Spring Equinox 2023: Traditions Of Renewal Echo Into The Modern World

Thomas Nashe, a 16th-century British poet and playwright, undoubtedly anticipated spring in his own vibrant, singsong manner:

The flowers kiss our feet; the fields breathe sweetly.
Young couples encounter each other, elderly women sit,
These melodies welcome our ears in every street: cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-we, and witta-woo!
The beautiful season of spring!

Lovely spring, indeed. This is the season to take in the advancing daylight, hear the chirping of birds, smell the blooming flowers, and feel the sun’s rising heat.

All of them point to the impending spring equinox in 2023. The Northern Hemisphere’s official first spring day symbolizes rebirth, a period of tradition, and a peaceful balance between day and night.

Some people prefer to have everything planned up to the minute of Spring.

According to EarthSky, the spring equinox will occur on March 20 at precisely 21:24 UTC (Coordinated Universal Time). The way that works at various locations throughout the world is as follows (all times are converted to Daylight Saving Time):

Hawaii’s Honolulu: 11:24 a.m.
• Victoria, Canada, and San Francisco, California: 2:24 p.m.
• Guadalajara, Mexico, and Santa Fe, New Mexico: 3:24 p.m.
• Kingston, Jamaica, and Minneapolis, Minnesota: 4:24 p.m.
• Charleston, South Carolina, and Montreal, Canada: 5:24 p.m.
6:24 p.m. Halifax (Canada).

Here are some more locations to visit when crossing the Atlantic:

• 9:24 p.m. in Dublin (Ireland) and Accra (Ghana).
• 10:24 p.m. in Paris (France) and Algiers (Algeria).
• Alexandria, Egypt and Helsinki, Finland: 11:24 p.m.

For time zones east of those mentioned above, the equinox occurs on March 21 on Tuesday. A few more locations

• Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) and Istanbul (Turkey): 12:24 a.m.
• 1:24 a.m. in Dubai (United Arab Emirates).
2:54 a.m. • Mumbai (India).
• Hanoi (Vietnam) and Bangkok (Thailand): 4:24 a.m.
Singapore time is 5:24 a.m.
• Osaka (Japan) and Seoul (South Korea): 6:24 a.m.

For a list of significant cities, click here. You can also use this link to find exactly when the spring equinox occurs where you live.

People in the Northern Hemisphere anticipate longer days, blooming flowers, and increased greenery. However, for those who live south of the equator, the equinox signals the beginning of fall.

Therefore now is the time for South Africans, Aussies, and Chileans to anticipate the cooler fall weather.

None of this truly matters to people living near the equator (in cities like Singapore or Quito, Ecuador). Year-round, they experience around 12 hours of sun and darkness.

The same concept is conveyed if “vernal equinox” is ever used.

The Latin word “equinoxium,” which means “equality between day and night,” is where the word “equinox” originates. Vernal, which is Latin for “spring,” also denotes.

An ideal line connecting the North and South Poles forms the axis around which the Earth revolves. It is called the axis, which rotates to give us day and night.

Yet, according to NASA, the axis tilts at a 23.5-degree angle. As a result, for half of the year’s orbit around the sun, one hemisphere of the planet will receive more sunlight than the other. This variation in sunshine initiates the seasons.

Between late June and late December, the effect is at its strongest. These are the solstices, and particularly close to the poles, they have the greatest changes between day and night. (This explains why it is so gloomy for such a long period each day in the winter in regions like Scandinavia and Alaska.)

Yet, you’ve probably noticed that the days have been getting longer and the nights shorter in the Northern Hemisphere since the winter solstice three months ago in December. We have now reached the spring equinox!

Future solar exposure will favor the Northern Hemisphere over the Southern Hemisphere. Because of this, the temperature rises as we approach the summer solstice in June.

The “almost” equal hours of day and night are caused by the complicated method used to calculate sunrise

On the equinox, you get a little bit more daylight than darkness, though how much more varies on where in the world you are.

How is that possible when there should be 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness?

According to the US National Weather Service, the “almost” equal hours of day and night are caused by the complicated method used to calculate sunrise and the refraction of sunlight in our atmosphere.

The sun “appears above the horizon when the real position of the sun is below the horizon” due to these light beams being bent. Higher latitudes have longer days than the equator because the sun rises and sets more slowly as you move nearer the poles.

We had that truly equal day/night divide a few days before the spring equinox. It’s known as the equinox.

According to the website EarthSky, the equinoxes—spring or autumn—are excellent times to get your bearings if you enjoy watching the night sky. Just twice a year, on the equinoxes, does everyone on the Earth experience the sun rising in the east and setting in the west?

It is “a terrific day for finding east and west from your yard or another preferred place for studying the sky,” according to EarthSky. Just step outside at dusk or dawn and pay attention to where the sun appears in well-known locations.

Another interesting fact is that the sun sets faster in both hemispheres during equinoxes than during solstices. The cause? According to EarthSky, the setting sun strikes the horizon at the sharpest angle possible to the planet.

When the Earth’s tilt is the greatest, the sun sets more slowly during solstices

When the Earth’s tilt is the greatest, the sun sets more slowly during solstices. The impact also intensifies as you move further from the equator. Because of this, during the days leading up to the summer solstice, the sun never sets at all in the Arctic Circle.

People have gathered in England at the enigmatic Stonehenge for centuries to observe solstices and equinoxes. If you prefer small crowds, the equinoxes normally draw fewer people than the solstices. English Heritage arranges the festivities.

The Mayan location of Chichén Itzá in Mexico has unique connections to the equinox. On the equinoxes, a shadow tracing the outline of a snake of light (Kukulcán) descends the steps of the majestic pyramid known as El Castillo at the location.

Nevertheless, other ancient locations participate in the custom as well.

The annual Daffodil Day celebration will occur at Seattle’s Pike Place Market. While supplies last, market visitors will receive a complimentary bunch of daffodils.

The annual Cimburijada, or “Festival of Scrambled Eggs,” takes place in Zenica, a Bosnia and Herzegovina northwest of Sarajevo, on the first spring day.

Every culture in the globe observes the equinox. To name a few:

The Persian New Year is called Nowruz. It also goes by the names Nauryz, Navruz, or Nowrouz and means “new day.”

It doesn’t just happen to fall on the first day of spring. The Iranian calendar is a solar calendar, which means that time is established by Earth’s rotation around the sun by astronomical observations. Hence, the vernal equinox always marks the beginning of the year.

It’s a celebration of fresh starts, ushering in prosperity and the future while letting go of the past. Families use this time to buy new clothes, thoroughly clean their closets, and organize their houses.

According to VisitBeijing.com, trying to stand an egg upright during the spring equinox is a well-liked game in China. The practice is claimed to have originated thousands of years ago, and it is said that anyone who can make an egg stand would be lucky. And native spring veggies are eaten by people all around China.

Vernal Equinox Day is a public holiday in Japan (on Tuesday, March 21, this year). Although Japan has undergone extensive modernization, its citizens still follow ancient customs like visiting family cemeteries and hosting reunions to celebrate the spring equinox.

SOURCE – (CNN)