The spring equinox falls generally around the 20/21 March and this year it falls on Friday 20th March. Interestingly, the equinox can fall as early as 19th March, but this last happened in 1796 and will happen again until 2044, so we’ve got a while to wait yet!
The Spring equinox heralds the start of the astronomical spring, as during the equinox the sun crosses the equator, meaning that day and night are (almost) equal in length. Days henceforth will become longer and nights shorter. Spring then ends on the 21 June at the summer solstice, when the astronomical summer begins.
It’s at this time of year that I begin to feel a surge in energy after the heaviness of the winter. It’s like awakening from a deep slumber, a time to shake off the heaviness and start moving, planning new projects, walking in nature and enjoying the spring time. I’m generally more active and feel more energetic with the springtime energies, awakened and more alive.
I’ve been lucky over the years to be able to welcome in the spring equinox by joining in celebrations held on sacred spaces such as Avebury and Stonehenge and others. The celebration on Stonehenge on the spring equinox was particularly special to me as it was a private ceremony on the stones back in 2012.
I’ve included a picture taken at the time, plus one from a ceremony at Avebury on the spring equinox a couple of years later. I feel quite privileged to have joined in with the pagans and druid community at Avebury, at the equinoxes and also the winter solstice.
Avebury however, unlike Stonehenge, is accessible to the public throughout the year for free, as the village itself has developed around the stones over centuries. One can freely wander amongst the stones, touch them and feel their magnificent qualities, connecting with the ancestors who created this wondrous site, the largest in Britain.
At times of the pagan and Wiccan eight seasonal festivals or sabbats (solstices, equinoxes and mid points or cross-quarter days) there’s usually groups to be found in Avebury honouring these days with their own gatherings, and so it’s always a good time to visit. Groups that gather there to honour the sabbats are usually only too happy to welcome people into their gathering. The local druids share stories and poems and sometimes a bit of mead too! Or if not, a visit to the Red Lion pub just off the stone circle has a plentiful supply of ales and spirits.
The spring equinox is known as Ostara and represents a time of balance, equality and rebirth symbolised by eggs. It’s a time for spring cleaning, as in older times the hearth would be cleared of soot and grease, and the walls and windows washed.
Taking time to honour these seasonal cycles help connect to the natural cycle of nature and the changing of the seasons, as our ancestors would. In our modern society, we can easily become detached from the natural cycle of the seasons, a cycle that would have been so important to our ancestors for agriculture, life and death.
Ways to celebrate the Equinox or Ostara
- If you can’t join in a ceremony, formulate your own. It’s good to get outside to do this but you can do it indoors. Start by casting a circle by calling in the four cardinal directions of the compass; this is done in a clockwise motion, with the four correspondences of North, East, South and West. This gives protection whilst working and at the end of your ceremony you release the circle with thanks in an anti-clockwise motion; in reverse order. When your circle has been cast you can take time to meditate, drum, light a small fire safely, light a candle, some incense or use the spoken word such as a poem or something meaningful, or simply set new intentions for the year ahead.
- Welcome in the sunrise and listen to the dawn chorus. Meditate, journal or plan the year ahead.
- Create an altar. Place on it anything that gives you inspiration for the spring, statues, flowers, crystals or symbols, use bright colours and things that lift your energies.
- Have a walk in nature and/or get up early and greet the sunrise.
- Plant seeds and tend to your garden, tidy it up, clearing away the old and welcoming in the new.
- Spring clean your house to invite in the new energies of spring.
- Decorate some eggs. This was a very traditional thing to do when I was younger and is a lovely activity to do with younger members of the family.
Whatever you decide to do, enjoy the experience and take time to connect with these beautiful, invigorating energies of spring, a time of balance and renewal.
Angel Reis 