Monday 19 August 2013

Rainbows

As we all know, rainbows occur when it's both raining and sunny at the same time. But why do they occur and what can they mean? 

Rainbows are made when the sun reflects off of millions of tiny rain droplets. The white light enters an individual droplet and leaves as one specific colour of the spectrum.The colour that is produced depends on the angle that the light hits the rain drop. If you only had a few rain drops, you would only have a few colours and there wouldn't be a rainbow. 

As the raindrops fall through the sky, the angles change and consequently, so will the colours. This is why rainbows seem move and appear to change in density. Rainbows are actually a circle, however because of the horizon, you usually only see half of them.

To find a rainbow, face the rainclouds (when it's raining) and make sure you have your back to the sun.





Spiritually, rainbows signify different things to different religions and beliefs.

 In Christianity, a rainbow is a sign from God to show that he is there and will not flood the Earth again. In Pagan lore, the rainbow symbolises happy events, great success and spiritual enlightenment.

 In Greek mythology, Goddess Iris was the Goddess of the Rainbow. She is deity of sea and and sky and was believed to supply the clouds with water. Thus creating rainbows. Iris was messenger of the Gods and was believed to travel on rainbows whilst delievering messages to the mortal world. Ancient Greeks believed that as Iris linked the Gods to humans, the rainbow links Heaven to Earth. 

 


 
To many people, rainbows have their own meaning, whether they signify luck,  happiness or wealth! What do rainbows mean to you?