“Spring is the first season of the years. It is in the spring that the hens lay eggs and the farmers lay potatoes” – statement attributed to a primary school pupil.

This is, of course, a comical explanation, but it nevertheless has some basis in fact… (Obviously not in relation to the potatoes, but because it sees spring as the first season of the year).

Coming from the Latin primo vere (“before summer”), it has since Antiquity been symbolically associated to the restarting of the cycles of nature.

For this reason, when I was given the chance to contribute to the “FMUL Electronic Newsletter”, the first temptation was to write something completely different, something much more poetic and inspiring.

In the meantime, conversing with some of my hypothetical readers about the torment of managing to achieve this in only 1,000 words (and without the aid of a picture), I was inspired by an excellent idea, suggested to me by a colleague to whom I am greatly indebted.

But let us get back to spring, before we move on to carnation and cinnamon.

In several different ancient cultures the arrival of this season of the year, or even the day of the equinox itself, gave rise to exaltations, feasting or important rituals. In Portugal, in pre-historic times the event was already solemnised; as one can see from vestiges found in Vila Nova de Foz Côa.

In Europe. in March the Saxons, Norse and Germans celebrated rituals in honour of the goddess Eostre (Ostara or Esther), the goddess of fertility, of rebirth (or resurrection) and of the dawn. Some people see in this name and in the sacred role attributed to this goddess a remote relationship with Eos, the “God of Dawn” in Greek mythology.

The ceremonies related to the spring were not only characteristic to more extreme latitudes, but are similarly dispersed throughout noteworthy civilizations closer to the equator (Egyptians, Sumerians, Babylonians, Aztecs), even including some peoples who inhabited the tropical areas of the planet where, curiously, the influence of the seasons is not at all perceptible.

This period was so important for humanity that the Roman New Year began on the first full moon in March, with a festival dedicated to the goddess Anna Perenna.

During the equinox, a word derived from the Latin aequus (equal) and nox (night), an interesting astronomical curiosity takes place: day and night have, in theory, exactly the same length. On the days of the year when this takes place it is even possible to make a very close calculation of the latitude by sticking a pole into the ground at midday.

The next spring equinox will take place on the 20th of March at 11.44 am, local time, when we may commemorate in our own way (perhaps without the symbolism of former times, and without rituals of renovation) the arrival of spring.

However, this year the date falls on a Friday.

But given that it is such an important day, connoted with the re-beginning of the cycles of nature in our latitudes, why not invite the readers of “news@fmul” to do something out of the ordinary?

For a long time there has been no news of a type of get-together that might allow us more than the institutional time during which we are together on a daily basis in the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon for professional reasons.

The regulatory limits do not allow me to go into scientific considerations about the virtues of the opportunities for us to get together outside work, the respective reflections on productivity, and above all the benefits this brings on the level of communication in any organisation. There will be other possibilities, and without doubt excellent conditions for more qualified authors to do this unquestionably.

My proposal is simple, however, and does not aim, at the outset, to have any later effect on the organisation to which we belong, but rather is simply a pretext for a spontaneous get-together outside the professional environment.

The challenge is to extend participation in the walks that some of us carry out occasionally and very informally on some weekends to everyone.

Participation is absolutely free and spontaneous, and is open to friends and family.

For this reason this month’s course has many get-off points; that is, places where one can easily park or there are transportation services, allowing someone to easily leave or join the walk at any phase of the course.

In order to have these characteristics and simultaneously to entice the less convinced, we have chosen one of the banks of the River Tagus on which, besides possessing an inviting atmosphere, with beaches, gardens and a good walking surface, there are plenty of easy access points.

Evoking spring and travelling in time to the period in when up this river came boats laden with spices coming from far-off lands, a course has been planned on the riverfront between Santo Amaro docks and the Jamor Creek; that is, parallel to the whole of the symbolic Avenida da Índia, and covering a distance calculated at approximately 10 kilometres.

The main rule of participation is that the (organized) walk will only take place if the weather blesses us with suitable atmospheric conditions; otherwise the event will have to be postponed, as has often happened during these events.

At any point of the course it will be possible to join the group or abandon the odyssey. At the end, for a symbolic amount, those who wish to may also enjoy some spice plants in the Tropical Botanical Garden, or enjoy a tradition Belem Custard Tart (pastel de Belém) peppered with cinnamon. These will be the only participation costs (besides any travel expenses).

In order to receive all the information indispensable for this walk one only needs to send a message to mandrade@fm.ul.pt, where one will receive a return message with details about the course, some useful advice, a contact number throughout the walk and confirmation of the date (as soon as the weather forecast is sufficiently certain).

The “Carnation and Cinnamon Spring” walk is set for Saturday March 21st from 9.30 amonwards.

Miguel Andrade – Instituto de Introdução à Medicina

Extension 44542; e-mail: mandrade@fm.ul.pt