Rites of Spring

Celebrate the Vernal Equinox with All of Your Body and Soul

By Ariela Weisfeld

This year, March 20 marks a significant day in the seasonal cycle. The Vernal Equinox is upon us. Vernal means “green” and Equinox means “equal." On this day, the day and night are equal in length, after which the daylight begins to increase. This is observed seasonally as the first day of spring. Symbolically this represents the rebirthing of life in the northern hemisphere.

The vernal equinox is a point in space and time¹. The sun appears to cross the equator on a path from south to north, and from our northern hemispheric perspective the sun appears higher in our sky. The sun’s rays become perpendicular resulting in longer days and a higher concentration of solar energy on the Earth’s surface, with the seeds of life beginning to spring forth. Throughout history this crossing was welcomed, marked and celebrated.

Astrology recognized this as significant and chose this as The First Point of Aries, the first sign of the zodiac, opening the door to the astrological mandala, the day the wheels of the zodiac are set in motion.

In Greek mythology spring was celebrated through the myth of the return of Persephone from the dark underworld of Hades and reuniting with her mother Demeter bringing green life to the Earth.

Easter is celebrated on the first Sun-day after the full moon following the equinox, this year falling on April 16.

The Jewish holiday of Pass-over is celebrated on the first full moon after the equinox (commencing April 12). The Persian New Year Nawruz and Holi the Hindu festival of colours are celebrated on the equinox, March 20.

All Earth-based spiritual traditions like the Goddess, Celtic, Wicca and Pagan always recognized the significance of this conjunction and to this day enact rituals to celebrate it.
A new annual holiday, Earth Day, has been celebrated on March 21 since 1970.

Some aboriginal peoples, such as the Crow people of Montana, observed the stars and constellations to mark the change of seasons. The disappearance of the brightest star of the winter skies, Sirius, indicated spring, and the constellation Bear Above’s (Hercules) appearance marked the time for gathering young eagle feathers.

This time of initiation into the birthing process offers potent opportunities.

If it is in your heart and mind to bring healing to yourself, to the Earth, and all her inhabitants then this is a great opportunity to reclaim connection, reverence and relatedness through attunement and ritual either within your tradition, or in your own personal way.

The intention of starting a new cycle of creativity, bringing forth new life, light and balance, can be observed and practised with appreciation and gratitude for the possibilities of this new cycle.

You can also attune to your inner life and imagine the Earth as your body and the sun as your heart, recognizing that all our energy and life force is ultimately coming from the sun through the food we eat and that following the sun’s path is like following our heart’s desires.

Being sensually present and aware of our changing environment is an enlivening experience, as if being captured by the spell of the sensuous. Any new bud or green leaf can be observed, touched, smelled and later tasted, and a warm wind or a glorious spring shower that brings May flowers can be luxuriously enjoyed.

As an astrologer I use the rich symbolic language of astrology to inspire me. This is the first of 12 cyclic phases of transformation to engage and embody. I reflect on the elemental wisdom encoded within the sign of Aries and the red planet Mars, both of the fire element. I think of human emotions and actions characterized by this element: intense, radiant, dramatic and active. Energetically it is a cardinal sign, which suggests forward moving energy, an urge within to be motivated.

The sign of Aries symbolizes passing through the birth canal and surviving it, then being fired up to live life to the fullest, rising up to life’s challenges, acting from one’s centre with passion and courage.

Mars represents an emergent erotic vitality, an awakener of forces desiring to grow, bloom and give the fruits of their creativity. Of course everyone’s birth chart has more insight to this kind of action (look for Aries and Mars in the chart, their location and aspects).

So, this potent moment in time and space has much to offer us. Using traditional rituals or creating our own, we can be active participants in welcoming this new cycle of life. To fully embrace this we need to cultivate our own fierce and unique natural beauty and rededicate ourselves to heartfelt initiatives. Drawing from the rich symbolism of this vernal equinox and responding with a warm, open and generous heart we can take actions that help preserve all life on Earth, work towards equality in our human communities and cultivating a brighter, warmer, more loving and joyous vision of the future.

All Blesssings, All Love, All of Us.