IMAGE: AVERY OSAJIMA
The Equinox is the time when the sun rises in the east, travels across the sky for twelve hours and sets in the west. On this special day day and night are equal, hence the name “equinox” which means equal night.
Our ancestors lived in rhythm with the natural cycles and honored this special day and there are many ancient monuments that come to life with the equinox. One of my favorites is the Kukulkan pyramid at Chichen Itza which becomes illuminated with a feathered serpent of light that travels down the side of the pyramid. Mayan shaman Miguel Angel Vergara says about Chichen Itza in his book The Cosmic University of the Mayas, that “the plumed serpent in the equinoxes invites us to awaken consciousness, as the Mayans did long ago.”
In the Northern Hemisphere, the Vernal Equinox heralds the newness of Spring. If we look at the natural world, we can see that all that has been gestating during winter, is ready to come forth into its fullness. New growth is stimulated and as the sun moves out of Pisces into the sign of Aries, our dreams are needing to take form in the physical.
Here are some wonderful words and insight about this potent time from the awesome Ted Andrews and his book Nature-Speak:
“The spring equinox opens the veil between the physical and the spiritual so that a resurrection in our lives can be inaugurated. The keynote of this season is creation. It is the drive to move our lives upward, like a seed pushing forth out of the earth into the air. The Spring is the time when the creative powers we have been nurturing through the winter can be expressed to initiate a new world of opportunities for ourselves.”
“It is at this time of the year that the sun leaves the water sign of Pisces and enters into Aries, the creative Fire sign…It is an element which consumes and changes—it is both destructive and creative.”
“Aries is the first sign of new beginning, and much esoteric significance is attributed to this time of year. The ancient Hebrew tradition speaks of how God fashioned the world at this time and that Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt in the spring. Resurrection myths, associated with the spring season abound— from Christ Jesus to Osiris of Egypt, Adonis of Babylon, and Tammuz of Sumeria. In the Roman Mysteries, people celebrated the death and resurrection of Attis at this at this time of year.”
“This is the time for the fires of the new. The Spring is the beginning of the alchemical process of the seasonal changes. Because much of humanity has lost the sensitivity to attune to that seasons, it is increasingly important for the student of the spiritual mysteries to recognize that each season, each day, and even each hour has its own peculiar quality. We must learn to attune to them to take advantage of them….”
“The time of the equinox is the time of the alchemical and magical blending of water and fire. The living waters within us are flooded with a new radiance so that they can be expressed more fully within our life circumstances. This is the time, which releases energies that manifest opportunity to understand the mystery of polarity. We understand the importance of balancing the masculine, and feminine so they can eventually be blended to create new life. Spiritually and physically this is a time of great creative expression. In the Northern Hemisphere, the creative forces begin to grow. There is fresh outburst of exuberant life and it holds many opportunities for those who align with its rhythms and forces.”