Article: The Spring Equinox

The Vernal Equinox
by Rev. Robin Dumolin

The Spring holidays have been celebrated at least since the beginning of recorded history. They all mark the end of winter when the earth sleeps and the start of the spring session when everything seems to be reborn.

Spring arrives when the earth is tilted so that the sun is directly over the equator. In the northern parts of the world, the first day of spring is on or about March 21. This is the day of the vernal equinox. Vernal means spring; equinox means equal night. Night and day are the same length, each lasting exactly twelve hours on this day.

In ancient times before Easter was celebrated, people connected spring with the return of life to the earth. The return of spring in ancient times was of more consequence than it is to us today because winter food storages ended, crops could be planted and people didn't have to worry about how to stay warm.

Early people believed that each season was ruled by a certain deity. There was a deity called Eostre, the goddess of spring, who was worshipped in the northern and central parts of Europe. Her name is believed to have come from the word to describe the direction of the sunrise - "east." Some think the word Easter came from the same source. Every spring people in these regions held festivals to honor and thank Eostre. They offered her cakes that are similar to hot cross buns.

The ancient Greeks created a story to explain the change of seasons. Demeter was the goddess of earth and agriculture, and Persephone was her beautiful daughter. One day the earth opened up and Hades, the king of the underworld, abducted Persephone to be his bride. Demeter became so sad at her daughters disappearance that she stopped doing her work and all the plants on earth died. She then found out what had happened to her daughter and went to Zeus, king of the gods, to demand her daughters return.

Persephone had refused to eat anything in the underworld because she knew that once a soul ate anything down there they would be doomed to stay forever. However, Hades tricked her by telling her it was safe to eat seeds and she ate one. Zeus, knowing what had happened, ruled that Persephone would be returned to her mother every spring to remain for six months. The other six months of the year she lives with Hades, so her mother is gloomy and nothing grows in the winter time.

Some early tribes believed that things found in nature, such as bodies of water, mountain and trees, had their own spirits. It is believed that the May Day festivals started as a tree worshiping rite. The ancient Druids, a pre-Christian religious sect found mostly in Britain and France, thought that trees, and most especially oak trees, were sacred objects. The Druids prayed to the trees for sunshine, rain, and to make the earth fertile.

The Celts of Britain in ancient times also had a May Day Celebration. They believed that their sun god had been held prisoner all winter by the evil spirits of cold and darkness. Each year around the first of May the god escaped and brought sunlight and warmth back to the earth. To help the sun escape, the Celts lit giant bonfires on the highest hills of their villages. They did this to scare the evil spirits away and force them to free the sun. In many lands today, traditions such as lighting big bonfires and burning candles are still a part of springtime traditions.

Springtime is the season of renewal, where flowers blossom, all green things grow and people feel a renewal of energy within themselves. People even begin to wear lighter colored clothing to "match" the environment around them. But what is truly inspiring and responsible for these changes? At the time of the Winter Solstice an influx of Christ energy begins to travel down to the center of the earth, with the purpose of recharging the earth for the next season. By springtime this energy comes up to the planet's surface causing all the vast changes, both visible and invisible to the eye.

Spring cleaning then happens on two levels. Physically, people get rid of material things they no longer need or believe to be useful to themselves. Spiritually, people are discarding energies, ideas, and pictures in their auras that no longer fit them. The changing of each season provides us with a time to reflect and then make changes. Remember your New Years Resolutions?

Understanding the planetary cycles makes any changes you might want to make in your life easier, like a farmer knowing the best times to sow and to reap. There is more sunlight and warmth in the spring than in the winter. Yet the Christ energy or "Sonlight" is always shining, springtime is just another opportunity given by the Supreme Being to allow us to recognize this for ourselves.