Let's talk about the northern lights
The northern lights are a truly fascinating phenomenon. I love them, and I've especially appreciated them here in Iqaluit. Part of their appeal is the unknown element to them. While science explains parts of how they work, there are things that it hasn't been able to understand. By far the largest mystery surrounding Aurora Borealis is this: why do Inuit across the Arctic (even those separated by distance and culture) agree that, a.) the northern lights have a sound, and b.) If you whistle at the northern lights, they come closer.
Tonight from 11:40 pm-12:20 am Iqaluit had a city-wide blackout- a sudden power outage. While the power was out, I sat on my porch and watched the dark city while scrolling through Facebook comments on the outage. Above me, the northern lights were faintly visible. My previous light research on whistling and the northern lights had mostly turned up blogs stating that you should not whistle at them; Inuit believe that if they come down to you they will kill you. But the comments said something completely different. One Inuk had posted "Everyone go out and whistle at the northern lights!", and every comment underneath was others agreeing. They certainly weren't afraid that the lights would slit their throats, drag them up with them, or suffocate them, as the blog posts had described.
I stood on my porch in the darkness broken only by the occasion generator light, looked up at the faint dancing stripes, and whistled. I whistled "How Great Thou Art", "Mighty to Save", and finally, at a sudden loss of song memory, "Dance Monkey", until the power began to come back, creeping down the hill like it does. The lights didn't change, and my questions remain unanswered. What's causing the lights to come closer to the earth? And if they don't truly come, then why did every early northern society believe they did? What's the science behind it all? I don't understand any more than I did this morning.
- Aliya
Tonight from 11:40 pm-12:20 am Iqaluit had a city-wide blackout- a sudden power outage. While the power was out, I sat on my porch and watched the dark city while scrolling through Facebook comments on the outage. Above me, the northern lights were faintly visible. My previous light research on whistling and the northern lights had mostly turned up blogs stating that you should not whistle at them; Inuit believe that if they come down to you they will kill you. But the comments said something completely different. One Inuk had posted "Everyone go out and whistle at the northern lights!", and every comment underneath was others agreeing. They certainly weren't afraid that the lights would slit their throats, drag them up with them, or suffocate them, as the blog posts had described.
I stood on my porch in the darkness broken only by the occasion generator light, looked up at the faint dancing stripes, and whistled. I whistled "How Great Thou Art", "Mighty to Save", and finally, at a sudden loss of song memory, "Dance Monkey", until the power began to come back, creeping down the hill like it does. The lights didn't change, and my questions remain unanswered. What's causing the lights to come closer to the earth? And if they don't truly come, then why did every early northern society believe they did? What's the science behind it all? I don't understand any more than I did this morning.
- Aliya
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