Rainbows, most would agree, are one of the most beautiful gifts found in nature. They are colorful, magical, and impossible to catch. They remind us of old stories between Gods and men, of magical creatures and natural wonder. The double rainbow is even more magical, and almost all cultures give positive meaning to seeing a double rainbow.
Although rainbow can technically be found in a bottle of water or in a puddle, it is the huge, double rainbows that fill the sky that make our breath catch in our throat, and make people from all cultures, genders and creeds to stop and take in the beauty for a little bit.
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| The 'Garden of the Gods', Colorado Springs, Colorado. |
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| One of the most frustrating and magical things about rainbows - is that there is no real end to them, and which is why you have the same chances of finding that mythical pot of gold as you are to meet an actual leprechaun. If you stood where you 'think' the rainbow ends, it would look to you as if it is standing in a different location alltogehther. This is one of the best optical illusions in nature. It all depends on the angle of the sun and where the moisture is in the air. |
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| Seeing a rainbow is one of those things that crosses all boundaries between people - whatever culture you come from, a rainbow, not to mention a double rainbow, is a pleasure to see. This one was shot over Lake Vaimela Alajarv, Estonia. Some claim that all rainbows are double rainbows, but only when the effect is very strong that human eyes are able to notice the second, dimmer rainbow. |
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| A breathtaking double rainbow, Cancun, after stormy weather. |
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| 'The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.' Dolly Parton |
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| According to wikipedia, a double rainbow is: "caused by a double reflection of sunlight inside the raindrops and appear at an angle of 50–53°. As a result of the second reflection, the colors of a secondary rainbow are inverted compared to the primary bow, with blue on the outside and red on the inside. The secondary rainbow is fainter than the primary because more light escapes from two reflections compared to one and because the rainbow itself is spread over a greater area of the sky. The dark area of unlit sky lying between the primary and secondary bows is called Alexander’s band, after Alexander of Aphrodisias who first described it." |
The first song that comes to mind when we think of rainbows:
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| Scotland. A double rainbow appears over the Merse. Rainbows have always amazed man, which is why they appear in many stories - the story of Noah, the mythological rainbow bridge of the Norse gods, the folk tales of Ireland, the Greek mythologies had a messenger that traveled by rainbow, and many more... If anything looks like it came from heaven, rainbows are surely that. |
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| Over the burning man celebrations, a double rainbow appeared. In the desert, it always seems like the end of the rainbow is so close you can run to it. |
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| Pure happiness. The woman is standing in Wrangell-st. Elias National Park in Alaska. This will probably be her favorite photo for years to come! |
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Half of a double rainbow over the famous London Eye. "Nature’s natural color spectrum always elicits the same pattern (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet) when light is refracted. While a primary rainbow is visible when light is reflected once off the back of a raindrop, a secondary and usually dimmer rainbow is spotted when light is reflected twice in a more complicated pattern.
The colors of the second rainbow are inverted, with blue on the outside and red moved to the inside. The second bow appears dimmer or cloudier because much more light is released from two reflections, and both bows cover a larger portion of the sky. It is rare and unlikely, but three or even four rainbows can be seen on occasion, but only if they are reflected off of the earthly objects." Writes Accuweather.
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| "And as he spoke of understanding, I looked up and saw the rainbow leap with flames of many colors over me." Black Elk |
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| "Somewhere, over the rainbow, Way up tall, There's a land where they've never heard of cholesterol." Allan Sherman |
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| Stac Pollaidh is a mountain in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland, and to see a rainbow here makes this place look like the birthplace of legend. Amazing. |
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| A rainbow reflected with the sunset in quiet waters, a calming and beautiful sight. |
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| "Every sunset should come with its own rainbow, never again would we be sad again to see the sun go down." Anonymous |
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What do the colors of the rainbow mean?
Well: RED is the first color and represents passion and energy. It is the color with the longest wavelength. ORANGE comes 2nd, representing wisdom. Then comes YELLOW, which represents thought and decision making. GREEN comes after, the 4th and middle color, and as such represent harmony, balance, good health and growth. Then comes BLUE, the color of divinity, a soothing and relaxing color. 2nd from the end is the INDIGO color, which represents infinity, and last but not least is VIOLET, the 7th color. It is the beginning and end, representing a closed circle. The second rainbow has the exact opposite order of colors!
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| “Dare to love yourself as if you were a rainbow with gold at both ends.” Aberjhani, The River of Winged Dreams |
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| Dare to dream in color. |
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| “Everyone wants happiness, no one wants pain, but you can't make a rainbow without a little rain.” Anonymous |
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| North of Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. According to the art and philosophy of Feng Shui, double rainbows "are considered symbolic of transformations in your life. The material world is represented by the first rainbow while the second rainbow is the spiritual world. Seeing a single rainbow is fairly common so something we take for granted in the universe but when we see a double rainbow we stop and take time to admire the wonder of the universe.” |
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| Rainbows: Making sunsets over beautiful beaches look even more magical since history began. |
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| “Rainbows apologize for angry skies.” Sylvia Voirol |
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| A rainbow that seems to be going straight into the town of Girona in Spain. However, spectators standing right there will actually see the rainbow ending somewhere else. |
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| Canim Lake, British Columbia. The flames of the rainbow lighting up the calm, evening sky. |
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| When we close the eye of an adult and open the eyes of a child, we see the world has many magical things to show us. |
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| Rainbows always seem to enhance the color of the world, so green looks greener, red looks redder, and everything looks more beautiful. |
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| A huge double rainbow over Costa Rica. |
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| A beautiful panorama of a double rainbow, Alaska. A sight like this, said the photographer of this photo, he will remember till the day he dies. |
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| The best time to view a rainbow in its full glory is either in the early morning hours or in the late afternoon, when the sun is low in the sky. The lower the sun, the higher the rainbow. |
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| The rainbows coloring the sky over New Mexico. |
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| A very dim second rainbow over a strong primal one seen from Ruakaka, North Island of New Zealand. |
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A beautiful rainbow on a green meadow, the colors vibrant and alive.
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| One of the most amazing photos of a rainbow, this one was captured from a helicopter flying over Hawaii. A rainbow like this is called a 'Supernumerary Rainbow', because it has additional bands of color inside th e violet (outer) band. It doesn't happen very oftenand is actually several small and faint rainbows existing within the primary rainbow. |
Carolina. S