Spring Equinox starts the zodiac wheel with the Sun in Aries, bringing in the season of growth, new life and sunshine. Full Circle!
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
Nature does not need to be told to do anything. It is just born again, instinctively in community.
Spring is the alchemy of sacred secrets and earth mysteries combined with decisiveness and courage.
Take a moment to notice sources of life and pops of color around you. What plantcestors are blooming in the spaces that have meaningful connections for you?
In preparation for our literal plant and dream seeds, this is a juncture where our foods change most radically. Consider designing a safe, gentle, simple cleanse for your constitution to give your body the spaciousness to release, reset and be nourished.
This is a time for freedom and resilience in our bodies (physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, political). Schedule pockets of time to visualize and create.
There is the time to set intentions and make adjustments to the path. This is the time to practice consistency and create sustained momentum and growth. This is another chance to nurture and actualize our dreams from our hearts' deepest desires.
—Karen L. Culpepper© Mother Tongue Ink 2023
from pg 62 in We'Moon 2024
World by Night © Diane Lee Moomey 2018
Spring Equinox Traditions and
Festivals around the World
This time of year correlates with a number of global cultural celebrations:
- Songkran Water Festival—Thailand: Sonkran taken from the word "astrological passage" is celebrated as New Years day! Celebrated with street wide water "fights" or splashing.
- Passover—Jewish
- Easter—Christian
- White House Easter Egg Roll—USA: Believed to have started in the 1800s, the tradition still continues to this day.
- Holi—Northern India: A colorful festival that involves throwing colored powder to celebrate the many colors of spring.
- Norwruz—Central Asia: A day for spring cleaning, growth and bonfires.
- Spring Equinox in Teothiuacan—Mexico: People gather at the pyramid dressed in white to celebrate the new season and welcome in the coming warmth of the sun.
- Stonehenge Sunrise Ceremony—England
Spring Equinox Goddesses
- Ostara:Germanic Goddess of Spring and the dawn.
- Astarte: Semite Goddess of War and Sexuality and fertility originally honored in Egypt.
- 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.
DIY Spring Equinox Traditions
Traveling isn't required to celebrate this wonderful time of year in a scacred way, though! There are many traditions we canparticipate inat home with our loved ones or alone to celebrate Spring Equinox.
Blowing Bubbles © Robin Urton 2016
Simple Spring Equinox Rituals:
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 (safely 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: Equinox is a time of balance and beginnings. Start a project with the balance, clear head and an open plane of possibilities.
Go outside:Take a hike, or exploring new parts of your city you haven't seen before. Looks for signs of life sprouting from the fertile earth. Historically, spring is a great time to travel and explore. Roads once closed from snowwill start to 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
Spring Equinox Inspirations
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 world is made of stories, and we need to change the narrative. Poised in the season's symmetry, ask: what does another world look like?
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.
Remember that the root word for "religion" is "re-linking"; when we speak in the language of longing, we re-enter the mystery.
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 evenme;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!
Read aboutmore Pagan Holiday Rituals and Traditions!
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, andManterbolen.comShe lives in a fortress of semi-solitude with her loving husband and five cats.
These, and many more articles come from our best selling Moon phase planner, and astrological calendar:We'Moon: Gaia Rhythms for Womyn.
Highlights of our desk top date book include information for every day:
- Astrological data in PST
- Moon phases depicted for every day
- Notation on when the moon changes signs
- Void of Course Moon data
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- Astrological predictions for every sun and rising sign in the zodiac
- Holiday / Holy Day writings about each of the wiccan / pagan holy days
- Over 100 images of fabulous feminist art and over 100 righteous writings by amazing poets and storytellers. All of these works are submitted by women from all over the world.
- Week-at-a-glance format
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- Information about how you can contribute your creative workfor possible publication
- Intro articles about astrology, both Chinese and Western, herbs, the wiccan / pagan holidays, eclipses and mercury retrogrades that are coming up for the year
- Appendix articles on how to understand the various influences of the planets and signs, a veritable feast of Astrology 101
- ...And So much more!
Also in Pagan Holiday Rituals and Traditions
Imbolc Rituals and Traditions
"Together let us move from a space of restoration to a place of connection, celebration and exploration. Now is the time to begin to flesh out our insights after a time of deep recuperation. We trust the knowing and divine intelligence of Mother Earth, and soon we will sync ourselves with the energy of initiation and reinvention.We must lean into the resilient practices of our ancestors to help us germinate our creative seeds..."Imbolc or Candlemas, February 2nd, is a celebration of light and the first spark of spring.
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