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CNN Sunday Morning

How the Equinox is Observed

Aired March 24, 2002 - 08:84   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: People around the world have been marking the Spring Equinox. It's seen as a time of renewal and healing for many people. CNN's Morgan Neal takes us north of Mexico City to the ancient Pyramid of the Sun for a look at how the Equinox is observed there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MORGAN NEAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A line of thousands snakes its way up the steep edges of the Pyramid of the Sun, indigenous healers shoulder-to-shoulder with international tourists gathered to celebrate the Spring Equinox.

Each year, crowds flock to the pre-Hispanic Pyramid of the Sun, Teotihuacan, 48 kilometers north of Mexico City. They come to shake off the chill of winter and receive the energy of the sun, believed to flow here on the first day of spring.

MARGARITA RODRIGUEZ (though translator): It is necessary to recharge the energy in order to live another year more peacefully.

NEAL: Visitors line ancient Teotihuacan's Avenue of the Dead and they wait to receive a lympiasa (ph), the traditional cleansing of one's aura. For just 20 pesos, a little more than two U.S. dollars, the shaman purges the body of bad energy, using tree branches, various amulets, and smoke to bring love, work and good health.

PANCHACO PEREZ (through translator): It is scientifically documented that we have an aura, that all human beings have an aura that can be treated or purified by fire in the (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

NEAL: Wearing traditional dress, dancers perform in front of the pyramid, giving a sense of what it must have been like for those who walked the same streets centuries ago. Morgan Neal, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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