The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. Psalm 19:1
Ottawa and Gatineau were treated to a glorious display of northern lights on the night and early morning hours of Aug. 11 – 12. Many people who were watching the skies for the Perseid meteor shower may have also seen the brilliant aurora borealis, which was visible across Canada from British Columbia to Newfoundland and across the U.S.
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According to an article from The Weather Network: “The auroras were caused by strong geomagnetic energy due to a coronal mass ejection (CME) impacting Earth’s magnetic field. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) revealed that Sunday night’s magnetic storms were measured at G3 (strong), with a K-index of 5 to 7, indicating these were strong and vibrant storms.”
I appreciate the wonder of this natural phenomenon and the science behind it but having just taken in the beauty of the lights last night, it’s hard for me not to see them as something more, as many Indigenous cultures do.
“For the Anishinaabe, the northern lights are messages from our ancestors,” Anishinaabe writer, editor, and activist Niigaan Sinclair wrote in an article about the northern lights for the Winnipeg Free Press. “It is also said the motion and beauty of these lights are our relatives, dancing as they travel in the spiritual realm.”
The northern lights have had a special meaning for me since I saw a particularly brilliant appearance of them in the Alberta sky when I was 21. I was grieving my best friend who had died two years after being diagnosed with bone cancer. Those two years had been so hard, and then she was gone. One night that summer, the northern lights appeared in the sky, and I had never seen the lights like that — bright pink, green and purple, right overhead, so that they were almost flower shapes, not lights dancing on the distant horizon. It was such a comfort to see such beauty at that time —to think that my friend was with the God who creates such wonders, and that God is with us in our darkest times.
I have longed to see the northern lights since I moved to Ontario, but it has been years of waiting and fruitlessly searching night skies. It was such a delight to step outside last night and to realize that what at first just looked like thin white clouds were moving and shimmering. To be able to share that beauty with my daughter, who was seeing the northern lights for the first time, was a gift. Hallelujah, thanks be to God!
There are predictions that that conditions for seeing northern lights may continue until Aug. 13, and the Perseid meteor shower does not end until Sept. 1, if you want to do some stargazing. Wishing our readers beauties and wonders.
Northern lights over Gatineau, Aug. 12
Northern lights over Gatineau, Aug. 12
Northern lights over Gatineau, Aug. 12
Northern lights over Gatineau, Aug. 12
Northern lights over Gatineau, Aug. 12
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Leigh Anne Williams is the editor of Crosstalk and Perspective. Before coming to the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa, she was a staff writer at the Anglican Journal and the Canadian correspondent for Publishers Weekly. She has also written for TIME Magazine, The Toronto Star and Quill & Quire.
Northern lights dazzle in Canadian night skies
Editor's reflection
The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. Psalm 19:1
Ottawa and Gatineau were treated to a glorious display of northern lights on the night and early morning hours of Aug. 11 – 12. Many people who were watching the skies for the Perseid meteor shower may have also seen the brilliant aurora borealis, which was visible across Canada from British Columbia to Newfoundland and across the U.S.
According to an article from The Weather Network: “The auroras were caused by strong geomagnetic energy due to a coronal mass ejection (CME) impacting Earth’s magnetic field. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) revealed that Sunday night’s magnetic storms were measured at G3 (strong), with a K-index of 5 to 7, indicating these were strong and vibrant storms.”
I appreciate the wonder of this natural phenomenon and the science behind it but having just taken in the beauty of the lights last night, it’s hard for me not to see them as something more, as many Indigenous cultures do.
“For the Anishinaabe, the northern lights are messages from our ancestors,” Anishinaabe writer, editor, and activist Niigaan Sinclair wrote in an article about the northern lights for the Winnipeg Free Press. “It is also said the motion and beauty of these lights are our relatives, dancing as they travel in the spiritual realm.”
The northern lights have had a special meaning for me since I saw a particularly brilliant appearance of them in the Alberta sky when I was 21. I was grieving my best friend who had died two years after being diagnosed with bone cancer. Those two years had been so hard, and then she was gone. One night that summer, the northern lights appeared in the sky, and I had never seen the lights like that — bright pink, green and purple, right overhead, so that they were almost flower shapes, not lights dancing on the distant horizon. It was such a comfort to see such beauty at that time —to think that my friend was with the God who creates such wonders, and that God is with us in our darkest times.
I have longed to see the northern lights since I moved to Ontario, but it has been years of waiting and fruitlessly searching night skies. It was such a delight to step outside last night and to realize that what at first just looked like thin white clouds were moving and shimmering. To be able to share that beauty with my daughter, who was seeing the northern lights for the first time, was a gift. Hallelujah, thanks be to God!
There are predictions that that conditions for seeing northern lights may continue until Aug. 13, and the Perseid meteor shower does not end until Sept. 1, if you want to do some stargazing. Wishing our readers beauties and wonders.
Author
Leigh Anne Williams is the editor of Crosstalk and Perspective. Before coming to the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa, she was a staff writer at the Anglican Journal and the Canadian correspondent for Publishers Weekly. She has also written for TIME Magazine, The Toronto Star and Quill & Quire.
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