Solar Empire--Heavens Above III

　　On the west coast of England, Doctor Susan Blackmor e has made a lifelong study of how different peoples ha ve understood nature. Many ancient civilizations believ ed man also played a significant part in causing heaven ly events.

　　"I once took part in this Druid ceremony. It was a wonderful event. Hundreds of us climbing, head in Londo n or with odd jobs to do, carrying things, saying the r ight words, and so on, and it all built up to this enor mous climax as we asked for the sun to rise, said the f inal words, and boom, the sun rose. Now, I honestly fel t, as much as I know about science and the way that thi ngs work, I honestly felt that we had made the sun rise . And, it just shows, from a psychological point of vie w, how easy it is for us to connect cause and effect wh en I've made a lot of effort, then I'm sure that I've m ade it happen. Well, that way we can easily get led ast ray."

　　Early man's sense of wonder at the sun's immense po wers led naturally to belief in a sun god. In different forms, they are found in the pantheons of many early cu ltures. On the ceilings of their Egyptian temples, the red dots follow the sun's daily path across the sky. A painstaking and elaborate tribute to the god that broug ht them day and night. In fact, the Egyptians explained the sun's daily cycles through the goddess, Nut. Her ar ched body was said to cover the whole Earth. Every nigh t she swallowed the sun. It then trailed through her bo dy to rise again the following morning. The sun also pr ovided the most basic, natural daily clock. Most primit ive people noticed a relationship between time and shad ows, and it was in Ancient Egypt that the first recorde d sundials were found.

　　By 1724, the Maharaja Ji-Singh in India, had create d the world's largest sundial, accurate to within twent y seconds.

　　Sundials were used till nearly a hundred years ago when heavenlybased time pieces were replaced by the clo cks and watches of the modern world. In fact, the human body seems attuned to the same rhythms as the sun's dai ly cycle. Our natural daily schedule begins when the su n is first rising in the sky, with or without any refer ence to clocks or calendars.

　　"Time really runs us. We maintain schedules by the, ah, little, ah, device that's wrapped around our wrists . And, I'm not gonna try to promote… a new way of think ing either way, that we either should or shouldn't be d oing it, but I think that the mechanization of our cult ure is, is what is so unique to the keeping of time and very different from all the other cultures of the world ."

　　Just recently, we have come full circle. Once again , the heavens regulate our daily cycle. The most accura te modern clocks are regulated by the steady rhythms of pulsars, dead suns, way out in the galaxy, invisible to the naked eye.

　　But trying to make sense of the heavens gave us mor e than the natural cycle of day and night. Ancient man also noticed how the five planets visible to the naked eye, twinkled in the night sky. With the sun and the mo on, that made seven imposing celestial bodies that woul d serve as the inspiration for the next basic division of the natural order, the seven day week. Even today, t he influence of the heavens on the days of the week is unmistakable.

　　Sunday, is the most straightforward and the first d ay of the week on many calendars. Monday, or Moonday, i s also quite simple. But, the role played by the heaven s in formalizing the days of the week doesn't stop ther e. Ancient Nordics named their days after seven celesti al gods and the ancient legacy is also clear throughout the Latin-based languages of Western Civilizations. Wed nesday, is Mercury day, Mercredi, in French, Miercoles, in Spanish, Mercoledi, in Italian. Tuesday, is Mars day , Mardi, in French and Martes, in Spanish.