The Northern Lights 1

The nightly Northern Lights are at their best a stunning light spectacle, which consists of multi-layered arcs, up-rising multi-colored bundles of rays and a bright crown in the middle of the sky. It is no wonder that the lights have their position in Northern peoples’ mythologies. They have been given many explanations, meanings and tasks in telling the future.

For a long time, people didn’t know what the Northern Lights are. Different peoples have several beliefs and stories of them.

The ancient Romans described the phenomenon as a bloody rain, which is consistent with auroras usually being red in the South. They were often thought to predict wars and disasters. These kinds of beliefs are typical to places where auroras are rarely seen.

Fear and respect are also visible in the early drawings for example in China. Northern lights are portrayed as heavenly troops, a dragon or a snake squirming in the sky.

In the North, the pale green light is associated with the dead and the world beyond. Traditional Sami beliefs consider auroras to be living beings that talk and understand speech. This is why people are supposed to be quiet when auroras occur so that they are not taken away by them. Some people still say that auroras become more intense if you watch them or that you can call them by wristling.

The Aurora borealis gets its origin when particles which solar winds bring about collide with the upper atmospheric air layers. They can be seen in the area of the so-called Northern light oval, which goes round the polar districts and towards midnight covers the northermost parts.

Appearence of the Aurora borealis follows the activitiy of the sun, which varies at ten years intervals. The time of abundant Northern Lights lasts for a few years. After this, activity decreases, until it starts to increase again. In the annual cycle, the best times of the Aurora borealis fall round the vernal and autumnal equinoxes.

Ref: Arcticum Museum Rovaniemi