The Spring Equinox (also called the March Equinox or Vernal Equinox) is approaching, or, if you are on the southern hemisphere, it will be the Autumn Equinox and the beginning of Fall approaching.
Equinox is latin, from the word “aequus” or equal and “nox” or night (think lumos and nox spells in Harry Potter ). The Spring Equinox is a period when night and day are “equal,” though that really depends on your location. Those living closest to the equator will have the most equal amount of daylight an nighttime, as the sun will be directly overhead the earth’s equator.
The estimated day and time for this year’s Spring Equinox is Wednesday, March 20, 2019 at 5:59 EDT.
The Start of Spring
For us in the northern hemisphere, the Spring Equinox is the mark of the beginning of spring (though, meteorologically speaking, that is the 1st of March), the days will gradually start to get longer until the Summer Solstice on June 21st.
The Spring Equinox has always been a time for me to start being outdoors more, now is the time to plant peas outside and start seeds indoors for the spring garden (check my free garden calculator to see which seeds you should be starting and when). It’s the time to tap the sweet winter sap of the maple tree, to keep an eye out for lambing or kidding, or piglets. Now is also the rime to replenish and enrich the soil with compost, or to create mini-composting holes by burying layers of vegetable scraps and soil to plant in later this spring.
In Myth
In myth, the Spring Equinox is associated with the Goddess Ostara and the Faery Queen Blodeuwedd (pronounced blod-oo-eeth). Ostera is a German pagan Goddess hailing from the Teutonic tribes, Goddess of fertility and rebirth. Sometimes spelled Eostre, she is often depicted standing amid the flowers and vines of spring, birds flying overhead, a rabbit hopping at her feet, and holding an egg in her hand.
Wonder where Christianity took its spring -imagery for Easter? The exchange of eggs is an old custom celebrated by many cultures. The symbols and practices of the spring equinox are so powerful and ingrained that rather than try to stamp them out, Christianity simply co-opted them.
Blodeuwedd is the Welsh Goddess of Earth’s renewal, and Faery Queen Giver of Life. She is called Flower-Face and is one of the Flower Women revered by the Celts. Her face is made up of spring flowers, her dress is said to be made from the mystical waters of the ninth wave, it runs the length of her to become Tara, the Earth, at her feet. She is the Goddess of fertility, innocence, enchantment and dawn.
This is also the time of the year to invoke or call upon the Faery deity known as the Green Man, the embodiment of the spirit of growth and magick found in Nature, sacred God of the woods and trees. He takes many forms, and symbolizes the masculine side of Nature, and has many associations with the Celtic and British horned God Cernunnos.
Full Moon
This Spring Equinox will actually be the first time in almost 40 years that a full moon will also be on the same day as the Spring Equinox. Not only that, it will be a supermoon! It will be slightly larger and brighter than a typical full moon.
For those who study moon magick, this will be prime time for rituals for prophecy, protection and divination and finding your heart’s desire–whether that be in love, work, healing or another desire. Use the full moon’s powerful energy to aid you, it is available for three days before and after the actual date of the full moon.
This is the month of the Worm Moon, also called the Full crow Moon, The Full Crust Moon, the Full Sap Moon, or the Lenten Moon, and is considered the last full moon of winter. It is a time of tapping the maple tree, of thawing and the emergence of worms, a time of new beginnings and exploring new territory.
Foraging
What can you start foraging for now that the thaw has begun and Spring is finally here?
Keep an eye out for:
- Daisies
- Dandelion leaves
- Fat Hen
- Fresh nettle tops
- Garlic mustard
- Horseradish
- Lime leaves
- Violets
- Wild Garlic
- Morel mushrooms
- Seabeets
- Fiddleheads
- Asparagus
Ways to Celebrate
Fast Before the Equinox
Fasting is a practice used by many religions, as spring approaches a fast is a reminder to appreciate the plenty we currently have, and remember those who have to go without, whether that be those struggling with poverty and food insecurity today or ancestors and those long past trying to survive on thinning winter food stores.
Celebrate the Spring Equinox with a 1-3 day fast (or partial fast where rich items are cut out of the diet).
Fasting Tonic:
- 2 cups apple juice
- 2 cups spring water
- 1/2 cup carrot juice
- 2 sprigs thyme
- 1/2 cup lemon juice
Heat in a saucepan, do not boil. Break your fast with whole grain bread.
Make a Spring Altar
Include in your altar:
- Green tablecloth
- Spring flowers-tulips, violets, daffodils, moss, new grasses, primroses, crocuses, catkins, pussy willows or silk flowers, or a new plant or seedling, or rich dirt in an earthen or wooden bowl
- Candles-white, black, yellow, green, pink or red or incense (jasmine, rose, sage, strawberry) or smudging herb in heat-proof pot
- Distilled water in a Chalice
- Ritual wand-Elder, Alder, Ash or Birch is preferred
- Feathers
- Seeds
- New sprouted foilage
- Rabbit fur
- Painted eggs
Write Your Intentions on an Egg
Paint or Dye Eggs
A traditional way to celebrate the Spring Equinox is to give painted eggs to friends, neighbors, family or loved ones. Traditional natural dyes can be made by boiling ingredients right out of your kitchen, such as:
- Yellow-Tumeric or cumin
- Blue–Woad seeds or leaves, red cabbage leaves and vinegar, grape juice, or crush blueberries or blackberries.
- Orange-chili powder
- Yellow-Yellow onion peels
- Yellow-Green-Carrot tops
- Green-Bracken, Coltsfoot, or spinach
- Red-beets
- Brown-coffee or black tea
Traditionally witches would paint the eggs rather than dying them whole. Paint symbols on the eggs, then hide them. The eggs that you find and the symbols that are on them tell auguries for the future.
Celebrate with a Spring Equinox Feast!
Celebrate Spring with friends and family, cook and bake together in the warmth of the kitchen, break bread and celebrate making it through the long dark together to Spring.
- Whole grain bread or rolls, sprinkled with seeds
- A roast-Lamb, pork, beef, chicken, goat, whichever!
- Use herbs liberally, there will be fresh herbs soon!
- The last of your hearty vegetables
- Bake a cake!
- Make a custard
For some recipes and ideas for a Spring Equinox Feast check out this Pinterest board.
