Solar Hijri The high symbol of this season of Lent is the commemorationof the "Triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem" on a donkey, a sandaledcarpenter of the House of David riding. Loud Hosanna is the order of the day, more so as the leaders of theSynagogue expected a rebel to liberate them from the clutches of Rome. It was a bitter disappointment that the elder rebel fromGalilee (life expectancy then averaged 34) hung at 33 on a cross on Friday. Whether the accounts of the Gospels wereaccurate (there were many literary accounts, 56 gospels was the academic countwhen I was at Seminary), authoritative by Church Councils' decisions in the fourthcentury, the religious drama was well crafted and impressive in scope, from thewaving of the palm leaves to the empty tomb, and later, the ascension intoheaven. This is first day of the year in the Solar Hijri, aka Shamal Hijri, the calendar of Iranand Afghanistan and the Islamic world that always begins with the vernalequinox. Pope Gregory decided that thebirth of the Infant Jesus started the Christian calendar, which dominatedEurope. Imperials sailed across the Mediterraneanto the open seas in search of spice and colonized the world, but now we ask forrelevance as the seasons of the northern hemisphere was imposed on the rest ofthe planet including the tropics. We snicker at Aussies starting their summer in December, dreamingof physiological White Christmas; when snow falls in Tazmania, it happens inJuly, and the white fluff in Kiwi's Dunedin is so rare that it getsmemorialized when it happens. Nevertheless,the Aussies' calendar is just as valid as the commercial one imposed on thetropics; we recognize the European four seasons though the only cold that ninety-ninepercent of the population encounter are at the corner grocery store freezerswhere the meat and seafood are stored, and the refrigeration that keeps the beercold. I have a global map on my wall that looks at the world fromthe 23rd degree latitude N, a perspective common to those who use the Mercator NorthPole projection dominating the West until the 70s when the Africans pointed outthat the map made the USSR, when it was still intact, look bigger than theAfrican continent. Area land mass wasaccounted for by the Peter's projection but then, it also developed otherdistortions. A good check on any map is whether Ecuador in South Americais at the middle section of the map; if it is about two-thirds south, the mapfocused on the northern hemisphere like the old Mercator projection. This is where perspective influenced behavior. The European racial superiority stems fromthe Aryans (Iranians) who came into Europe from the Caucasus that became theroyals, and those who headed for India to became the Brahmin of the Asian CasteSystem. The movie star Meryl Streep not too long ago got in troublefor saying that DNA-wise, we emerged from Africa, the variable being only 3percent and mostly on the melanin that determines the color of the skin toadopt to the solar impact on any group headed in any given direction. The skin part is scientifically contested,but the DNA make-up is now standard Science: all of us came from Africa! It is from the vernal equinox that Christians peg theirEaster. The season of Lent since Augustineshivered with guilt over his wayward youth, created a lasting explanation ofwhy that was the case. We are borndefective by virtue of "original sin" infected by the transgressionsof original parents in the Garden of Eden. We all needed to be restored from this victim's story through thesalvific act of the man on the cross, and that's why we call Friday Good. That is now enshrined in the Gregorian calendar. But without the dark perspective of theMonastics, the Solar Hijri celebrates 13 days of revelry before the stellarconstellations in the West (Aries to Pisces). Animals inhabit the Zodiac in the East (the Monkey prances this year). We will stick with the predominant Christian symbol systemof the islands. Traditions who followedthe Solar Hijri hold this day as a holiday but China in the later part of theQing dynasty succumbed to the influence of the British and their allies that followedthe Gregorian calendar. The influence ofthe Prophets Hijra in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Indochina come to mind but they followedtheir colonizer's calendar. India,too. The Philippines? We make the sign of the cross. I kneejerk on that tradition, though I nowjourney on earthrise consciousness. The medieval monastics fasted on Lent, downing their brewfor the cellulose. At SMU's School ofTheology, we asked if Jesus at the Last Supper poured wine or just grape juice. Duh! Middle East folks get carbohydrates fermented or brewed, but theTemperance movement forbade wine in America, so ending this telling, I grabbed aSan Mig but when I got to my third, it was time for a nap. In the real solar calendar, today is the first day of yourlife. Live. Or, in my case, nap! wangzhimu2031 earthrise consciousness, a gift; earthbound commitment, my choice yesterday, appreciate; tomorrow, anticipate; today, participate! in all, celebrate!