Father Sky

There are many questions for which we have no real answers, especially questions of early humans who are no longer here to ask nor written record to decipher. So here’s another, knowing full well the only answers will be just speculation.

Today we celebrate Equinox, the half-way point in the Earth’s journey from Winter to Summer, (or Summer to Winter for our Southern Hemisphere friends). In fact there’s no shortage of journals and websites that will tell you the precise moment the Sun crosses the equator, (11:44 GMT). But other than being the “official” start of Spring and an interesting tidbit of planetary dynamics, so what? Today will have a little bit more daylight than yesterday but it’s been progressing like that for 3 months and will continue for another 3. Unlike the Solstice’s which mark a significant turning point in the Sun’s journey as well as signal a reversal of recent weather trends, the Equinox’s are just another bump on the horizon, (see my “Calendar” post of June 13 ‘08 and “Let’s make our own” of June 26 ‘08).

So why do we care? Or better yet, why did early humans care?

OK, so here’s where the speculation comes in. The Equinox may or may not be the best day to sow or harvest, may or may not be the day the herds migrate or fish run. That all would depend on latitude, terrain and probably a dozen other considerations. But if we remove the Earthly impacts and just consider the Sun itself it might make more sense. If the Sun were a deity or at least something, (someone?) with tremendous influence on our lives, we would be sure to follow and even honor them out of respect or maybe even fear. Anyone who tracked the Sun’s progress throughout the year would care about the halfway point between the Solstice’s, not because of any impact here but more likely to honor the traveler and the journey, (how many times have you noted you’re “halfway there” when on a long journey?).

To the left is a photo of El Castillo, a Mayan structure at Chichen Itza on the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico by jimg944

What is significant about this structure is that only on the evening of the Equinox, the Sun rays hit those step-like stones on the right side of the pyramid and illuminate the short wall on the side of stairs coming down the face of the pyramid. Due to the jagged outline the wall takes on a slithering snake appearance which is certainly intentional. At the bottom of the stairs, halfway out of the field of view is a stone snake head to complete the effect!

So as I said, this is just speculation. But how would you explain it?

Happy Equinox!