Spring Equinox

Spring Equinox

Spring Equinox 2009: Spring Equinox
As I said two years ago, if you can't explain solstices and equinoxes to a nine year old, do some reading until you can. Check out this video.

Spring Equinox 2010: Giving Thanks at the Equinox

My post Easter from April 2010 is also about a holiday associated with the Spring Equinox.

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Spring is here! Spring is here!

One of my biggest pet peeves is this ridiculous idea that a season begins at the equinox or solstice that bears its name. I much prefer to think of the equinoxes and solstices as the height of the seasons, not the beginnings. Spring is the season of new growth and it begins well before the days and nights reach equilibrium. To me, the beginning of spring is in early February, halfway between the winter solstice and spring equinox but it always seems like I'm the only one who is celebrating so early. Last weekend I was in my garden, turning up soil and planting lettuce seeds when I had the realization that spring is no longer a secret I whisper to myself. At the equinox spring is a triumph to be shouted out loud.

Luckily, I'm not the only one doing the shouting, now - the Earth is doing plenty shouting herself. The lilac trees and currant bushes are budding, the daffodils are out and so are the cherry blossoms. Nettles are up, ducks are pairing up and the slugs and snakes are back on the edges of the trails I walk each week. Even the rain is shouting that it's spring; gentle, sweet and almost warm. I even saw a turkey vulture the other day! A friend of mine recently commented that the peepers and pounders are back - peepers being tree frogs and pounders being the flickers who hammer against whatever sounds good. Both making all the noise they can to get the ladies lookin' their way.

Like equinoxes past, I was up for the sunrise on Monday morning. The sunrise was typically gray, but also typically noisy with birdsong. I love this time of year when the birds are twitterpated and making all the noise they can. I love the light evenings and the warmer afternoons. I love the smell of cherry and apple blossoms, of wet earth and sunshine on green grass.

What's spring shouting where you are? I know I have followers all over the continent and readers from even further afield. Leave a comment and let me know what spring looks like where you are. What's blooming? What's singing? What are you noticing? Happy equinox, and happy spring!

Spring Equinox

Remember at the Solstice, how I said I used to get up for the sunrise on the equinoxes and solstices but I have been lazy and not done it for years? Yeah, I remembered that too and got myself together for the Equinox! Yipee! It wasn't a terribly glorious morning - it was kind of grey - but it was worth it.

Astronomically, the equinox is halfway between the two solstices. It is the time at which the sun is directly overhead of the equator at noon and in most parts of the world this means the length of day is approximately the same as the length of the night. The word equinox is derived from the Latin words for equal night. I am a total science geek and love learning about, and teaching, how our earth works. I strongly believe that everyone should have a working knowledge of basic earth science principles - if you can't explain to an 8 year old why we have seasons then go check out this really awesome video that explains the seasons very clearly. Seriously, we all live here, we should have some basic idea of how it works :)

Culturally, the equinox is a major festival time in most parts of the world. The Persian new year celebration of Nowruz falls on the spring equinox and includes up to a full two weeks of rest and celebration. The Jewish Passover and Christian Easter holidays are also related to the equinox. For more information on the amazingly rich symbols and traditions of this time of year check out Waverly Fitzgerald's article on Spring Equinox traditions or any of her newsletters from around this time of the year. It is a time when winter can be said to be pretty much over in much of the northern hemisphere, and new life is exploding forth everywhere you look.

And boy oh boy is life exploding! Here in Portland the cherry trees exploded into blossom practically over night, the crocuses and daffodils are brightening every lawn or scrap of space they can find and everyone is talking about their garden. We had an unusually cold and dry winter this year but spring seems to be making up for all of that. Rain, rain and more rain. And mud. My mom talks about how she read many accounts of early settlers to the Willamette Valley during her first winter in Oregon and had never been so thankful for pavement in her whole life. The spring rains and resulting mud would swallow whole ox carts and keep pioneer women at home for months at a time.

True to form Equinox morning was gray and drizzly last Saturday. I woke up and drove Tumalo and myself up to Council Crest, the highest point in Portland to see what we could see. Turned out to be not much. On clear days you can see the city and two or three 10,000 foot peaks. We got a glimpse of the waning crescent moon, cloudy skies and the morning dog walk crowd. I did find a lovely patch of nettles and collected some for my breakfast.

After my early morning walk I brought my bag of nettles home, dried some, and sauteed some for an omlette. I spent the rest of my day leisurely relaxing, cleaning the house and planning my garden. Spring is here, spring is really here!

How is spring springing where you are? How did you celebrate the Equinox or other spring festivals?

Seed Moon is New

I am late in posting this month and the Seed Moon grows older every day. Again, we've had lovely clear weather here in Portland and I have been able to watch her as she grows each night from a little sliver to a happy plump crescent.

Annette Hinshaw calls this moon, the moon of the spring equinox, the Seed Moon and relates it to energies of starting projects. Seeds must grow, they must start, but a seeds "decision" to grow is a very chancy one, when you think about it. It was safe, warm, secure there in the seed coat. Once the seed starts growing it can't go back, but the wild world is very unsafe for a little seedling. What if a late frost or an early hailstorm happens? What if a young bunny thinks it looks delicious and takes a nibble? Or perhaps an unseasonable dry spell robs the young plant of the water it needs to grow? Oh, it was so much safer back inside the seed.

We humans face that problem too. Some mornings even getting out of bed seems like a herculean task. Lets not even talk about cleaning the bathroom or finishing that crochet project you started last fall. But beginning is something we must do, just as the seed must start to grow. In order to fulfill the potential we have within us we must find the courage to take that first step. Annette Hinshaw talks about how sometimes failure to begin is due to fear of failing and how sometimes it is due to fear of unintended consequences. I like to think that if we can find the courage to start then God will help guide what comes next.

Somethings, however, are a pleasure to start. Last weekend I did a lot of prep work in my garden to get it ready for planting next week. I also started out a new chapter of my life with a new housemate. It's been fun getting to know a new person and rearranging the house to fit his things and his life into a place so full of my things and my life.

Spring is a great time for new beginnings and I am enjoying watching everything burst into greens and yellows. The other day I took an early spring herb walk and was so happy to find little baby plants popping up all over the place. I was specifically looking for nettles but found lots more. Susun Weed, a master herbalist and wise woman healer, speaks at length of the nutritional qualities of nettle. She advocates making a nettle infusion to get your daily dose of minerals and vitamins from the plant world. I will soon go back up the trail and harvest the nettles I found after they've had a chance to grow up a bit.

I'll leave you with a poem I found recently that seems to speak perfectly to the themes of the Seed Moon. Trepidation at starting, anticipation of new beginnings and sheer joy at the physicality of spring!

Horses In the Spring

by Connie Wanek
photo by patmueller

Beware too much happiness!

The horses paused suspiciously before the open door,

snorting and stamping, while sunlight poured

onto the cold cement. They smelled snow

in the barn's shadow, mud along the south wall,

matted grass in the thawing pasture.

Their nostrils flared and their ears

lay back, then pricked forward, far forward,

and they stretched their elegant necks
as if the world were offering thema slice of sweet apple,

or something even more pure, on an open palm.....