Vernal Equinox

Spring equinox occurs this evening at 8:49 p.m. PDT, the earliest spring in more than a century, due mostly to leap year. 

The word equinox comes from the Latin words aequus (equal) and nox (night). This is a moment of balance - the sun rises exactly in the east and sets exactly in the west, and we experience twelve hours each of light and dark. From this moment on, we gain more light each day, until the summer solstice.


Agenda Today:
1. Journal queries
2. Spring Cleaning
3. Plant my straw doll
1. Journal queries:
Consider the balance in my life.
How well do I balance my physical, mental, and spiritual needs?
How can I balance my personal needs with my commitments to the outside world? 
How do I balance my Being-ness (mindful, compassionate, grateful) with my Doing (engaged, kind,and giving)?

Think also of the balance in the world; meditate upon what this half of the year will bring, dark and light, and how best I can take right action in the world.

2. Spring Cleaning:
Today I will make a plan, and schedule one big-cleaning focus each day for the next few days. Each day I will put on some fun, lively music, set a timer for two hours, open the windows and doors, and let the sweet green aroma of spring enter our home. I will work for my allotted time each day, and then stop.

• Today- Clean the woodwork: Scrub around doorknobs, clean the outside of cabinets.
• Friday- Clean the floors: Move and clean under furniture; vacuum and mop.
• Saturday- Clear surfaces and decorate for spring: Put away all the winter decorations and knick-knacks; put out green and yellow cloths and candles, a big vase of spring flowers, and set out my nests, birds, and bunnies.

After a thorough cleaning, we will feel the fragrance of springtime throughout the house, and I will also get the cobwebs out of my head! What a perfect way to celebrate the season- my house, my family and I myself deserve this kind of loving attention.

3. Plant my straw doll:

I usually make a corn or straw doll each fall, but last year I didn't. For how to make this simple straw doll see this post on the autumn equinox.

The custom in Europe was to make a straw figure out of the last sheaf of wheat that was harvested, so the spirit of the grain had a place to live through the winter. Then it was planted again in the spring.