Spring Equinox 2021
A time for new beginnings
For most folks, it couldn’t come soon enough—spring! March 20th is the equinox that begins the light half of the year. It’s a solar event known as Alban Eilir by Pagans and Druids, and by Ostara/Eostre, the Germanic goddess of spring to the Celts. This is the time where the goddess becomes fully awake, and is honored well into April with festivals of fertility, birth and renewal. She is from where Easter and estrogen derive their names. Symbols of the goddess include rabbits and eggs, along with the colors are green, purple, and yellow. We’ll see our days getting longer, and brighter until we finally reach a state of total equality between the light and dark. Soon we’ll be seeing the shamrocks of Saint Patrick’s Day. During Imbolc we just started noticing the gentle stirrings of spring destined to become fully manifest. As the word implies, the equinox is a time for us to celebrate the equality and balance of nature, as well as in ourselves. In agricultural communities, the equinox signaled the time to start turning the sod, plow the fields, and sow the seeds of harvests yet to come. We can apply this both literally and figuratively into our lives. Planning for Ostara began at Imbolc, but at this point, it’s time to invest more focus and energy into generating what we want from the ground, and for our lives. This is the time to honor the balance of male/female energy, light/dark, inner/outer, positive/negative, expansion/contraction, etc.
On the medicine wheel, the spring equinox appears in the east, associated with the element of Air, which becomes balanced between fire and water. It ushers in good cheer, illumination, lucid dreaming, and ESP. So take a moment to listen to the winds, and determine from what direction do they originate? What are the winds telling you? What feeling do you detect? Are you having more lucid dreams or intuitive insights? Since air is mobile element, it may be indicating changes other than just the season, so you may want to tune into these signals from nature. Air coincides with Om, the breath of life. So, if you know any breathing techniques, this is a great time to increase your practice. We also have certain trees associated with this direction, such as birch, ash, and elder. You may want to include some birch branches on your alter for your personal practices or rituals during the equinox.
2021 in particular is an equinox we should pay attention to. So much happened last year, but the dial is slowly moving, and energy is shifting. Even though we still see a tug of war occurring in some areas, we can follow nature as it carries on with the creation of new life, and new beginnings. During your reflections and intentions for this year’s equinox, it may be beneficial to examine what parts of last year’s trauma could still be holding you back, keeping you stuck from moving forward, or halting the cycle of creativity, invention, or new growth. Make this equinox a time to set a new course, and make real change in your life. Beltane on May 1st is within our grasp!
