Stories for the Spring Equinox

The Great Bear and her
 “Little Dipper”

The Spring Equinox honors one of the two times of the year when day and night are of equal length. Equinox comes from the Latin ‘Aequus” (equal) & ‘Nox’ (night). At this time, the Sun is directly above the Earth’s equator between the Northern and Southern Hemisphere. It is the beginning of astronomical Spring. 

Here's a bit of trivia you may not know.   There are two constellations in the northern sky that reference bears, Ursa Major and Ursa Minor – The Big and Little Dippers.  The "dipper" portion of the constellations is said to reference the bear's body and the "handle" portion of the Big Dipper the bear's tail.  

With the Great Bear we are never truly lost, for if you can find the Big Dipper you can easily find the North Star. As you can see in the images, in the Fall the Great Bear "walks the earth", the constellation is low on the horizon with her "feet" pointed towards the Earth.  All Winter she has continued "walking around the north star with her tail towards the Earth and her body climbing higher into the heavens.  In springtime the paws of the Great Bear are up high, walking the spiral galaxy.  During the Spring, the bowl of the Great Dipper is inverted, as if the Great Bear Mother pours her love upon the awakening earth to prepare it for Spring.

The Great Bear traverses  around
the North Star through the year

In the fall she returns to walk the earth.  Notice how the pattern of the Big Dipper around the North Star looks remarkably like the ancient religious symbol of the swaskika, a word meaning well-being, and widely used around the world until the National Socialists of Germany co-opted it for WWII.

The Great Bear of the night sky points us to the Pole Star which you can find by locating the two outer stars in the Big Dipper's bowl (the "Pointers"). Extend a line through them, and you'll find Polaris, the North Star, which marks the end of Ursa Minor's (Little Dipper) handle.  With Polaris as the end of Ursa Minor's tail we can see that the bear cub (Ursa Minor) can always be found in the north was she follows along after her mother as dutifully as a bear cub would.

Baby bear follows his mama
all year long

Spring is the time for living things to return to pursuing their growth.  The Druids, a high-ranking priestly class in ancient Celtic cultures. Druids were religious leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors.  Druids see life in all living things, from rocks and stones, to rivers and springs, plants and trees – all life is sacred.

The return of life to the Earth is celebrated by the Celts at Alban Eilir, the time of balance.  In Druidry, Alban Eilir, meaning "the Light of the Earth" or "the solstice of spring," is the name for the festival of the Spring Equinox, a time celebrated for the return of life and balance to the Earth. Druids see Alban Eilir as a time to celebrate the return of life to the Earth, with the hare as a symbol of the festival and the Druid's egg representing life-giving.  

Why are eggs and rabbits associated with Easter?  In the tale of Ostara and the hare we meet Ostara, the Goddess of the Dawn who each year brings forth the spring. In this beautiful tale of kindness, love, generosity and forgiveness, Ostara befriends a dying sparrow.  Overcome with sadness, Ostara retires to sleep in the Earth, but when she awakes, all the world’s hares have gathered to celebrate a most magical occurrence.  The Legend of Eostre tells how this goddess found an injured bird. To save its life, she transformed it into a hare. But the transformation was not a complete one. The bird took the appearance of a hare, but retained the ability to lay eggs. The hare would lay these eggs and leave them as gifts for Eostre.  

It's a time of renewal and new growth, when the natural world is re-born. On this day when the earth tilts on its axis away from winter; light conquers darkness. But the Celts weren't the only ones who held this day in reverence. It was celebrated long before them by the megalithic people who lived in Britain before the Celts, Romans and the Saxons. Ancient Greeks, Ancient Romans, Ancient Mayans all celebrated the equinox, as did Native Americans. Ancient Persians called it NawRaz, their New Year's Day.  The Ancient Germans called it Ostara, after the Germanic fertility goddess.

Other names for the vernal equinox are White Spring and Bird Festival. For some, it is the Feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The old and accepted folk name for the vernal equinox was Lady Day. Christians insist that the title is in honor of Mary and her Annunciation, but the lady of Spring was celebrated long before Mary came along.

The Goddess of Spring sleeps through the darkness of Winter.  While she stirs at Imbolc, she is truly awake by the time of the Spring Equinox, and gives way to the "fires of Bel" at Beltane, the onset of Summer.  Belenus, likely derived from the Celtic root "bel" meaning "bright" or "shining", suggests his connection to light and brilliance; he was associated with fire, the sun, healing, and prophecy, and was widely worshipped in Gaul, Britain, and northern Italy. The forces of light are equally balanced with the forces of darkness at this time, but light is on the increase – and will reach its apogee at the Summer Solstice three months later as the Great Bear returns from her sky walk and descends once more to walk the earth.

The symbolic plant of the Equinox in Druidry is the trefoil or shamrock, customarily worn on St. Patrick’s Day, 17th March. The shamrock is probably the national emblem of Ireland because of its earlier Druidic associations, and it is seen by some authorities as a survival of the triqetra, a Christianised wheel or sun symbol. 

The triquetra, also known as the trinity knot, is a Celtic symbol representing unity, eternity, and the interconnectedness of three elements and are interdependent upon the circle, and ancient symbol for the Sun.  These three-fold green leaves of Spring in the Druid ceremony and in the Irish buttonhole on St. Patrick’s day bring us back not only to the Sun God but to the doctrine of the Trinity.

From the Spring Equinox daylight hours will be longer than night, days will increase in length.  The sun's light is reborn and begins to grow stronger and will reach its apogee at the Summer Solstice.  This growing light calls us to become active again to grow in our maturity towards things of the light.

For some middle eastern cultures the vernal equinox is the beginning of the year.  Farther east, other cultures celebrate with their families and their ancestors.  Farther west, in Mexico at El Castillo, the energy of the Spring solstice is recognized with a "flaming serpent" descending down the stairway of the pyramid like lightening descending from heaven.

Here's one invocation that I found that may be of interest: 

I stand at the Equinox, upon the threshold of the Great Bear Mother’s cave, one foot in the darkness, one foot in the light.  

 

The darkness has been my home for many months. I have been enfolded in the dreams of Mother Earth as they took shape in the stillness. This is the safe world I have known. 

 

However, the Great Bear Mother beckons, encourages me out of the safety of her cave.  

 

I take a moment to take a breath before I finally make the courageous step to leave the winter behind. I draw strength from the powerful Bear Mother to find equilibrium, even when I feel fearful and overwhelmed by what the future might bring. She will guide my path for she is the both the darkness and the light.

In the still darkness of The Bear Mother’s cave I have learned to let go of the old, all those damaging habits and ways of thinking that no longer serve me. Back then, I surrendered to the winter and put my trust in Mother Earth to dream me a new way to be, to envision me anew. I give thanks in my own words for the transformation she has brought me; for my rebirth; for the wonderful chance to begin again.  

It is time to let the winter go and to move back into light and life.