| . Religion
& Spirit
The Season .. Spring For
much longer than the major world religions have been around, human beings
have ritually celebrated the coming of Spring. In most pagan ritual,
Spring was the time of fertility and planting. But there was
something even deeper than that at work. ... Spring
is also the time of rebirth. After a winter, however long or short,
of dormancy and decay, Spring brings with it first buddings, new growth,
and, it must be, a sense of relief. Thus, it should not be
surprising to find other religions in which resurrection is a central
theme. Among the Phrygians, Cybele, the goddess of
fertility, was supposed to have had a consort who was born to a virgin
-- Attis, who was said to have died and been resurrected each year
at the Spring equinox. Among Germanic tribes, likewise, a fertility
goddess is supposed to come together with the sun god each year on the
Vernal Equinox, thus conceiving a child who would come nine months later,
on the winter solstice. In
ancient Greece, Persephone was associated with Spring, at which time she
was supposed to return from the underworld. And Dionysus, the demi-god
associated with wine and fruits, was also associated with this time of
year, when he would be relieved of the terrible pains he was supposed to
have suffered during the winter. In ancient Persia, Spring was
actually considered to be the beginning of the New Year, a practice which
was maintained through Zoroastrianism. Among the
ancient Saxons, the goddess of the moon, Eostre -- from whom we derive the
word 'Easter', as well as the word 'estrogen' -- was celebrated on the
first full moon after the Spring Equinox, identical to the practice used
for dating Passover, and close to the Christian dating of Easter, on the
first Sunday after the first full moon after the equinox. The
celebration of Spring, then, while it holds different meaning for the
peoples of different religious traditions, is as almost as old as time
itself. ... And we would all do well to welcome it, properly,
with thanks.. For those interested, the following link
takes you to a page which has the dates and times of day for the Vernal
Equinox for 1096 years -- from 1452 - 2547. It's simply called ... Spring
Equinox
Enjoy.
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