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The Rainbow Thread

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I was a Teenage Rainbow Magnet

The "Something Weird I Just Noticed" thread jogged a memory: every 7th birthday I see a rainbow.

It all started on my 7th birthday (surprisingly) when my family and I were driving through Sweden; it had been raining and we all saw 4 rainbows(!) linked together, a couple more faded than the others.

I turned 14 in upstate Illinois, the day after a really bad storm (there's another, more embarrassing anecdote here, involving me mistaking a Storm Watch for a Storm Warning and spending the night huddled in the basement, sobbing in pathetic terror), after waking I stepped out onto the porch with my coffee and - voila - a rainbow.

My 21st was spent in something of a haze at Reading Festival -- if anyone remembers the Stone Roses' fateful (and horrendous) last gig they might also remember the rainbow at twilight.

It's odd because I was a summer baby, and you tend to get rainbows in Spring or Autumn, plus I tend not to see them otherwise.

28th coming up this year, in fact (booooo!) so give me a prod in August and I shall keep an eye out.
 
Does the number 7 hold any other significance to you? Does your family tend to pay particular notice to 7th anniversaries of births, or anything else?

I'm just wondering whether you're remembering these instances of rainbows whilst forgetting less significant ones?

As far as I know, rainbows can occur at any time of the year - but I'll leave the science to those here with more knowledge.

Jane.

Edit: sorry if that sounded a little dismissive - it wasn't supposed to be.
Could you keep a look out for rainbows between now and August? I'll be prepared to eat humble pie if you don't see one this Summer :)
 
What folklore is there about rainbows? Have rainbows ever been regarded as omens or foretelling future events? I have always wondered why there isn't more supernatural stuff associated with them as people in the past would not have understood what caused them. Also are there any special beliefs about double or tripple rainbows?

In the Noah story the rainbow is seen as a sign of hope after the storm but what would it mean if you saw a rainbow before a storm. Could it be a warning of a storm or other bad event but also a promise that it will be ok.

Where I live rainbows are quite rare but there was a large double rainbow some days before the island was hit by a hurricane and I am wondering if it has any meaning.


(Well I know that rainbow was also a children's thingy starring Zippy and George but lets not even go there)
 
zoe said:
In the Noah story the rainbow is seen as a sign of hope after the storm but what would it mean if you saw a rainbow before a storm. Could it be a warning of a storm or other bad event but also a promise that it will be ok.

I remember a song lyric that goes 'God showed Noah the rainbow sign, no more water, fire next time'.

Maybe the rainbow is a sign of both hope and a warning?

Apart from the legends of the crock of gold at the end of the rainbow, I can't think of any other folklore.

Good question though.
 
In Norse mythology Bifrost is the rainbow bridge between Midgard (the world of men) and Asgard (home of the gods). It's
guarded by the god Heimdall.
 
My family are moon-and-rainbow-mad and we ring each other up about them. 'Look! It's gorgeous!' :rolleyes: Sad really.

I saw a rainbow's end in our street once, and took a photo to prove it. I can produce this photo if I look hard enough.
 
Yup, did the rainbow turn up?
 
escargot said:
I saw a rainbow's end in our street once, and took a photo to prove it. I can produce this photo if I look hard enough.

Evidence ofa rainbows end on camera? Nice one. Any chance of showing this to the board?
 
It's a poor-quality photo I'm afraid and I'll have to dig it out, but yup there is every chance!

I'll have a look through my 'to scan' snaps, where I think I've parked it.
 
Rainbow story

Where I grew up (Manoa Valley on the island of O'ahu) is a place of frequent and often spectacular rainbows. When I visited last, (the final week of my father's life) it was strangely dry for there, especially considering it was January, and no rainbows were to be seen. The last night I was there there were showers and a gorgeous rainbow appeared over the valley first thing in the morning. I absolutely *knew* right then that that was a sign the end of his suffering was at hand.

I left that evening for my home on the mainland and by the time I arrived here there was a message from my mother on my answering machine saying that he had passed on. Now, he'd been brought home from the hospital a few weeks earlier and was obviously dying, so again, I'm not discounting our ability (wish?) to see patterns or meanings in random events, but when I saw that rainbow at sunrise I knew in my heart he wasn't going to see another morning.
 
Someone in my family attributes their psychic-ness to having been at the end of a rainbow when they were young.
 
From Lemon pie

Someone in my family attributes their psychic-ness to having been at the end of a rainbow

Please i don't want to offend anyone so don't take this the wrong way but its impossible to be at the end of a rainbow. The rainbow depends upon the perspective of the viewer and the angle from which sunlight strikes the raindrops. I'm not an expert by any means on the mathematical equations involved but i think the sunlight has to strike the drops from an angle less than 29 degrees (which is why you don't get rainbows when the sun is high in the sky) and because of this when you view a rainbow and try to advance towards it the rainbow always remains at the same distance from you.
I'm not trying to remove the magic of rainbows because frankly i find them as beautiful even though i know they can be explained easily, i fact they are one of my favorite atmospheric phenomina second only to the fantastic iridesicent clouds which are very rare and extremely beautiful. I have only seen one but if any of you have seen them you'll know what i'm talking about.
 
The sky underneath a rainbow is always darker than the sky above it.* Watch out for that next time you see one.

*or vice versa.. I can't remember
 
Reach for the Rainbow!

There's me, right in the middle of reading this thread, when I get handed an ad page that I've got to deal with.

Called Reach for the Rainbow!

Magic :) (except now I've got to do some work instead of play on t'internet)
 
That's a nice story, in a sad sort of way, lopaka.

Condolences.
 
Twice now I've seen complete (180 degree) rainbows - once on the train coming from the Isle of Wight and once on the island itself. Okay so I know it's not so special but it needs big, wide spaces to see. This makes the Vectian very smug and me more eager to earn unfeasible amounts of cash to live there. Since there are two ends to the rainbow, and those whacky pixies like to bury their gold there (instead of investing in high yield blue-chip comanies), I'm preparing a fast car, metal detector and a shovel just in case...
 
That is pretty cool, rainbows are nice :)

I used to have storms on my birthday..between the ages of 5 and 10, 4 of my birthdays had roaring thunderstorms on them, it made planning my birthday parties a nightmare! I love storms though, so it was about the best birthday present anyone could get me, hehe. My birthday is in June, not that many storms around normally then either. Haven't had any since then, sadly.
 
Twice now I've seen complete (180 degree) rainbows
OK, I'm probably totally wrong about this, as is often the case, but I thought I read that a 'complete' rainbow is 360 degrees, though obviously cut off from our vision at the horizon, but can be seen as a full circle from the air, or from space, or somesuch?
 
I read the other day that it is a mystery of science why 'lightning destroys rainbows'.

?!

Anyone else ever heard this?
 
escargot said:
My family are moon-and-rainbow-mad and we ring each other up about them. 'Look! It's gorgeous!' :rolleyes: Sad really.

I saw a rainbow's end in our street once, and took a photo to prove it. I can produce this photo if I look hard enough.

No, not sad at all! There are few things nicer to look at than a full moon decorated with a few lacy clouds, or a rainbow.

Flying in to Singapore a few years ago, it was rainy and we flew over the top of a rainbow - a remarkable sight . . .

Here's what the Bible says about the Covenant of the Rainbow (King James version)

Genesis Chap 9:12
And God said, This [is] the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that [is] with you, for perpetual generations:

Genesis 9:13
I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.

Genesis 9:14
And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud:

Genesis 9:15
And I will remember my covenant, which [is] between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.

Genesis 9:16
And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that [is] upon the earth.

Genesis 9:17
And God said unto Noah, This [is] the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that [is] upon the earth.

(quote obtained from The Unbound Bible

Carole
 
I actually drove through a rainbow once, which I didn't think was possible. Went under the base (it faded out before it hit the ground) and then another one appeared in the distance at the same angle....
 
I was on a train once looking out of the window at a rainbow I percieved to be the usual "a long way away", then I noticed when we passed buildings that where quite close, the rainbow could still be seen in its entirity, so wasnt as far away as I thought, I was then surprised to find that as we passed peices of railway furniture that where no more than a few feet away, the rainbow was still visible between me and the objects just a few feet away.
I couldnt see any pots of gold at the end though.

"Can you tell me why you pulled the communications cord Sir?"

"Errm, well"
 
I drove past the end of the rainbow a few years ago whilst taking my daughter to school. It had been a showery morning, and we had spotted this particular rainbow over the local hospital; I was quite impressed how close we seemed to be getting to it, and even more impressed when we drove past the hospital grounds and you could actually see the end!
 
A photographer has captured a "mind-blowing" view of a full double rainbow from a Peak District summit.

Danny Shepherd took the photos from Mam Tor in Derbyshire at about 07:50 BST on Sunday.
He described the view over the village of Edale as a "one in a million colour party", which lasted for about 20 minutes.

Mr Shepherd, who has been taking pictures in the national park for 20 years, said the view from the hilltop was always amazing, but said this was the first time he had seen anything like this.
1635168218826.png


Rainbow from Mam Tor
 

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