The Spring Equinox, and what follows...

The Equinox occurs when the Sun enters the first degree of the zodiacal constellation of Aries in the tropical calendar. Aries is the first sign of the zodiac, and signifies birth, beginnings, zest, enthusiasm, passion, unequivocal desire, and action unfettered by inhibition or experience. It is the zero point, the place of all potential, with no baggage, no past, to weigh it down or tamper with its purity of intent. Thus Aries is associated with innocence and foolhardiness: the courage born of not knowing what can go wrong. It is symbolically related to the Fool card in the Tarot: full of potency and potential, but vulnerable to being tripped up by its own naivety.

Falling in love – with a person, place, endeavor, idea – is an essential part of being human. It often defies rationality and even wisdom. We may, as we grow older, imagine ourselves to be immune to folly and to being taken over by enthusiasm, but we lock ourselves down into certainty at our peril. Fully lived enthusiasm could be defined as the willingness to commit to what enchants us, to be drawn towards that which has energy for us. Sometimes this may lead us down false paths, but sometimes it leads us to our own grail. The willingness to be transformed in the moment by the joy of living keeps us young and vital.

The Spring Equinox, our collective zero moment, is the best time in the year to connect with your own purity of enthusiasm, to transcend middle-aged caution, common sense, and fear of change. With this zest the heart is renewed, and we naturally access a bright and fresh impetus for living fully.

THE EQUINOX THIS YEAR

This year, the Spring Equinox falls on March 19 at 10:48 pm Pacific and on March 20 at 1:48 am Eastern, 5:48 am in London, 6:48 am in mainland Europe.

The Equinox is immediately followed this year by the Full Moon at 2 degrees Libra, exact March 21 at 8:45 am Pacific, 11:45 am Eastern, 3:45 pm in London, 4:45 pm in Europe.

The Full Moon, symbolic of ripe fullness and fertility, following almost on top of the Equinox, makes these few days very potent.

In the Western Christian Church, Easter is calculated as the first Sunday after the Equinox, and thus is pretty much the earliest it can ever be this year, and will be celebrated on March 23. Due to the vagaries of the calendars, the Jewish and Orthodox celebrations that are symbolically equivalent to Western Christian Easter are almost a month later this year, with Passover beginning at sundown on April 20, and Easter in the Orthodox Church on April 28.

EQUINOX SYMBOLISM: REBIRTH & RESURRECTION

In the ancient world, the Spring Equinox was a major juncture in the ritual year, and a joyous solar festival of resurrection and renewal after the trials of the winter. In Northern Europe this time was known as “The Month of the Greening of the Earth”. This is a time of fertility–of land, birds, animals, and humans–and thus its related symbols include eggs, and the rampant, super-fertile rabbit or Mad March (lunar) hare.

The correct title is the Vernal Equinox, from the Latin for “equal night of spring”. The Great Sphinx is aligned to meet the rising Sun on the vernal equinox, and the Kukulcan pyramid at Chichen Itza is aligned with the equinoctal sunset. The vernal equinox, often also referred to as the first day of spring, marks the beginning of Nowruz, the Persian New Year, a celebration rooted in Zoroastrianism and lasting for 13 days. In the Southern Hemisphere, this date marks the Autumn Equinox rather than the Spring, and signals the onset of cooler weather.

Celebration of the Spring Equinox, the moment of magical equality of day and night, was replaced in the Christian tradition by Easter, which has the same magnitude in the ritual year, being the most important festival in the Christian liturgical calendar. Traditionally Easter was, and in some places still is, a deeply moving ritual of rebirth and resurrection, beginning on Holy Saturday in darkness with the Easter vigil, and continuing through the night and into the dawn of Easter Sunday with a ritualized acknowledgement of Christ’s sacrifice and the concomitant themes of death and resurrection, followed by mass baptisms and recommitment of faith, and concluding with a celebration of rich food replete with fertility symbols of new life. The Easter egg we eat today is a perfect symbolic food of this time, combining the fertility symbolism of the egg with the richness of chocolate, given as a reward after the Lenten fast.

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So enjoy the opening moment of the Equinox, and the passion of the Full Moon immediately following. It’s a strong beginning to full spring, and may it bring you joy.

Blessings.

(thnx to Lara for this, thanx sister. :)