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The Spring Equinox is upon us! Tomorrow, March 20, is the Spring Equinox, also called the Vernal Equinox. In the US it is officially the first day of Spring. A time of renewal, of rebirth and growth, a time of redemption and hope. A powerful day to be certain!

There are ancient traditions dealing with the Vernal Equinox. Here are just a few of them:

The Cybele cult in Rome involved her lover, Attis. The festival began as a day of blood on Black Friday and culminated after three days in a day of rejoicing over the resurrection. Attis was born of a human woman, a virgin named Nana. He grew up to become a sacrificial victim and Savior, slain to bring salvation to mankind. His body was eaten by his worshipers in the form of bread. He was crucified on a pine tree, whence his holy blood poured down to redeem the earth. Note that this worship of Cybele was brought to Rome in 204 BCE, about 250 years before Christianity. Attis death and resurrection occurred at the time of the vernal equinox in the Julian calendar.

There is some evidence that Mithras is associated with Attis, perhaps the same individual under different cultures. Mithras had a virgin birth, twelve followers, was killed and resurrected, performed miracles, was born on December 25, was noted for his morality, was considered by his followers to be mankind's Savior and was known as the Light of the world. Mithras has been around since about 1,500 BCE, thus predating Attis by more than a thousand years.

Ostara, the ancient Germanic fertility Goddess was associated with human and crop fertility. On the spring equinox, she mated with the solar god and conceived a child that would be born 9 months later on DEC-21: Yule, the winter solstice.

The indigenous Mayan people in Central American have celebrated a spring equinox festival for ten centuries. As the sun sets on the day of the equinox on the great ceremonial pyramid, El Castillo, Mexico, its "western face...is bathed in the late afternoon sunlight. The lengthening shadows appear to run from the top of the pyramid's northern staircase to the bottom, giving the illusion of a diamond-backed snake in descent." This has been called "The Return of the Sun Serpent" since ancient times

The god-man Dionysos was a major deity among the ancient Greeks. As the God of the Spring rites, of the flowering plants and fruitful vines, Dionysos was said to be in terrible pain during winter, when most living things sicken and die, or hibernate. Also, Persephone, a daughter of Demeter, descended into the Otherworld and returned near the time of the spring equinox.

Various ancient civilizations (Mesopotamia, Sumeria, Babylonia, Elam) circa 3000 to 2000 BCE celebrated new years at the time of the spring equinox. "No Ruz," the new day or New Year has been celebrated in the area of modern-day Iran since the Achaemenian (Hakhamaneshi) period over 2500 years ago.

Many religious historians trace the Judeo-Christian concepts of Hell, Heaven, Resurrection, the arrival of the Messiah, and the last judgment to Zoroastrianism. In that faith, the Lord of Wisdom "created all that was good and became God. The Hostile Spirit, Angra Mainyu (Ahriman), residing in the eternal darkness created all that was bad and became the Hostile Spirit."

Eostre was the Saxon version of the Germanic lunar goddess Ostara. She gave her name to the Christian Easter and to the female hormone estrogen. Her feast day was held on the full moon following the vernal equinox -- almost the identical calculation as for the Christian Easter in the west. One delightful legend associated with Eostre was that she found an injured bird on the ground one winter. 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 decorate these eggs and leave them as gifts to Eostre. Now we know where the Easter bunny comes from!


When does the Equinox happen?

2004 MAR-20 @ 06:48

The time is in UT (Universal Time). This used to be called Greenwich Mean Time or GMT. In North America, you can find your local time by subtracting:

3 hours 30 minutes for Newfoundland time
4 hours for ATL
5 hours for EST
6 hours for CST
7 hours for MST
8 hours for PST
9 hours for ALA
10 hours for HAW



This info-message brought to you by Wsypr, Bayn's druid brother who will certainly be observing the Vernal Equinox tomorrow.

Bayn wrote:The Spring Equinox is upon us! Tomorrow, March 20, is the Spring Equinox, also called the Vernal Equinox. In the US it is officially the first day of Spring. A time of renewal, of rebirth and growth, a time of redemption and hope.

And if you live in Chicago, a time to continue to freeze your ass off until Summer and her 90 degree sweatshop factory arrives.

Laephis wrote:And if you live in Chicago, a time to continue to freeze your ass off until Summer and her 90 degree sweatshop factory arrives.

I am but a couple hundred miles south of Chicago but it makes all the difference. Somewhere in low 50s today but I shan't revel in it too much. hehe

what's this silliness about universal time? It's grenwich mean time now and forever

Ehran wrote:what's this silliness about universal time? It's grenwich mean time now and forever

I dunno how it started but the UT designation appears to be replacing GMT. *shrug* Confused the heck outta me the first few times I saw it.

Don't forget, tomorrow y'all need to light a fire at sunrise and color eggs and give them to those you love!

A little more on Spring, Easter and Ostara:

Have you ever wondered where the celebration of the Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Christ acquired its unusual name and odd symbols of colored eggs and rabbits? The answer lies in the ingenious way that the Christian church absorbed Pagan practices.

After discovering that people were more reluctant to give up their holidays and festivals than their gods, they simply incorporated Pagan practices into Christian festivals. As recounted by the Venerable Bede, an early Christian writer, clever clerics copied Pagan practices and by doing so, made Christianity more palatable to pagan folk reluctant to give up their festivals for somber Christian practices.

In second century Europe, the predominate spring festival was a raucous Saxon fertility celebration in honor of the Saxon Goddess Eastre (Ostara), whose sacred animal was a hare.

The colored eggs associated with the bunny are of another, even more ancient origin. The eggs associated with this and other Vernal festivals have been symbols of rebirth and fertility for so long the precise roots of the tradition are unknown, and may date to the beginning of human civilization. Ancient Romans and Greeks used eggs as symbols of fertility, rebirth, and abundance- eggs were solar symbols, and figured in the festivals of numerous resurrected gods.

Pagan fertility festivals at the time of the Spring equinox were common - it was believed that at this time, when day and night were of equal length, male and female energies were also in balance. The hare is often associated with moon goddesses; the egg and the hare together represent the god and the goddess, respectively.

Moving forward fifteen hundred years, we find ourselves in Germany, where children await the arrival of Oschter Haws, a rabbit who will lay colored eggs in nests to the delight of children who discover them Easter morning. It was this German tradition that popularized the 'Easter bunny' in America, when introduced into the American cultural fabric by German settlers in Pennsylvania.

Many modern practitioners of Neo-pagan and earth-based religions have embraced these symbols as part of their religious practice, identifying with the life-affirming aspects of the spring holiday. (The Neopagan holiday of Ostara is descended from the Saxon festival.) Ironically, some Christian groups have used the presence of these symbols to denounce the celebration of the Easter holiday, and many churches have recently abandoned the Pagan moniker with more Christian oriented titles like 'Resurrection Sunday.'

Atei wrote:Ironically, some Christian groups have used the presence of these symbols to denounce the celebration of the Easter holiday, and many churches have recently abandoned the Pagan moniker with more Christian oriented titles like 'Resurrection Sunday.'

Atei is right. I think even those holidays that are supposedly based on the veneration of some saint, can be found to have pagan roots. More interestingly still, the traditional day of Christian worship--sunday--has also a strong 'pagan' roots (the name says it all). In my denomination, people have been arguing (since the very beginning) that we shouldn't celebrate holidays of pagan origins. Even if Christmas does have some legitimate "christian" history (which it does), it is usually associated with Roman Catholic practices (such as the veneration of the Claus/Noel saint).

Personally, I don't see those holidays as true religious ceremonies. Regardless of their history, there's nothing wrong with remembering things like the "holy week" or "resurrection sunday." After all, God doesn't care which day of the year you pick to celebrate these things (or whether you do or not for that matter). There is no instruction in the gospels or the Apostolic epistles about when or if these events should be celebrated. I think the only ceremony of this kind that Christians are called to observe and remember is Communion (with all its rituals and ceremonies). There's some mention in the NT about Christians celebrating Pentecost and some other Jewish festivals (which makes sense because they were Jews living in a Jewish nation). It is not clear, however, if it's a religious requirement for Christians to observe those holidays.

Christians are not the only ones that have had a hard time differentiating pagan festivals from God ordained religious ceremonies. If you know some Hebrew history you'd know some Jewish festivals have certain symbols and pratices of dubious origin. If I'm not mistaken there is one religious festival still celebrated today by Jews which has clear non-Biblical origins (picked up during the Babylonian exile). The name escapes me right now (it's hebrew).

Anyhow, it is my opinion that as long as you do it with the right heart and intent, God will know you mean. This does not mean that instruction should be ignored where it has been clearly given (if Jesus said, drink this wine in remembrance of me, don't go buying coffee for your communion supper instead ). There are just too many things out there that have non-Christian origins to be worrying about them all. Take for example the practice of sitting in Church; the early Jewish synagogues had no benches for people to sit during "service" (which was VERY different from today's protestant way of worship). This practice is Roman, not Jewish. A lot of things have changed since Jesus day. Human culture has shaped and reshaped the way worship is carried out in Christian churches. The important thing to remember is (1) Are you doing what God has commanded in his scriptures? and (2) Are you doing it with the right Spirit? If you can check yes on those two you're probably good.

Joram, something to chew on I copied from a favorite site of mine: Twincentral


[quote]Believe it or not, Lent was never observed by Christ or His apostles. He commanded them, “Go you therefore, and teach all nations…teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded youâ€

Joram Lionheart wrote:
Even if Christmas does have some legitimate "christian" history (which it does), it is usually associated with Roman Catholic practices (such as the veneration of the Claus/Noel saint).

I've always wondered about that. American Christians generally say Cathoics aren't Christians. That doesn't make sense to me. The various Christians offshoots all believe that Jesus is the son of God. That makes them Christian, right? Why do Catholics and other Christians kill each other and fight and distrust?

Personally, I don't see those holidays as true religious ceremonies.

Probably not for Christians, but for many other religions they are definitely religious ceremonies.

This does not mean that instruction should be ignored where it has been clearly given (if Jesus said, drink this wine in remembrance of me, don't go buying coffee for your communion supper instead ).

I've known many Christian organizations that use grape juice. Does that reduce the effectiveness of communion. After all, communion is just a symbolic ritual.

As a young, teenage acolyte I always felt so "holy" when I carried out my duties. hehe. Amazing how ritual can impress itself on the tender minded, isn't it?

There are just too many things out there that have non-Christian origins to be worrying about them all.

hehe. That's a mouthful, considering that most of the evidence points to Christianity being derived from pagan religions. ie: Attis, Mithras, etc. They just changed the name of the central figure.

The important thing to remember is (1) Are you doing what God has commanded in his scriptures? and (2) Are you doing it with the right Spirit?

The key for any belief is doing it with the right intent, the right Spirit. If all religions and all peoples embraced that, the world would be a much nicer place.

[quote="Malachai"]Believe it or not, Lent was never observed by Christ or His apostles. He commanded them, “Go you therefore, and teach all nations…teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded youâ€