Page 233 - Fingerprints of the Gods by Graham Hancock

Graham Hancock – FINGERPRINTS OF THE GODS

everything is literally upside down: there winter begins on 21 June and
summer on 21 December.
The equinoxes, by contrast, are the two points in the year on which
night and day are of equal length all over the planet. Once again,
however, as with the solstices, the date that marks the onset of spring in
the northern hemisphere (20 March) marks that of autumn in the
southern hemisphere, and the date for the onset of autumn in the
northern hemisphere (22 September) marks the onset of spring in the
southern hemisphere.
Like the subtler variations of the seasons, all this is brought about by
the benevolent obliquity of the planet. The northern hemisphere’s
summer solstice falls at that point in the orbit when the North Pole is
aimed most directly towards the sun; six months later the winter solstice
marks that point when the North Pole is aimed most directly away from
the sun. And, logically enough, the reason that day and night are of
exactly equal length all over the planet on the spring and autumn
equinoxes is that these mark the two points when the earth’s axis of
rotation lies broadside-on to the sun.
Let us now take a look at a strange and beautiful phenomenon of
celestial mechanics.
This phenomenon is known as ‘the precession of the equinoxes’. It has
rigid and repetitive mathematical qualities that can be analysed and
predicted precisely. It is, however, extremely difficult to observe, and
even harder to measure accurately, without sophisticated
instrumentation.
In this, there may lie a clue to one of the great mysteries of the past.

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