7 Simple and Bewitching Ways to Celebrate the Spring Equinox
Spring is handsdown my favourite time of year!
It’s when the world shakes off the lethargic slumber of winter and energetically blossoms to life!
Optimism for the future as well as the burgeoning light makes this season feel especially magical.
What Are the Themes of the Spring Equinox?
The themes of the spring equinox are:
New beginnings
Rebirth
Growth
Life
Chocolate
Ok, I’m joking about the last one…
Kind of.
When is the Spring Equinox Celebrated?
The spring equinox (also known as Ostara or Eostre) takes place around:
19th, 20th or 21st of March in the Northern Hemisphere.
22nd of September in the Southern Hemisphere.
The spring equinox marks the astrological new year, the beginning of spring and the start of Aries season.
The beginning of spring is going to differ in many parts of the world. In my part of England, we start seeing the first signs of spring as early as the middle of January!
Celebrate the spring equinox when spring emerges in your area, it really doesn’t have to coincide with the fixed date.
How Was the Spring Equinox Celebrated?
The Spring Festival by Alois Hans Schram
While the spritely arrival of spring was celebrated in many ancient cultures.
It didn’t often coincide with the astrological spring equinox.
Ancient Greece
The ancient Greeks celebrated the spring festival of Anthesteria in honour of Dionysos around the February full moon.
The festival likely celebrated the blooming of flowers and the maturation of wine sacred to Dionysos.
Celebrants would wear wreaths of flowers, decorate their homes and make offerings to Dionysos and the dead.
Anglo-Saxon England
In Anglo-Saxon England, spring was celebrated during Eosturmonath, in honour of the goddess Eostre.
Despite this, Eostre’s name appears to be cognate with other spring goddesses from Indo-European languages such as the Greek goddess Eos and the Roman Aurora.
Ancient Persia
I’m half Persian and on the spring equinox we celebrate the 3000 year old new year spring festival of Nowruz (‘new day’).
We usually set up a Haft-sin table and eat Persian food.
The Haft-sin table contains seven items that all begin with ‘s’.
Seeb (apple)
Seer (garlic)
Serkeh (vinegar)
Sonbol (hyacinth)
Samanu (sweet pudding)
Sabzeh (sprouted lentils)
Sekeh (coins)
We also usually include a book of poetry by Hafez and egg shaped chocolates.
Why Celebrate the Spring Equinox?
A great deal of scientific evidence has been emerging in recent years about the positive impact of spending time outside and regularly connecting to natures rhythms.
In a world that’s constantly pushing us to strive harder, work faster and stay connected, modern Paganism offers us a chance to slow down and reconnect to the beauty of nature.
So, here are a few seven simple ways to celebrate the spring equinox.
1. Create a Simple Spring Altar
Mindfully create a small temporary altar dedicated to the birth of spring!
If you’re limited for space try using a small glass jar as your altar.
You can fill the jar with sea salt and add springy things from there.
Pick a consistent colour theme to make your altar extra harmonious!
Spring Altar Ideas
Spring flowers (tulips, daffodils and hyacinths).
Tarot and oracle cards that remind you of spring.
Pastel coloured candles.
Egg shaped crystals or chocolates.
Images of spring animals.
When your altar is finished, spend some time quietly communing with the energies of spring.
2. Go Outside
At the start of spring, British primary school children are taken on walks by the teaching staff to notice and learn about the signs of spring.
This is a super simple mindful activity to do with others or by yourself.
Visit the woods, a garden, or a local park or wherever you feel safe enough to relax and hear the birds and see the trees around you.
If you’re physically unable to go outside for walks, look out of a window and mindfully observe without distraction.
Do yourself a favour and leave the headphones at home.
Allow yourself to be truly present and notice all of the hints of spring around you and bathe in the magical energy of spring.
3. Spring Clean Your Home
Clearing clutter is a powerful form of road opening ritual.
It’s a way to signal to your unconscious and the universe that you’re looking to start anew.
Tyler Durden said it well in the 1999 film Fight Club when he said:
‘The things you own end up owning you.’
Our possessions are energy and take up space in our minds as well as our physical space.
Clearing the way for the life you want can only begin once you reduce clutter: physically and mentally.
You can begin to achieve the latter by starting with the former.
Declutter your home.
Check out the KonMari Method.
Open all the windows, clean your home from top to bottom and revel in how the energy in your life has shifted.
Keep only what you truly use and value.
It doesn’t stop there! Feel free to simplify your routines and distance yourself from toxic people.
4. Spring Equinox Tarot Reading
Pull out your tarot and oracle cards and perform some spring themed divination!
Turn off your phone.
Light some floral rose incense.
And pull a card to see what’s being birthed into your life right now.
There’s an abundance of spring themed tarot spreads online.o
Or choose one card to represent your personal spring from the underworld of winter.
5. Journal About the Spring Equinox
It’s incredibly easy to plod through life on sleep mode, never truly going after what you want.
The spring equinox is the perfect time to ask yourself what do I truly value?
What part of your life needs to remain in the past with the death of winter?
What metaphorical seeds do you wish to plant in your life?
What do you feel most hopeful about?
What activities make you feel joyful?
6. Set Intentions
Setting intentions at the spring equinox is the perfect time to align your goals with your values.
Choose one intention and write it in the present tense.
For example:
‘I enjoy running outside every day’.
Create a mind map of your intention
Create a vision board on Canva or Pinterest
Write some affirmations
Go outside on the dawn of the spring equinox and whisper your intention to the universe.
Write it on a piece of paper and stick it on your fridge.
Add it to your Notion, or the front of your planner and work on making it a reality.
7. Connect with a Spring Deity
Making a small offering to a god or goddess associated with spring is a simple way to acknowledge the turning of the wheel without elaborate ritual.
Spring Deities
Eos
Persephone
Flora
Dionysos
Eostre
Around dawn, wash your hands and go outside with a cup of honey, mead or oat milk.
Find a quiet spot and thoughtfully observe the wonders of spring.
Say a prayer to your chosen goddess, thanking them for the retuning beauty of spring.
Pour the offering out onto the ground.