Vernal (Spring) Equinox
(This is an excerpt from a University Of Metaphysical Sciences course at www.umsonline.org,
please feel free to visit the school website)
The first Equinox that occurs in a calendar year is the Spring or Vernal Equinox, also known as Eostre (or Ostara). Ostara, and Eostre were ancient goddesses of sun (Germanic) and fertility (Saxon), and both were Goddesses of Dawn. The Spring Equinox is the time of full dawn, when from that day forward the days grow longer than the nights. It generally occurs on March 21, but depending on the calendar, it can be a day before or after. It is a time of new beginnings, when the earth is freed from the constraints of winter. Since this equinox symbolized a time of new life and fertility, it was a time for planting new crops. It also represented the climax of the dark half of the year, the survival of yet another winter.
You may have already noticed the similarity between the names Eostre and Easter. In fact the early Christians did take this name, Easter, and apply it to the holiday that celebrates Jesus’ resurrection, also representative of new life and rebirth. In 325 A.D. a French papal council declared that Easter was to be the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the Vernal Equinox. The Easter customs of coloring eggs and bunny rabbits delivering sweets also stems from pagan traditions. Eggs symbolize new life and the rabbit denotes fertility. The goddess Ostara was associated with these symbols as a result of a legend that maintained that she was saved by a bird whose wings became frozen in winter so the bird was changed into a hare (rabbit) that could lay eggs. So the name and the symbols and the reverence for new life arising were adapted into the holiday of Easter as Christianity spread.
The manner of celebrating the Vernal Equinox varied from region to region and culture to culture. Appeals would be made for abundance from the new crops being planted, with ritual prayers and feasts. The Mayan Chichen Itza pyramid was designed to produce a serpent shadow on the Spring Equinox and the current Mayans still gather there on this day. Celebrating a passage from darkness and cold to warmth and light, as well as new life and hope, seems to be the common theme in any culture observing the Spring Equinox. In current times, in lieu of planting new seeds, we can celebrate balance, new endeavors, the greening of the earth and request spiritual blessings upon our new hopes and projects. During the Spring Equinox the sun’s first rays of light at dawn are from due East. The East has always been analogous to Wisdom and Enlightenment, so during this time we are very receptive to receiving these qualities.