Judith Ashley is the author of The Sacred Women's Circle series, romantic fiction that honors spiritual traditions that nurture the soul.
Spring is just around the corner. Ostara or Spring
Equinox is set for Monday, March 20th. However as I was reviewing
some information about the Spring Equinox I learned that it can be as early as
March 16th and as late as March 22nd.
Also, there is the Equinox and the Equilux. The
Equinox means Equal Night and refers to that moment in time when day and night
are equal. That moment when the sun hits the equator exactly.
Equilux is the 24 hour period of time during which
the Equinox occurs. It also varies depending on where one is in the world. For
example: Our Spring Equinox/Equilux is the Southern Hemisphere’s Fall
Equinox/Equilux or Mabon.
Of course this makes sense when we stop and think
about time zones, the tilt of the earth away from and toward the sun, etc.
Ostara comes from the Saxon Goddess, Eostre whose
symbols are the hare and egg. This is the time of balance between dark (winter)
and light (summer). In the days before central heat and air conditioning (and I
do remember those days), the first days of warmer weather were cause for
celebration. Doors and windows were opened wide to cleanse the house of the
stale air and energy from being closed up all winter.
The other symbol of this season is ‘balance’. The
energy of light and dark are in balance and it gives each of us an opportunity
to stop and reflect on where we are in balance and where we are out of balance.
A point to make here is that we are seldom in
perfect balance. Just like the Equinox is only a moment in time, we also are in
constant flux in order to find that balance we seek. We adjust as the world
around us shifts and changes. It reminds me of the analogy Dr. William Glasser
uses of a thermostat. We set the temperature to 70 degrees and the system comes
on until that temperature is reached. It then turns off and waits until the
temperature drops or raises (depending on whether we are heating or cooling the
area) before it comes back on.
We are like that thermostat. We constantly juggle
our environment, our world a little bit one way or the other until we are
satisfied. Then something happens – sometimes it is just a change in the time
of day and we move to accommodate.
What I find is true in my own life is that that part
of my life most in balance is often ignored until there is an imbalance and
then I work to put things right.
What part of your life is most in balance? What part
is most out-of-balance?
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© 2017 Judith Ashley
But as we all know, time passes and The Wheel of the
Year turns. Even though as I write this post with less than a week left in February,
the nights are still in the low 30’s or high 20’s. I wake up to fog and we’ve
even had a couple of hail storms. I bundle up to keep warm because the damp
cold chills me to the bone especially when accompanied by the East Winds from
the Columbia River Gorge.
