When Julius Caesar established his calendar in 45
BC he set March 25 as the spring equinox.
Because the Julian calendar is slightly longer than actual, the dates
drifted and by 1500 AD the spring equinox occurred on March 11. Pope Gregory XIII created the modern calendar
to restore the edicts of Nicaea’s Council regarding the date Easter is
celebrated. As a consequence the date of equinox was moved four days
earlier. Incidentally, the English word Easter comes from the celebration of Vernal (spring) by the Germanic tribes for the
season that brings more daylight, increasing temperatures and the rebirth of
animals and plants alike. The Spring Equinox is also referred to as Vernal
Equinox.
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A touch of peace and serenity....how lovely it is....a place to think, a place to ponder an escape into a world of sweet wonder.
ReplyDeleteYour photo inspires the poet in me:
Spring
BY GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS
Nothing is so beautiful as Spring –
When weeds, in wheels, shoot long and lovely and lush;
Thrush’s eggs look little low heavens, and thrush
Through the echoing timber does so rinse and wring
The ear, it strikes like lightnings to hear him sing;
The glassy peartree leaves and blooms, they brush
The descending blue; that blue is all in a rush
With richness; the racing lambs too have fair their fling.
What is all this juice and all this joy?
A strain of the earth’s sweet being in the beginning
In Eden garden. – Have, get, before it cloy,
Before it cloud, Christ, lord, and sour with sinning,
Innocent mind and Mayday in girl and boy,
Most, O maid’s child, thy choice and worthy the winning.