• picture
  • picture
  • picture
  • picture
Public Radio's Environmental News Magazine (follow us on Google News)

The Living on Earth Almanac

Air Date: Week of

Facts about...hurricanes.

Transcript

CURWOOD: As long as humanity has wandered the Earth, the sun has inspired a sense of awe and wonder. The summer solstice, the longest day in the northern hemisphere, was long celebrated in northern Europe with bonfires that symbolize the warming of the Earth and fertility. In Sweden, a midsummer tree was decorated and people jumped over fires. In Germany couples would leap over fires hand in hand to announce their marriages. Like many other ancient societies, the Natchez Indians worshipped the sun, believing their leader to be descended from it. The Hopi Indians believe that at midsummer the Katsinas, the messengers of the gods, would leave Hopi villages to commune with the dead. Even a comparatively young religion like Christianity uses the longest day to mark the birth of John the Baptist. Jesus had once called John "a burning and shining light," and the early Church said that midsummer fires should represent John. And for this week, that's the Living on Earth almanac.

 

 

Living on Earth wants to hear from you!

Living on Earth
62 Calef Highway, Suite 212
Lee, NH 03861
Telephone: 617-287-4121
E-mail: comments@loe.org

Newsletter [Click here]

Donate to Living on Earth!
Living on Earth is an independent media program and relies entirely on contributions from listeners and institutions supporting public service. Please donate now to preserve an independent environmental voice.

Newsletter
Living on Earth offers a weekly delivery of the show's rundown to your mailbox. Sign up for our newsletter today!

Sailors For The Sea: Be the change you want to sea.

Creating positive outcomes for future generations.

Innovating to make the world a better, more sustainable place to live. Listen to the race to 9 billion

The Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment: Committed to protecting and improving the health of the global environment.

Contribute to Living on Earth and receive, as our gift to you, an archival print of one of Mark Seth Lender's extraordinary wildlife photographs. Follow the link to see Mark's current collection of photographs.

Buy a signed copy of Mark Seth Lender's book Smeagull the Seagull & support Living on Earth