About Time - Chapter 3 - The seasons

Driven by the Sun, early man spent his days on the move; roaming, hunting and gathering food. We followed pleasant temperatures, weather and the presence of water, animals and plants. Our movements were guided by the state of our surroundings, which seemed to change with the shifting length of daytime. At night, when the earth turned dark, our gaze turned up towards a blanket of tiny twinkling lights. We didn’t know what they were, but the spectacle must have triggered our wildest imagination.

As we studied them, we discovered 00:56 - patterns in their movement which could be related to periods of change in our environment; the seasons of spring, summer, fall and winter. This ‘discovery of the seasons’ greatly enhanced our lives as we learned to predict the cold, the rains and the changing of winds. Although it took centuries to completely find our bearings in the seasonal cycle, we used this revelation to anticipate the migration of wild herds and to decide when best to fish and when to pick berries. This powerful realization would mark the start of an intimate relation with the dancing cosmos. Almost all of the ancient cultures attributed divine powers to the stars and planets, which would come to play a pivotal role in social, religious and political aspects of human life. .