If Easter Sunday falls “on the first Sunday AFTER the first full moon after the vernal equinox”, why doesn’t it fall at different times in different time zones?  This year for example, tonight’s (Easter Saturday March 31 2018) full moon occurs after midnight in places between the International date line and the UTC+11 time zone. So according to the formula, Kiwi kids should have to wait another week before breaking open those chocolate eggs.

Well, it turns out that the formula is not set by the astronomical path of the moon, but by a bunch of men (I’ve no doubt women weren’t invited) who formulated the Ecclesiastical Lunar Calendar so long ago that it was before the split of the Gregorian and Julian calendars. (In 325 AD/CE in fact).

Which means today we actually have two Easters, one for each of the divergent calendars, even though both follow the same formula.

Anyway, in the said Ecclesiastical Lunar Calendar, the vernal equinox is always March 21, irrespective of the position of the earth in regard to its transit around the sun. And Easter is always the Sunday following the Pascal Full Moon. And for the calculation of Easter, the Pascal Full moon is defined as been the 14th day after the Ecclesiastical Lunar new moon – so we are back to the Ecclesiastical Lunar Calendar and its ancient origins.

Now it’s probably a good thing that there is a universal standard or two, it means we only have two variations – the Gregorian and the Julian – of Easter throughout the world, and children in New Zealand, Fiji etc. don’t have to hang out for another week to get their Easter Eggs – oh that’s unless they are following the Julian calendar (as Orthodox Christians do), it which case they will have to wait until April 8 2018!

RedNectar