What is with the Equinox?
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What is with the Equinox?
Spring Equinox, Autumn Equinox – these are two points in the yearly cycle of the Earth in relation to The Sun. They occur around the 23rd of March and 23rd of September every year, and they are noted and experienced everywhere on the planet. But what is the significance of these two dates, why do we acknowledge them, and what comes of them in our lives as Human Beings living on Earth?
Firstly, let’s look at the science of how the equinoxes occur. If the earth was to spin on an axis that was ‘vertical north to south’, then we would not experience the seasons and there would be no equinoxes. Cycles that our planet cannot do without simply would not exist. But because the Earth is tilted in its rotational axis, a whole series of consequences become evident to all life here on this planet. In our yearly orbit around the Sun, our tilted planet keeps its angle of tilt consistent to the Stars, and so its orientation to the Sun alters as it travels around. As a result, the seasons of the Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere occur, one in contrast to the other. We therefore get the extremes of the seasons, with January being mid-summer in the South, and simultaneously being mid-winter in the North. It is midway between Summer and Winter that we find the Equinoxes. These are the points where night and day equal each other.
The really interesting thing with this is that the whole planet experiences this at the same time. At no other moment can this be said. On any other day of the year, the day-length and night-length vary from one location to another. The exception to this is the equator, where night and day consistently remain the same, and remain equal to each other, throughout the whole year. But as you move away from the equator in any direction, you will experience a shift in day/night length.
There is another phenomenon that is related to the equinoxes, and that is the measurement of precession. This is a huge but subtle cycle of the axis itself, which seems to have a ‘wobble’ to it, completing one turn every 26,500 years. This wobble can be measured in two ways, firstly by looking towards the poles of the earth projected into space. Currently the north celestial pole points towards the star Polaris; however, this has changed over the centuries as recorded by ancient peoples.
The other way we observe this ‘Great Year’ cycle is through projecting the equator of the earth out into space and observing where this intersects with the Constellations of the Zodiac. On the vernal equinox each year (this is the Spring Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere) we observe the exact location of the Sun within the Constellations. Presently this can be calculated to be the very early portion of Aquarius, whereas the Sun has been positioned with Pisces for the last two thousand years or so. It is when the earth is at Equinox that this is measured in relation to the Zodiac, again bringing an element of magic to this extraordinary date each year.
It is during the equinox, twice a year, in autumn and in spring, that we all, regardless of where we are, experience 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of night. This is totally independent of latitude or longitude, or time zone, or ‘daylight saving’. It is a phenomenon that defies clocks, human intervention, and where distance is of no relevance whatsoever. It is on this day, every six months, when we are all the same, there is no separation between north and south, between east and west, just a sense of all being One.
The seasons of Spring and Autumn are seasons of change, where Summer and Winter meet, and they are the seasons when change is happening at its fastest. These are the motion seasons. Indeed, the equinoxes are not only the points in the year when night equals day, but they are also the points in the yearly cycle where the rate of change is at its greatest. It is here where the beauty of mathematics is expressed to us through the unfolding of this living cycle on this very planet, and this planet’s relationship to the Sun, the centre of our Solar System.
The movement of the earth with its tilted axis around the Sun, when observed and measured upon the surface of the earth produces a Sine Curve, more commonly referred to as a Bell Curve. Observing the movement of the Sun on the eastern horizon at sunrise each day, we can note its shifting orientation through the seasons. This is gradual in its movement along the horizon, yet this quite obviously accelerates around the equinoxes and slows around the solstices. When plotted as a graph, this rate of change forms the shape of a bell over the course of a full twelve months. This mathematical shape is the foundation of calculus and trigonometry, and it is presented to us in our daily unfolding of the movement of the sun along the horizon over the course of a year; it is simultaneously reflected in the length of the day and the night, and also in the ‘height’ of the sun overhead in relation to the horizon. All these at their quickest rate of change at equinox.
In the middle of Winter and in the middle of Summer, the change in day-length is very gradual. It is here, at the Solstices, that the days remain consistent for the longest time, with very little movement. These are the seasons of repose. As we approach the equinoxes, this rate of change quickens. During the months of March/April and September/October a lot of change occurs in the relationship between day and night in both hemispheres of the planet. A lot changes during this time, and nature fully reflects this, with massive obvious changes in the cycles of plants and in the cycles of animals.
Spring is of course the season of birth in so many ways, with trees and plants everywhere bursting into bud. Often being dormant over winter, these plants begin their reproductive cycles again, with enormous growth of new leaves, buds and blossoms as the cycle of the earth passes through spring equinox. Insects emerge out of hibernation or are birthed out of dormant stages. Birds start building nests and like many animals at this time, begin mating. The weather changes at these times, and many animals migrate, across land and seas, and in the mighty oceans themselves.
This is equally true for the season of Autumn, some six months later at the corresponding equinox. Trees and plants everywhere in the northern and southern hemispheres produce their seeds, the results of the previous spring flowering and summer fruiting. Bees store their honey from the summer harvest to keep the hives alive over coming winter. Trees drop their leaves to feed the ground beneath them. Animals are fat from the summer abundance.
The equinoxes and the associated seasons of Spring and Autumn, both bring great change to the entire planet, and of course to the entirety of Humanity. Although we may think of ourselves as above or somewhat separate from the cycles of nature in our modern world, energetically and deep within the particles that are our foundation, it is a different story.
For deep within our ancientness, the cycles of our planet are working in turn through us in ways that we might not fully understand nor comprehend, yet they are intrinsically within our very cells and inner structure, responding and in tune with it all.
The equinoxes unfold within our lives, connecting us to a Oneness that cannot be separated from in truth, although we may not fully appreciate this. Although Spring and Autumn may be at opposite ends of nature’s expression, with very different seasonal changes occurring, astronomically these are parallel to each other, mirroring the movement of Summer and Winter in their interaction and celestial dance.
It is beautiful to feel the movement of the seasons as an expression of these celestial cycles, of a simple yet profound movement of a planet around a star in its perfect imperfection, as its tilt in relation to the sun brings such beautiful expression to life on the Earth.
In our very real and physical human experience on planet earth, it is natural to experience the shifting of the seasons as being a very ‘earthy’ thing, yet how expansive is it to truly feel that so much of what we experience on this planet is actually the result of the workings and outpourings of a celestial nature. In other words, the earth in all its unfolding cycles of nature, in all that comes to expression through the various kingdoms upon this plane of life, are all interconnected and in harmony with greater movements and cycles on a universal realm. The universe is indeed being expressed to us through the living cycles of the natural world.
The paradox of the equinoxes being both points of equilibrium yet points of greatest change is very real in its expression, unifying the entire planet in its shifting tides of movement and flow. Each year we are gifted these shifting currents of change and the very real coming together that is offered simultaneously to all, no matter where we find ourselves upon the earth’s surface.
Allowing the winds of change to flow through us and reorientate our focus to wherever is needed is indeed what is offered to Humanity, the whole of Humanity, at these times. This is the offering of the Equinoxes. And this is what we bring to ourselves in our own lives, within this great cycle offered to us in this Earth-school that we find ourselves rotating and orbiting upon.
Filed under
Astronomy, Cycles, Harmony, Humanity, Universe
