Interesting Myths And Facts About The Rainbow

By: Sharon Supriya

Rainbow! The flamboyant colours with curved smile has often brought an unexplained joy and an expression of how beautiful are the works of God on anybody who saw it. The extraordinary and attractive natural phenomenon has fascinated human beings throughout ages. Here is an insight to its mythological background and some interesting facts that can blow your mind

Interesting tales about a Rainbow
Rainbow was considered to be a path made by a messenger Iris between earth and heaven in Greek mythology. The Chinese believed that the rainbow was a slit in the sky sealed by Goddess Nuwa using stones of five different colours. The Irish leprechaun's secret hiding place for his pot of gold is usually believed to be at the end of the rainbow. In Silesia, an obscure area of eastern Europe, it was said that the angels kept tons of gold there and that only a nude man could obtain the prize. Well! I hope nobody tries it.

The Bible also talks about the rainbow. After Noah's Deluge, the Bible relates that the rainbow gained meaning as the sign of God's promise that terrestrial life would never again be destroyed by flood (read Genesis 9.13-15). Many people believe the rainbow is a ray of light falling to earth whenever Saint Peter opens the gates of heaven to let another soul in. It also has a supreme place in Hindu mythology. The rainbow is called Indradhanush, which means bow of God Indra, who is the God of lightening and thunder. Arabian's have a similar story. In Arabia it is called the cloud's bow or Allah's bow. In Islam the rainbow is not made of seven colours but of four, red, yellow, green and blue related to the four elements.

In the Younger Edda it is described as a tricoloured bridge to Asgard, very skillfully built by the gods. In Croatia the rainbow is God's seat, while in Greenland the rainbow is the hem of God's garments. In Africa the rainbow encircles the earth and is a guardian to heaven. In German mythology it is a bowl God used to hold his paints while coloring the birds. Isn't that a beautiful imagination ever described in a simplest form?

Rainbows even helped mankind to know how to make love. A Japanese myth tells of the first man Isanagi and the first woman Isanami who stood on the floating bridge of heaven while creating the island of Onogoro. They then walked down to earth on this rainbow bridge( Niji), watched all the animals around them and learned how to make love. That's not all they watched the birds and learned to eat with chopsticks.

In the olden days, some Europeans believed that anyone passing beneath the rainbow would be transformed, man into woman and woman into man! Well, the ones who are thinking about having a gender change, then this is an easier, less painful and no expensive method.

Some interesting facts
# If you think the rainbow is made of just 7 colours, then probably you are wrong. A rainbow is actually made up of an entire continuum of colors, even the ones your eyes can't see.
# A research states that every person sees their own personal rainbow. When you look at one, you are seeing the light bounced off of certain raindrops, but when the person standing next to you looks at the same rainbow, they may see the light reflecting off other raindrops from a completely different angle. In addition, everyone sees colors differently according to light and how their eyes interpret it.
# Nobody can ever reach the end of the rainbow, because as you move, the rainbow that your eyes see moves as well, because the raindrops are at different spots in the atmosphere. The rainbow, then, will always move away at the same rate that you are moving.
# Historically, a rainbow flag was used in the German Peasants' War in the 16th century as a sign of a new era, of hope and of social change.
# Rainbows may also form in the spray created by waves in the water called spray bows. So you need not look up to find one all the time.
Rainbows can also be formed in mist, such as that of a waterfall.