Day and night are of equal length all over the world. In the northern hemisphere we still celebrate it as the first day of spring. The days are getting longer and warmer now, and the nights shorter. This is the festival of balance: the balance of light and dark, the balance of the inner world and the outer world, the balance and joining of the conscious and the unconscious. Here at the Equinox, we can look at and work towards this balance within ourselves. This will bring change and healing as we move forwards to new understandings and ways of living from this perspective.
The Celts understood that the physical, mental and spiritual levels were so interlocked and perfectly balanced, that whatever is done on one level will inevitably affect the other two. We do nothing in isolation. Your spiritual understanding constantly affects your decisions in your everyday life. Your thoughts and your emotions affect your spirit, your health and what you attract into your life. Here at Equinox, make time to understand this balanced flow of energy we are part of.
Spring Equinox is often symbolised by a beguiling spring maiden with a basket of eggs. The female is represented because from her new life comes. The egg symbolises the rebirth of nature, the fertility of the Earth and creation. The egg is potential life, full of promise. The cosmic egg contains male and female, light and dark, expansion and contraction, conscious and unconscious, continuity and balance. The plans that have been incubating on the inner levels since the autumn can now hatch out onto the physical plane. Both the Spring and the Autumn Equinoxes have a long history of dragons. Here at the Spring Equinox the dragon energies, both within the Earth and ourselves, are waking up.
Oestre, the ‘Goddess of Light’, brings fertility with the spring. This is the root of the word ‘oestrus’, the time in an animal’s sexual cycle when it is fertile when the hormone oestrogen is stimulating ovulation. The church overlaid this festival with Easter and its theme of rebirth and resurrection from death. Easter is still based on the old lunar calendar: the first Sunday after the first Full Moon after the Spring Equinox, formerly the pregnant phase of Oestre passing into the fertile season.
The Pagan tradition celebrates the union of the beautiful spring maiden with the young ardent male. Their union makes all of nature fertile. Here we can make contact with their archetypal energy within ourselves, no matter what our age or gender. Many women are now seeking to balance their male and female sides within themselves and are looking for the same balance in men. The ardent young man, who is non-aggressive, in touch with his instincts and can show his feelings, is a precious image to hold. The Greeks gave us Pan with horns and hooves, part man, part animal. The Celts gave us Cernunnos or Herne, also with horns, in touch with his animal instincts, wise, magical, the master of the three levels of existence, playful, sexual, sensuous, spiritual. He was outlawed by the church who changed him into the devil, the root of evil, thereby denying men an essential part of themselves. We need to reclaim him. Men need to connect to his life-giving instinctive nature. Women need to find him in the men they know. Here lies the spark, the power in their joining and their joint potential that will change the future.
Beyond this, we need to balance these energies within ourselves regardless of gender. The union of the rational conscious mind when joined with the intuition and inner wisdom brings fertility and new life on many levels. We can consciously make new things fertile by what we choose to bring together, by what we give our energy and attention to. Whatever we give our attention to will grow.
Make it your intention to balance your rational logical mind with your intuitive feeling self. Learn to listen to your inner voice, to trust and act on your inner wisdom, your intuition and your instincts, and bring your whole self back into balance.
Nettle – Urtica dioica and Urtica urens
A famed spring tonic. Regular cups of nettle tea will tone up the whole system and cleanse the blood. Use the nettle tops in soup or as a vegetable (once cooked, it loses its sting). It is rich in iron. Nettle has a fiery energy so drink every day to break free of stagnant emotional states and to contact the warrior within. Pour boiling water over the fresh plant and drink frequently.
Cleavers – Galium aparine
Cleavers is a prime blood purifying herb and an important spring tonic. It was added to beer in the spring. Pour boiling water over a few sprigs of the fresh plant and cover. Leave to infuse for ten minutes. Strain off the herb. Drink as a daily tonic. It is nice cold so keep the infusion in the fridge and drink with ice and lemon. Eat in salad.
Hyssop – Hyssopus officinalis
Hyssop is a herb of purification previously used for cleansing temples and holy places. It can be used for washing all your special things on your shrine or sacred space. It has an association with dragons and serpents and the raising of the kundalini from the base of the spine. It will help balance the emotions. Drink as a tea, burn as an incense or throw on ritual fires. It is a blood cleanser, cleansing lung remedy and liver tonic and will help build up the system after illness. It is a herb of Jupiter, warming and strengthening.
This is an extract from Glennie Kindred’s Sacred Earth Celebrations
Glennie Kindred is the author of twelve books on Earth wisdom, native plants and trees and celebrating the Earth’s cycles, and is a highly respected teacher and much loved expert on natural lore and Earth traditions.
