For those of us in the Northern hemisphere, it is the Vernal Equinox - a day where light and darkness are equally balanced with light eventually becoming more dominant as the daylight hours stretch. The vernal equinox marks the beginning of Spring which is probably why we have gale force winds (again!). If you want the scientific jargon, I suggest a visit to this wiki page which explains all about the seasons and gives exact timings.

For those who like more traditional values, scroll down the wiki page and you will see a list of cultural aspects surrounding this time of year. My favourite is the festival of Ostara which is one of the minor Wiccan sabats, although it has deeper pagan roots. I’ve always been fascinated by the sabats even though I’m not Wiccan, mainly because I feel drawn to paganism much more than Christianity. I have no idea why and I certainly wasn’t raised that way but I guess you can’t help what you feel.

Ostara (or Eostre) was an ancient German goddess of Spring or the dawn and many of the symbols associated with her, such as eggs and bunnies, have long been associated with the more Christian holiday of Easter. It is of course another example of how Christians adopted elements of the pagan festivals and blended them into their own, such as what they did with Christmas and Yule. As a child, I always wondered what bunnies and chocolate eggs had to do with the resurrection of Christ and no one could tell me either! One legend has it that Ostara was presented with a gaily decorated egg by a rabbit and loved it so much, she begged him to distribute more so the whole world could share her joy.

It’s all related to fertility of course; Ostara awakens from her long winter sleep and nature is reborn. The Spring Equinox is also a good time for us to recreate ourselves too - they don’t call it spring cleaning for nothing!

Happy Easter and Happy Spring!