationalize why the changes we are seeing globally are both timely and necessary. Maybe this was more likely mis reported (because as we know, the news is complicit in truth suppression) as being on 12/21/2012. This end of the world scenario was yet a way to prep for the infamous 2021 Tyrrany Plan by the UN to impose a draconic resource management system a.k.a. Agenda 21.
This sustainability myth was always pitched sweetly by the corrupt politicians who would skim off of it, and directly help them steal from us. This program of poverty was to call sustainability Czars which would control the resources of each nation and decide who gets what. You mean like Viceroys?!?! Yeah ok buddy!
We have luckily watched that global legislation so far crash and burn. Over the past 7 years we have watched thousands of leaders of industry and heads of state bow shamefully in scandal after scandal. We know these people better and know their networks. We now have seen a new pack of polarizing characters emerge whom have repackaged old ideas into the shiny new, Agenda 2030. This agenda outlines 17 goals to meet, see below.
Goal 1: No poverty
Goal 2: Zero hunger
Goal 3: Good health and well-being for people
Goal 4: Quality education
Goal 5: Gender equality
Goal 6: Clean water and sanitation
Goal 7: Affordable and clean energy
Goal 8: Decent work and economic growth
Goal 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
Goal 10: Reducing inequalities
Goal 11: Sustainable cities and communities
Goal 12: Responsible consumption and production
Goal 13: Climate action
Goal 14: Life below water
Goal 15: Life on land
Goal 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions
Goal 17: Partnerships for the goals
Not bad if you ask me, especially due to the changes to the global reserve currency and trade which also is currently being resolved in the US. China trade squabble. So much is visibly soon to the resolved with a golden oldie which will truly propel us into the prophetic Mayan Golden Age of Aquarius. Me, I personally have forgot about that end of the world nonsense!
One last thing of note to share is how this year we also see confluence in that this is the first time in 19 years since the last time a Supermoon fell on an Equinox.
The best time to catch all the lunacy is after local sunset on March 20 and 21, just as the moon rises. This is when the orb will appear at its biggest and brightest hovering above the horizon.
Would this make 3/20/20 that much more significant in this tale from Historyland lore?
How exciting!
Happy New Zodiac Year!
(1)
http://time.com/5315377/are-zodiac-signs-real-astrology-history/
(2)
https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/spring-equinox-wxc/index.html
(3)
https://thatcricketblog.wordpress.com/2012/12/21/steven-hawking-mayans-miscalculated-by-8-years-2020-is-actual-end-of-civilisation/
(4)
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdgs
(5)
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2019/03/see-first-super-worm-moon-on-spring-equinox-in-19-years/