Rituals and Traditions of the Spring Equinox by Janie Sullivan

[Dept of PMM Artists & things]

 

The Spring Equinox is one of four solar festivals every year when day and night are equal.

Also known as the Vernal Equinox, March 20 is the first day of Spring 2009. The Spring Equinox is a day that symbolizes dawn, youth, birth, and rejuvenation. The Saxon goddess, Eostre is a goddess of dawn and the festival of new growth is her festival. Eostre, sometimes called Ostara, appears with a basket of eggs, accompanied by a rabbit. The color green represents the new vegetation growing on the land, turning it green. Selena Fox describes the Festival of Ostara or Welcome Spring Festival and explains a ritual meditation on the Circle Sanctuary Website.

Spring Has ArrivedSpring is officially at hand once the equinox has ended, despite any false starts that may have manifested earlier in the year. According to Pagan legend, the goddess Demeter is reunited with her daughter, Kore, who has been living in the underworld for the past six months. When Kore, whose name means essence of spring, returns to her mother's world, new growth is apparent in the fields, babies are born, and flowers begin to bloom. Other goddesses celebrated in the Spring are Astarte, Isis, Aphrodite, and Cybele.

Resurrection

A Spring celebration well known in the Christian world has its roots in ancient Rome. According to The School of the Seasons website, "A pine tree, which represented Attis, was chopped down, wrapped in a linen shroud, decorated with violets and placed in a sepulcher in the temple. On the Day of Blood or Black Friday, the priests of the cult gashed themselves with knives as they danced ecstatically, sympathizing with Cybele in her grief and helping to restore Attis to life. Two days later, a priest opened the sepulcher at dawn, revealing that it was empty and announcing that the god was saved. This day was known as Hilaria or the Day of Joy, a time of feasting and merriment." According to the site, Easter is the Christian version of this myth.

Festival Symbols

Eggs represent new life and new potential, thus they are often used as symbols of Spring festivals. According to folklore, eggs easily balance on their ends during equinox. Eggs are often colored and covered with symbols that represent wisdom, strength, and fertility. Eggs are often given as gifts or charms to children or other loved ones during the festivals. Another symbol of the Spring festivals is seeds, which also represent new life. Eggs are representative of new animal life, and the seeds depict new plant life. An ancient custom involves the planting of seeds in baskets, then when the seeds sprout, the greens are tied with red ribbons and placed on the graves of the dead, symbolizing life conquering death. (The School of The Seasons Website.)

What is an Equinox?The literal meaning of equinox is 'equal night.' What this means is that a certain time each Spring and Fall the sun is exactly over the equator, and day and night are about equal in length. In the Northern Hemisphere the equinox in Spring is called the "Vernal Equinox." It is called the "Autumnal Equinox" in the Southern Hemisphere. The Fall equinox occurs in September and the names are the opposite in each hemisphere. This year the Spring Equinox will occur at approximately 11:44 am on March 20.

Easter and the Vernal EquinoxEach year Easter falls on the first Sunday after the full moon that follows the Vernal Equinox. The celebrations that surround Easter and the equinox are celebrations of renewed life, growth, resurrection, and restoration of food supplies. Both pagan and Christian beliefs are blended in these events heralding the coming of Spring.