Wisdom from the Elders to Inspire Vernal Equinox Rituals
Today, I honor the return of spring and its invitation to balance
Four of my favorite days of the year are: the Summer Solstice, the Autumn Equinox, the Winter Solstice, and the Vernal Equinox.
Perhaps because they are moments of our earthly cycles that have been observed, honored, and celebrated in nearly every culture since ancient times. Perhaps because they are inarguable facts of science* that were observed by ancients as mystical and wondrous. Perhaps because I agree that they are mystical and wondrous — life here on this strange tilted globe is often difficult and painful, but it is also filled with invitations to pause in awe at the poetic narrative arcs of the universe, the births and the deaths and the rebirths. We can also pause in the remembrance that nothing is permanent, that all is in flux. This can feel frightening for our systems, all those uncertainties of all those yet untold futures — but in our pause, we can remember the certainty and the hope — of the return to seed and to light.
Since my daughter was little, I made up little celebrations, especially on the solstices, to honor the shortest and longest days of the year. We would dress in orange and eat orange foods and light candles (in winter) or go outside under the bright sun (in…
