Spring Equinox

By Patricia Briggs

Let SPRING FEVER begin!

This week we get to welcome in the first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. I know that I am tired of the sluggish energy that the longer hours of darkness brought. I am ready for more light. The sunlight and clear skies naturally energize me. They inspire me to be outside in nature and moving. There is a feeling of renewal and awakening as nature wakes from its winter hibernation and everything begins to grow and exude vibrant colors after the starkness of the darker months. We will soon see new buds on the trees, daffodils poking their heads up through the dirt, and the birds returning, setting up nests, and laying their eggs. There will be bunnies…. Lots of bunnies running through my yard!

Growing up in the snow belt of New York State, I always knew spring and warmer weather was on its way, when I saw and heard the Canadian Geese making their way north again in the crisp clearer skies. This was a cycle of nature that I watched for and could count on. I would watch them wing their way south and know that snow was coming. I didn’t have to look at the calendar. When they flew towards then north, I could rejoice in putting the snow shovels away because it was a guarantee that the warmer months were coming in with them.

While the darker hours have triumphed over the number of hours of daylight since the Winter Solstice in December, our daylight hours have been gradually increasing. On the Equinox, the direct rays of the sun are shining down on the equator producing the effect that we have equal day and night. On the battlefield between light and dark, they come together today as equals.

So not only should we honor the fact that there is balance between the dark and light, but also, we should honor the cycle of nature that brought this balance.

Nature shows us the four stages of our inner spiritual journey through its cycle, marked by the summer and winter solstices, and spring and fall equinoxes. Our journey is one of moving energetically through the darkness into the light, moving through the light into the darkness, and points of balance between the two. The points of balance allow us to take a moment to energetically catch our breath, check in with ourselves, and then shift. The emphasis is on the journey not the destination, so the cycle repeats. If you have been mindfully present during the journey, on the repeat, you are uncovering deeper truths and gaining greater awareness. The return journey through is new because of your new level of awareness, and you have changed, so you are new too.

In the past, I would get so caught up in my spiritual journey that I would forget to take that breather before the next great shift. I would forget to center myself energetically, and balance. I learned, that if I allowed nature to show me the way, the journey could be more graceful and gentle. Take the time to center and balance.

I found a little story from “A Druid’s Herbal for the Sacred Earth Year” by Ellen Evert Hopman that I wanted to leave you with. In her discussion about the history of the Spring Equinox, she writes, “A charming custom is painting eggs with symbols and pictures of what one wishes to manifest in the coming year. The eggs can then be buried in the Mother Earth, who hears the cries and dreams of her children.”

So, let’s plant some eggs this year, and enjoy the dance of spring!

Happy Spring Equinox.