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Pat Shingleton: "Khotso, Pula, Nala" and Leap Year

4 years 4 weeks 1 day ago Friday, February 28 2020 Feb 28, 2020 February 28, 2020 9:00 AM February 28, 2020 in Pat Shingleton Column
By: Pat Shingleton


In Africa the motto "Khotso, Pula, Nala" means Peace, Rain, Prosperity. Young girls participate in the "masokoaneng" or the rain game. One young lady is chosen to enter a village house and steal the stirring stick or their "lesokoana."  If she is caught, she delivers the stick to her village where a victory celebration ensues.  Chaac, is the god of lightning and Mayans, on the Yucatan Peninsula, believed that the thunderbolt was responsible for rain. To keep Chaac happy, human sacrifices were offered in water-filled sinkholes called "cenotes."  Once Chaac received the offering, he would rise from the well and scratch his curved nose against clouds that were believed to be bellies of rain, showering the crops. Heavy scratching would create a thunderstorm. Also, Leap Years are needed to align the calendar with our planet's motion around the sun. It takes 365.2422 days for earth to make its trip around the sun. The hottest Leap Year day in Baton Rouge occurred in 1916 with 87 degrees, 22 the coldest in 1936.The Gregorian calendar decides which years are Leap Years, always divisible by four.

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