Spring Equinox

You see, even the flowers in front of Whitehaven's Marchon Club can look nice in Spring! (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Firstly let me apologies for not posting for sometime…Things have been pretty busy on planet Dawn just lately and it would seem hypocritical of me if I didn’t practice what I preach, so the need for prioritising has been essential.

Let me begin this year’s posting with what is aptly a post to commemorate this auspicious time of year known as the spring equinox March 20 – 21. This being one of my favourite times of the year and one of the prettiest seasons.

At the Spring (or Vernal) Equinox the sun rises exactly in the east, travels through the sky for 12 hours and then sets exactly in the west. So all over the world, at this special moment, day and night are of equal length hence the word equinox which means ‘equal night’. The sun’s light is pulled around the curvature of the Earth so when light breaks the horizon it is only the light and not the sun that is seen.For those who are able to catch the sun at either of those times they will see the sun for a few minutes before the sun actually rises and for a few minutes after it has set. This adds about six minutes of daylight to the average day.

To Pagans, this is the time of the ancient Anglo-Saxon Goddess of spring and dawn Eostre, who stands for new beginnings and fertility.

Many modern Wiccans and Pagans celebrate Ostara as a time of renewal and rebirth. Take some time to celebrate the new life that surrounds you in nature — walk in park, lie in the grass, hike through a forest.

As you may know, ‘Ostara’ is the first day of spring! The days are longer and starting to get warmer.
The word Ostara is just one of the names applied to the celebration of the spring equinox on March 21
Spring equinox is a time for fertility and sowing seeds, and so nature’s fertility goes a little crazy. In medieval societies in Europe, the March hare was viewed as a major fertility symbol -

The indigenous Mayan people in Central American have celebrated a spring equinox festival for ten centuries. As the sun sets on the day of the equinox on the great ceremonial pyramid, El Castillo, Mexico, its “western face…is bathed in the late afternoon sunlight.

The Mayans built the temple so that at this time, every year, the shadow going down the steps looks like the featheredserpent God going into the underworld

Watch a video: Spring equinox

And spring arose on the garden fair,
like the Spirit of Love felt everywhere;
and each flower and herb on Earth’s dark breast
rose from the dreams of its wintry rest.

~Percy Bysshe Shelley.

Please take some time to celebrate the new life that surrounds you in nature — take a walk in a park, lie in the grass, hike through a forest, watch and observe the new beginnings…

Experts are predicting that in 2012 there will be such a release of pent-up energy after such a long, hard winter it could produce the most spectacular spring in years…

Spring Equinox

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