The Spring or
Vernal Equinox is known for being a time of organic rejuvenation for the
physical world, which includes earth’s landscape, plants, animals, human
beings, and other reproductive entities. This is also when daylight savings time takes place, which is a time when the Fall Equinox transitions over to the Spring Equinox
around March 20th or vice-verse when the Spring Equinox changes
over to the Fall Equinox around September 23rd .
These seasonal functions were first illustrated by dates in the ancient Roman calendar system that was based on the amount of time it takes planet earth to circle the sun, which a solar year or 1 full year. The
first month of the ancient solar year was March, which included the Spring Equinox on
March 15th, or a day before, or after the 15th of the
month known as the Ides of March. It was during this period that a group of elders were
handpicked by Roman rulers to consult with each other daily to determine the
exact date of the month, which was based on the distinct phases of the moon and
the position of the stars.
Under this calendar
system, the crescent moon signaled the beginning of the month, which was
between 29½ to 30 days. Plus, the Roman
calendar year had 10 months divided by 308 days with 8-day weeks. The current months of
January and February did not exist at the time. These were just winter months
without numerical days. Although this Roman calendar equaled a solar year, these calculated dates were not in line with the four seasons of Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. Because of this numeric inefficiency, the Spring and
Autumn Equinoxes under this first Roman system shortened the calendar year by 10-11
days.
Eventually, the Roman calendar was changed to align the calendar months with the four seasons. This was a result of
the expansion of Rome caused by power struggles. The idea of this
alignment originated under the Greek calendar system. These Greek astronomers kept
a watchful eye on the phases of the moon that lasted 29½ days, and both January
and February were incorporated into the length of their calendar year. As
indicated, this calculation gave the Greek calendar 368¾ days divided into 12½
months or a Greek solar year. In fact, some months contained 29 or 30 days
under this system and leap year every 4 years.
However, using
the Greek calculation methods involving the sun, moon and stars over a
four-year period gave the Roman calendar system an extra 5 days. Rather than
integrate all of the Greek methods into the Roman system, the Roman scholars
created a calendar system that contained 31 days in the 3rd, 5th,
7th, and 10th month of the calendar year. The reason
behind adding 31 days to these months was that ancient Romans believed God liked odd numbers.
All other months
in the Roman calendar system had 29 days except for one month, which was
February that had 28 days. Since these extra 5 days existed out of time, the
Roman astronomers and mathematicians incorporated an extra day into February every
four years to bring the 5 days back inside of time. This specific calendar combination
was calculated by using the philosophy of the Pythagorean tribes.
Subsequently,
when Julius Caesar conquered the Roman Empire, he ordered the
reformation of the Roman calendar. The structure of the new calendar contained 12
months divided by 365 days and kept the traditional leap year of every four
years. Although changes were made to align this tropical year or the Spring and
Fall Equinoxes with the correct seasons, the Julian calendar moved toward an
average of 365.25 days over a 12-month period. Consequently, the calendar year
gained 3 days every 4 centuries.
Therefore, religious festivals and ceremonial rituals around the Easter Holiday kept having to be moved forward or backwards. So, an organization of Roman Catholics and Christians, the First Council of Nicaea, recommended changes be made to the Roman calendar under Pope Gregory XIII. This council complained about the calendar because there was a drift in time over the years that made the calendar year longer, and it was not in sync with the four seasons.
These suggested changes by the First Council of Nicaea were approved by the Holy See in 1582, and a permanent date for Easter was set on the first Sunday after the first full moon, which is known as the ecclesiastical or paschal moon, of the Spring Equinox. This adjustment shortened the Roman calendar by 0.002%, which became known as the Gregorian modification. The complexity of the Gregorian calendar made all years that could be divided by 4 a leap year. However, certain years are not leap years if these years could be divided by 100, but a year that can be divided by 400 is considered a leap year. The first year of each century for instance,1400, 1500, and 1600 are not considered leap years, but the first year of the new millennium, 2000, was a leap year.
Now, there is somewhat of an understanding that a common denominator does exists among past history, biblical history, astrology, and astronomy. For one thing, the original dates for religious holidays were based on astronomy, which includes Christmas. It is widely accepted in knowledge based communities, some religious communities, and the general public that astronomy measures
the order, movement, and significance of the stars and other celestial bodies,
and astrology is how the harmonic sequence of these things influence our lives.
Since it has been explained that a single action or group of events takes place naturally in our astral-universe and has an impact on our daily lives, there needs to be an acceptance of this scientific logic that leads us into the supernatural.
