Traditional season divisions

Traditional season divisions

Traditional temperate seasonal changes on a city road in Manchester, UK:
Spring	Summer	Autumn	Winter

Traditional seasons are reckoned by insolation, with summer being the quarter of the year with the greatest insolation and winter the quarter with the least. These seasons begin about four weeks earlier than the meteorological seasons and 7 weeks earlier than the astronomical seasons.
In traditional reckoning, the seasons begin at the cross-quarter days. The solstices and equinoxes are the midpoints of these seasons. For example, the days of greatest and least insolation are considered the "midsummer" and "midwinter" respectively.
This reckoning is used by various traditional cultures in the Northern Hemisphere, including East Asian and Irish cultures.^{[citation needed]} In Iran, Afghanistan and some other parts of Middle East the beginning of the astronomical spring is the beginning of the new year which is called Nowruz.
So, according to traditional reckoning, winter begins between 5 November and 10 November, Samhain, 立冬 (lìdōng or rittou); spring between 2 February and 7 February, Imbolc, 立春 (lìchūn or risshun); summer between 4 May and 10 May, Beltane, 立夏 (lìxià or rikka); and autumn between 3 August and 10 August, Lughnasadh, 立秋 (lìqiū or risshū). The middle of each season is considered Mid-winter, between 20 December and 23 December, 冬至 (dōngzhì or touji); Mid-spring, between 19 March and 22 March, 春分 (chūnfēn or shunbun); Mid-summer, between 19 June and 23 June, 夏至 (xiàzhì or geshi); and Mid-autumn, between 21 September and 24 September, 秋分 (qiūfēn or shūbun).

[edit] Australia

Main article: Indigenous Australian seasons

The traditional aboriginal people of Australia defined the seasons by what was happening to the plants, animals and weather around them. This led to each separate tribal group having different seasons, some with up to eight seasons each year. However, most modern Aboriginal Australians follow either four or six meteorological seasons, as do non-Aboriginal Australians.
The commonly followed dates are as follows: 1st day of March, June, September and December for the start of Autumn, Winter, Spring and Summer, respectively.

[edit] Celts

The ancient Celts recognised only two seasons: summer and winter. These were marked by festivals, Samhain and Beltaine, to celebrate the death and rebirth of the sun.

[edit] China

Chinese seasons are traditionally based on 24 periods known as solar terms, and begin at the midpoint of solstices and equinoxes.^[12]

[edit] India

In the Hindu calendar, there are six seasons or Ritu: Vasanta (Spring), Greeshma (Summer), Varsha (Monsoon) and Sharad (Autumn), Hemanta (pre-hibernal), Shishira (Winter).
The six seasons are ascribed to two months each of the twelve months in the Hindu calendar. The rough correspondences are:

Hindu season	Start	End	Hindu Months
Greeshma	mid-April	mid-June	Vaishakha, Jyestha
Varsha	mid-June	mid-August	Ashadha, Shravana
Sharad	mid-August	mid-October	Bhadrapada, Ashwayuja
Hemanta	mid-October	mid-December	Kartika, Maargashirsha
Shishira	mid-December	mid-February	Pushya, Magha
Vasanta	mid-February	mid-April	Phalguna, Chaitra

[edit] See also

• Indian Summer
• Perennial tea ceremony
• Months
• Persephone
• Risks and benefits of sun exposure
• Indigenous Australian seasons