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| Foto: Eda Oja |
Taliharipäev literally means the "breaking of winter's back", since the Milky Way (Linnutee) was supposed to reach the highest point in the sky on this date. The top ("hari") of winter was supposed to touch it, then the wheel of life was supposed to slowly start turning towards the spring.
However, there is some confusion about when the Milky way is at its zenith in Estonia and some Estonian calendars mark this date in March, a few days before the Spring solstice ("kevadine pööripäev"). It is also been placed in late January or early February, but now most Estonian folk calendars mark this date. Read the Estonian here, from the BERTA folk traditions database.
According to Estonian folk tradition, if on this date the sun is strong enough to cast a shadow behind a horse, then the summer will be lovely. In Ontario we have a quick moving Alberta clipper passing through, expected to dump some 10 cm of snow between Friday night and Saturday morning - does that mean the summer will be a cold and rainy one? Time will tell!
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