Tuesday, March 18, 2008 at 2:02am
Early Easter
In case you haven't noticed, Easter is very early this year, falling as it does on March 23, 2008.
Most holidays fall on the same fixed date every year. Christmas is always Dec. 25, for example, and Halloween is always Oct. 31. Other holidays are always on the same day of the month, but the date is determined by the calendar. Thanksgiving is always the fourth Thursday in November, while Labor Day is always the first Monday in September.
But Easter is a moveable feast. It is figured by a formula based on the lunar calendar, which is how Jews date Pesach, or Passover, which is the Last Supper. This is why it moves around so much on our Roman Gregorian calendar, which is lunisolar, that is, calculated by a combination of solar and lunar influences. Easter in the Northern Hemisphere is always on the first Sunday following the first full moon (lunar) after the vernal equinox (solar). Of course, it follows the autumnal equinox in the Southern Hemisphere.
Parenthetically, the Islamic calendar, alone in the world, is a completely lunar calendar, with no influence from the sun. This means that Muslim holidays travel completely around the calendar, sometimes occurring in one season, and sometimes in another. Imagine how this affects the practice of Ramadan. How much easier to fast from sunrise to sunset in the winter when daylight hours are so much fewer than in the summertime.
This formula for reckoning the date of the celebration of Easter is meant to preserve its relationship to the astronomical phenomena, that is, the season of the year and the phase of the moon that would have occurred at the time of the resurrection of Christ, which is traditionally thought to have taken place in 30 A.D.
This means that Easter can fall anytime within the period of one month, or one full moon to the next. This year, the spring equinox is Thursday, March 20, at 1:48 AM EDT, or 10:48 PM PDT. The full moon is Friday, March 21; hence, the first Sunday that follows is March 23, Easter Sunday.
The earliest calendar date on which Easter can fall is March 22, and the latest date is April 25. So, this year's Easter on March 23 is in fact, very early in the possible cycle. The last time Easter fell on so early a date was 1913, which will only have been seen by folks who are 95 years old or older. And the next time it will do so will be in the year 2160, which, barring some miraculous breakthrough in longevity, will not be witnessed by anyone alive today.
The next time Easter Sunday falls on March 22 — the extreme earliest date possible — will be in the year 2285, or 277 years from now. The last time it occurred so early was on March 22 in 1818, 190 years ago. So no one alive today has ever seen or will ever see an earlier Easter than the one this year!
The odds are considerably better for witnessing a late Easter. Many people are still around from the last time Easter fell on April 25, an event that took place in 1943, and a good number of people alive today will likely still be around when Easter next falls on April 25, in 2038.
So this Easter is on the third day of spring and not likely to be very spring-like, weather-wise. It will not occur in the full bloom of the flowering season, but at its very inception. This seems extremely appropriate, as Easter celebrates the return to life after three days in the tomb, an apt metaphor for the coming back to life of nature after three months in the gloom of winter.
— — —
Donna Henes is an urban shaman in exotic Brooklyn, contemporary ceremonialist, award-winning author and popular speaker. Visit her website at www.donnahenes.net. Email her at {email cityshaman@aol.com}cityshaman@aol.com{/email}. © Copyright 2008 by Donna Henes.
Most holidays fall on the same fixed date every year. Christmas is always Dec. 25, for example, and Halloween is always Oct. 31. Other holidays are always on the same day of the month, but the date is determined by the calendar. Thanksgiving is always the fourth Thursday in November, while Labor Day is always the first Monday in September.
But Easter is a moveable feast. It is figured by a formula based on the lunar calendar, which is how Jews date Pesach, or Passover, which is the Last Supper. This is why it moves around so much on our Roman Gregorian calendar, which is lunisolar, that is, calculated by a combination of solar and lunar influences. Easter in the Northern Hemisphere is always on the first Sunday following the first full moon (lunar) after the vernal equinox (solar). Of course, it follows the autumnal equinox in the Southern Hemisphere.
Parenthetically, the Islamic calendar, alone in the world, is a completely lunar calendar, with no influence from the sun. This means that Muslim holidays travel completely around the calendar, sometimes occurring in one season, and sometimes in another. Imagine how this affects the practice of Ramadan. How much easier to fast from sunrise to sunset in the winter when daylight hours are so much fewer than in the summertime.
This formula for reckoning the date of the celebration of Easter is meant to preserve its relationship to the astronomical phenomena, that is, the season of the year and the phase of the moon that would have occurred at the time of the resurrection of Christ, which is traditionally thought to have taken place in 30 A.D.
This means that Easter can fall anytime within the period of one month, or one full moon to the next. This year, the spring equinox is Thursday, March 20, at 1:48 AM EDT, or 10:48 PM PDT. The full moon is Friday, March 21; hence, the first Sunday that follows is March 23, Easter Sunday.
The earliest calendar date on which Easter can fall is March 22, and the latest date is April 25. So, this year's Easter on March 23 is in fact, very early in the possible cycle. The last time Easter fell on so early a date was 1913, which will only have been seen by folks who are 95 years old or older. And the next time it will do so will be in the year 2160, which, barring some miraculous breakthrough in longevity, will not be witnessed by anyone alive today.
The next time Easter Sunday falls on March 22 — the extreme earliest date possible — will be in the year 2285, or 277 years from now. The last time it occurred so early was on March 22 in 1818, 190 years ago. So no one alive today has ever seen or will ever see an earlier Easter than the one this year!
The odds are considerably better for witnessing a late Easter. Many people are still around from the last time Easter fell on April 25, an event that took place in 1943, and a good number of people alive today will likely still be around when Easter next falls on April 25, in 2038.
So this Easter is on the third day of spring and not likely to be very spring-like, weather-wise. It will not occur in the full bloom of the flowering season, but at its very inception. This seems extremely appropriate, as Easter celebrates the return to life after three days in the tomb, an apt metaphor for the coming back to life of nature after three months in the gloom of winter.
— — —
Donna Henes is an urban shaman in exotic Brooklyn, contemporary ceremonialist, award-winning author and popular speaker. Visit her website at www.donnahenes.net. Email her at {email cityshaman@aol.com}cityshaman@aol.com{/email}. © Copyright 2008 by Donna Henes.