The spring equinox It is a day loaded with symbolism. Whether from science, from magic, or perhaps just from the senses, it is an instant that does not go unnoticed by any consciousness or body, and that is vital in more than one sense.
the spring equinox, that this 2018 will occur on March 20 at 16:15 (UTC)marks the beginning of spring, with the Sun at the equator and rising exactly in the east and setting in the west. It is the astronomical phenomenon where night equals day (except at the poles) and that, if we were floating in space, it would allow us to see our planet perfectly divided between light and dark.
Thus, this day is part of the peculiar elliptical trajectory of the Earth around the Sun during the year, and it is repeated to mark the entrance of autumn in September.
The equinox, symbol of the archetypal duality
Wherever we want to see it, the spring equinox is a dualitysomething that is undoubtedly part of its symbolic importance, which has transcended all cultures and times (since it is currently still a turning point for dozens of religions and practices). The archetypal duality that is symbolized in all cultures makes the spring equinox a metaphorical moment, where the classic dichotomies that have mattered most to human beings are present: good and evil, truth and lie… light and darkness.
The latter is perhaps the most important, since the equinox is precisely the moment in which light, which begins to gain ground over darkness from the Winter Solsticemanages to balance with the darkness, and continues to grow until the next equinox, which occurs in the last days of September.
The victory of the light and the childhood of the Earth
As the spring equinox resolves the light-dark duality with the victory of light, it is not surprising that it is a ritual and sacred day throughout the world. Even in the practice of yogathe equinox is a day to which one of the most important sequences is dedicated, called «greeting to the Sun» or Surya Namaskar: a way of honoring the light that illuminates us, as well as our own inner light, and which is practiced for more than 2 thousand years.
This day is also a moment where, literallywe can celebrate the greening of nature and the new agricultural cycles. It is the kind spring, whose etymology refers to what is growing, the season that begins in this moment of harmony. It is a poetic moment where the Earth become a girl againAs the great Rilke says:
Spring has returned. The earth is like a girl again, that she knows poems.
And interestingly, the equinox marks the beginning of the zodiac: the Sun enters the sign of Aries, which is associated with fire and the beginning. But all this happens in one hemisphere of the Earth. In the other, in fact, the symbolism is completely opposite: the south is preparing to face the death of a cycle of nature.
A moment of reflection and celebration
As can be seen, the dualities (or contradictions) never fully resolved: On Earth, as the equinoxes teach us, there will always be light and darkness, always dancing and living together, in alternative ways. It is something that we can reflect on with the arrival of this spring equinox, since the Earth and the cosmos show us every year that existence is an accumulation of endless processes. But this is not bad: each moment, each season, has its reason for being. Finally, what is sown in spring is harvested in autumn, so tune in to the cosmic and natural rhythms: celebrate them, as the mystic, alchemist and philosopher suggested. Aleister Crowley, because there are «rituals of the elements and celebrations of the times». The equinoxes were, for Crowley, moments to feed the spirit with festivities and harness the changing energies of the cosmos.
So we suggest you listen to Crowley and take advantage of this equinox to do something special, for example:
Share other plans with Ecoosphere not to let go without celebrating the spring equinox, and grow green with her.
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