Equinox

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(Redirected from Vernal equinox)
See also: Solstice

An equinox is an astronomical phenomenon commonly regarded as the instant of time when Golarion's equator would, if extended outward as a plane, pass through the center of its sun; in other words, it is the moment at which the center of the visible sun is directly above the equator. In the northern hemisphere, the early equinox on the Absalom Reckoning calendar is called the vernal or spring equinox, and the late equinox is called the autumnal or fall equinox. The vernal equinox on the northern hemisphere is the autumnal equinox on the southern hemisphere, and vice versa.1

Several holidays on Golarion are celebrated on equinoxes, including the Chelaxian Days of Wrath on both equinoxes;2 on the vernal equinox, the Gozren fertility celebration of Firstbloom,3 First Cut in Falcon's Hollow,4 and Planting Week for followers of Erastil;3 and on the autumnal equinox, Erastil's Harvest Feast,5 the Desnan Swallowtail Festival,3 and the Festival of Night's Return in Nidal.6

In the Shenmen the spring equinox is a time of celebration while the autumnal is known as the First Long Night, and a time to prepare the village defenses against increased undead activity.7

References

For additional as-yet unincorporated sources about this subject, see the Meta page.

  1. Equinox, Wikipedia.
  2. Colin McComb. “Social: Religious Holidays” in Faiths of Corruption, 30. Paizo Inc., 2011
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 James Jacobs, et al. Holidays and Festivals” in The Inner Sea World Guide, 248. Paizo Inc., 2011
  4. Judy Bauer, et al. Falcon's Hollow” in Towns of the Inner Sea, 17. Paizo Inc., 2013
  5. Sean K Reynolds. Erastil” in Gods and Magic, 14. Paizo Inc., 2008
  6. Liane Merciel, et al. “Gazetteer” in Nidal, Land of Shadows, 16. Paizo Inc., 2018
  7. Eren Ahn, et al. Shenmen” in Tian Xia World Guide, 196. Paizo Inc., 2024

External links

  • Equinox (real-world concept) on Wikipedia