Nikio - 2008

2008

Tuesday, January 1, 2008 10:40:27 AM

I wish you a very happy, healthy and creative year of 2008*! Have as much fun as you possibly can!

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I am not really sure what exactly are we celebrating. I was doing a little bit of research and I found out that the dates for the New Years Eve vary from one era or culture to an other. I personally believe that it initially has to do with the pagan celebration of the southern solstice after which the day is getting longer (and the Sun wins over the dark forces of the night) on the northern hemisphere. This logic is no good for the modern people of the southern hemisphere who are now forced to celebrate New Years Eve and Christmas during their summer, when the sun is highest in the sky and now the dark forces of the night are getting stronger. Richard Dawkins often mentiones northern hemisphere chauvinism, and he must be right on that

(see the quote below)
However, some callendars are having new year's eve around equinox in March, which sounds more fair for the both hemispheres, but I quess the symbolic meaning is less significant then. I was trying to find some data on Australian Aboriginal calendar, but failed. If anyone has some decent link on that, please post it within the comments.

Originally posted by Richard Dawkins:

In a science-fiction starship, the astronauts were homesick: "Just to think that it's springtime back on Earth!" You may not immediately see what's wrong with this, so ingrained is our unconscious northern hemisphere chauvinism in those of us who live there, and even some who don't. "Unconscious" is exactly right. That is where consciousness-raising comes in. I it is for a deeper reason than gimmicky fun that, in Australia and New Zealand, you can buy maps of the world with the south pole on top. What a splendid consciousness-raiser those maps would be, pinned to the walls of our northern hemisphere classrooms.. Day after day, the children would be reminded that 'north' is an arbitrary polarity which has no monopoly on 'up'. The map would intrigue them as well as raise their consciousness.

(Dawkins, Richard: The God delusion, Bantam Press, Great Britain, 2006, pages 114-115)

PS: It is 2008, AND WE STILL HAVE NO FLYING CARS!

How the reality is shapedStar wars - I finally get it!