Celebrating the First Day of Spring!

Judith Ashley is the author of The Sacred Women's Circle series, romantic fiction that honors spiritual traditions that nurture the soul.

How did you celebrate the first day of Spring?

This year it came on Monday, March 20. Depending on your spiritual practices, this was your third or fourth turn of the Wheel of the Year. If you read my Romancing the Genre post on Winter Solstice, you’ll know that for me, this Sabbath is the third turn (Winter Solstice or Yule, Imbolc and now Spring Equinox or Ostara).

At the Equinox (Spring and Fall) day and night were in balance or equal. If you pay attention to that sort of thing, they are the only time during the turn of The Wheel that the day and night energies are in balance.

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I’ve heard friends who have SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) state that their mood lifts because the Spring Equinox is a sure sign that the light has returned. And that is scientifically true. The next day, in this case Tuesday, March 21, there are a few more seconds of light than dark.

Confession time! I have not always honored Ostara even since I became a part of a Sacred Women’s Circle but as I move further down my own spiritual path both Imbolc and Ostara at the beginning of the year and Lammas and Mabon (August and September) have garnered more of my interest.

This year it was cool and a bit rainy so I did not open doors and windows and cleared my house of winter air. (I did that a couple of days before when the temperatures reached the low 60's). I did pick a small arrangement of Daphne and violets from my yard and took special care of my houseplants. Lunch with two friends at an Indian restaurant, a phone call with a good friend and taking the time to finish a book I was reading were the highlights of my day.

In the past I also celebrated with springy foods like hot crossed buns, Reese’s candy eggs, etc. Since I’ve changed my diet and no longer eat flower and obvious sugar, I didn’t do that!

While I did not take a chair out to sit on my back deck, I did pay special attention to the signs of spring in my yard. My Bloodgood Maple in front is almost leafed out. And it seemed my Dwarf Larch Diana in the back went from red buds to green between morning and night. A few daffodils are in bloom, my honeysuckle is putting out new growth...

No list yet for what I want to plant in pots around my back deck but I do know I'll find something other than fuchsias because they get too much sun there. May have fewer pots in back and more in front where the maple will shade them from the worst of the sun. 

Why would I work to find a place in my yard where the fuchsia thrive? They are one of my favorite flowers and they draw the hummingbirds, bees and butterflies.

May day was spent in a variety of ways that brought joy to my heart. Even the squirrels my neighbor feeds did not dampen the happiness I felt seeing the birds that seem to like my yard even now when it is in its worn out winter cloak.

What did you do to celebrate Spring Equinox or Ostara?

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© 2017 Judith Ashley