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March 20 Equinox/Spring: rebirth, fertility, eggs—Passover (Jewish), Easter (Christian). Goddess Festivals: Eostare, Ostara, Oestre (German), Astarte (Semite), Persephone (Greek), Flora (Roman).
The seasonal cycle of the year is created by Earth’s annual orbit around the sun. Solstices are the extreme points as Earth’s axis tilts toward or away from the sun—when days and nights are longest or shortest.
On equinoxes, days and nights are equal in all parts of the world. Four cross-quarter days roughly mark the midpoints in between solstices and equinoxes. We commemorate these natural turning points in the Earth’s cycle. Seasonal celebrations of most cultures cluster around these same natural turning points.
The Kissing Mountains © Bernice Davidson 2018
There is a truth faster than any thought. More immediate than all our dearest visions of ourselves.
It is the thing that reaches, without thought, for love and comfort, to be soothed with tenderness, to be protected in fear. It is the thing that sends us out, questing recklessly, pushing the edges of comfort, safety and sense.
It is the legacy of the animals we have always been, the cumulative wisdom of spring—new every time, ancient, timeless.
Pay attention to those truths that guide you, to the impulses that rule you beyond all your careful reckoning.
World by Night © Diane Lee Moomey 2018
We are teeth bared, in need of both adventure and tenderness. Instinct is a whip, cutting through confusions and contortions both personal and collective.
Hone skill and honesty instead of management. The wild will not be gainsayed. Its language needs to be remembered, spoken easily as any tongue of cultivation and strategy, if we are to come back to the belly of the Earth.
— Maeanna Welti © Mother Tongue Ink
Traveling isn't required to celebrate this wonderful time of year! There are many traditions we can all do at home with our loved ones or alone to celebrate Spring Equinox.
Blowing Bubbles © Robin Urton 2016
Create an altar: Make a space dedicated to our new intentions for the season. Adorn your space with bright colors, plants, and herbs that promote growth and healing. Place it in the sunshine to warm your hearts and minds after the dark months of winter.
Plant Seeds or Garden: gardening isn't only a seasonal tradition, it's also a ritual to honor this astrological event! Sing songs to your plants while you give them to the earth. Plant food and flowers to brighten up the land!
Wake at Sunrise: Rise early from bed to glimpse the sun peaking over the horizon. Awaken your body and mind to the new day with the sun.
Have a bonfire: All over the world, cultures integrate fire into their celebrations. Go outside and have a fire (safety of course!). This is a great time to gather loved ones, set new intentions for the season and release them to the flames.
Spring cleaning: We all know this one, some look forward to the yearly cleanse while others dread this time. Cleaning on this day can boost your energy, open the windows and play music while the dust and stagnation of winter months is wiped clean.
Create new goals or projects: Spring equinox is a time of balance and beginnings. Start a project with the balance, clear head and an open plane of possibilities.
Go outside: Start hiking, or exploring new parts of your city you haven't seen before. Historically, spring equinox is a great time to travel and explore. Roads once closed from snow are now open with a brand new world of growth awaiting you. Even if the natural world is far from your doorstep, find a new tree in your city to sit under, or a fun part of town you haven't explored.
Grounded with Love © Darlene Cook 2019
Ostara: Germanic Goddess of Spring and the dawn.
Astarte: Semite Goddess of War and Sexuality and fertility.
Persephone: Greek, Queen of the Underworld. Goddess of Fertility, her abduction by Hades is often seen as a reason for the seasons. She is allowed up from the underworld to bring to Spring and returns in the Fall.
Flora: Roman Goddess of Flowers and Love.
The return of spring, time of holy equality. The landscape is still winter-rough and wind-blown. Walk outside and feel the raw possibility.
The anxieties hover—climate change, nuclear holocaust, environmental devastation—but let us not stress only existential apocalyptic tales. How do we stop devouring our planet and instead energize stories of plenty and repair.
From the ballast of balance, begin to notice The Commons, that entire life support system that we hold in trust for future beings. Envision a healing, parallel economy producing air, diversity, wilderness, asking only respect in return. Collect bits of wind-blown trash for a day. Gather in community, sharing the common wealth.
Walk in the woods, see that trees aren't isolated individuals. Each one is a Forest, Forest, Forest. I walk in the world, and I'm not even me; I am World.
Gaze through the mirror. World. World. World.
— Oak Chezar © Mother Tongue Ink 2019
Originally published in We'Moon 2020: Wake Up Call now half price!
Featured Image: Susan Bolen (Mariposa, CA) is the artist Manterbolen, Represented by Williams Gallery West, in Oakhurst, CA. Her work can be found on Redbubble, Facebook, and Manterbolen.com She lives in a fortress of semi-solitude with her loving husband and five cats.
Highlights of our desk top date book include information for every day:
The longest night gifts us with time to enter the darkness, fully. We hold our breaths with nature, where life is suspended, waiting in extremis. The stillness behind action gathers as we empty and trust in our renewal. What will you give/lose to the night?
The triumph of light peaks, slides slowly to dissolve. This is the tipping point for everything: democracy, misogyny, racism, climate, freedom. All are on a cliff edge. We've reached the neon-bright entrance to The Great Turning. Change is the only thing that doesn't change. Are we ready?
Feel the passing of summer; as light lessens, we deepen the rhythms of rebirth. This is the first harvest—a time of abundance, our opportunity to assume conscious collective responsibility for creating the future.
