Archive for March 19th, 2012
Equinox
An equinox marks a time of equal hours of light and dark in a day. There are two per sun-calendar year. Today is the Vernal or Spring Equinox.
To the ancients these cosmic cycles were of great importance. The remains of great stone monoliths throughout the world are testimony to the powerful significance of marking the four solar seasons. Stonehenge in Europe and Chaco Canyon in the U.S. are good examples among many. ‘Civilized man’ is seemingly not as dependent on these solar events to signal or initiate actions of planting and harvesting, of preparation for summer and winter.
Yet the precise patterns quartering the solar year gave rise to celebrations and rituals proper to each season; bringing tribes, clans, communities and families together at regular intervals and connecting them to the rhythms of their worlds, physically and spiritually. Traditions that continue today in various forms the world over.
For me the Equinox marks the beginning of the Spring Holy Season; a time of renewal both physical and spiritual. Wishing each of you the joy and beauty of this Sacred Season.