How to celebrate the spring equinox on the planet Pax

April 20 is the spring equinox on Earth, which we celebrate here in Chicago with Chicagohenge. (See photo.)

In Chapter 3 of the novel Semiosis, on the planet Pax, they celebrate differently. The human colony is living in a new location and has just survived an attack by ground eagles a little before the spring equinox.

Meanwhile, Stevland, the rainbow bamboo, has been trying to communicate with the humans by means of flowers to demonstrate the idea of opposites and dualism, and he is growing impatient.

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HIGGINS: Some of the children, and some of the adults (especially us killers), had nightmares or insomnia, so we decided to hold the annual spring equinox festival early — the next day. The festival commemorates arriving at the city from the old village, so we ate the traditional travelers’ meal of trilobites, wild onions, and dried rainbow fruit. We walked around on stilts pretending we were Earthlings.

Finally, at dusk, at the site of the old central tower, we took off our clothes in spite of the cold because being naked showed we were willing to move on. We lit a bonfire to burn images of straw, wood, and paper of what we wanted to leave behind. Hydrogen seeds had been stashed in the images to explode with satisfying bangs and flashes.

The children and I had worked together all day to build a big eagle out of twigs. It stood at the center of the heap with a smaller beak than it ought to be and not as deadly hooked, which was fine with me. Sylvia had taught the children how to weave the feathers that hung off the eagle, no two alike, different sizes, different skill levels, different grass and leaves used to make them, giving the bird a ragged look. It hardly resembled the beautiful and vicious creatures that still raced in my dreams in deadly choreographed packs, but I was more than eager to see it burn.

My parents, like a few other older Pacifists, contributed straw figures of tall and skinny humanoids. Sylvia’s always looked spookily lifelike, since she was a master basket-weaver. I used to pester my parents about why they burned Earthlings, and finally, when I was older, they told me everything about leaving the original colony that I had been too little to understand or remember. That year I realized that the festival wasn’t for children, although children had the most fun at it.

STEVLAND: I observed the foreigners’ fire tonight, a large fire I have learned that I need not fear, although I do not like it. Animals are cyclical, and the large fire is an annual event.

But this year, the fire was not held on the evening of the spring equinox. I believe the eagle attack has disturbed a cycle. I could help them assess the passage of the days and years with accuracy. Repetition is important to animals. I respect their needs. I want to help them.

Answer me! Dualism is a simple idea. Light, dark. Up, down. Live, dead. Communication, silence. Even if you do not understand, show me that you wish to communicate. Night has come, and the morning will follow soon. You can accomplish much in a day. A small action will suffice. Speak to me.

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Sweden’s Lund University Centre for Languages and Literature will host a CogSem Seminar: “Semiosis and cognition in science fiction narratives” with Carlos H. Guzmán on the way that science fiction authors have incorporated ideas from the field of semiotics into their stories. He will focus on Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson, The Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang, and Semiosis by Sue Burke. The Zoom event on March 27 is open to all. More information is here.