How is the date of Easter set each year?
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It has to do with the phases of the moon. It is set for the first Sunday after the full moon that follows the spring equinox in the northern hemisphere. That's why it can vary for up to a month from the end of March to the end of April, depending on when that full moon happens. There's some inaccuracy involved with that since the tables used to calculate Easter are so old that some of the astronomical dates are actually incorrect.
Oh and I just looked it up to make sure I was remembering it correctly and apparently some protestants use the Gregorian Calender and some use the Julian calender further muddying the already murky waters of the calculations!
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From my SearchWarp article:
There's been a spring celebration, like Easter, since the dawn of histoy. Easter is 'officially' the first Sunday; after the first full moon; after the vernal equinox, which means, "green time of equal day and night." It has to do with the 23 1/2 degree tip of the Earth's axis and solstises. It's a complicated formula. It takes 5.7 million years for the "exact moment" of the equinox to repeat. We just say March 20th to make it easy. Early men were interested in that stuff; Stonehenge, Carnes, Medicine Wheels, Pyramids etc. It has always been about coming back to life in spring. It was spiritual. People sensed their own souls, and a higher power and hoped for rebirth like in nature for themselves.
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