| It's upon us! The Spring Equinox! A magical interface | | | | reaching their minimum length at the Winter Solstice, |
| between Earth and the Cosmos. But what does it | | | | which takes place around December 21. |
| mean? Well, let's start off with some basic | | | | This year, 2010, the Spring Equinox is on Saturday |
| astronomy. Although it's true that the Earth goes | | | | March 20, at 5.32 pm Greenwich Mean Time. Which is |
| round the Sun, it appears that the opposite is | | | | 6.32 pm in Paris, 7.32 pm in Athens and 11.02 pm in |
| happening. The Sun appears to be going through the | | | | Mumbai. Or 1.32 pm in New York, 10.32 am in Los |
| twelve signs of the Zodiac, and twice a year it | | | | Angeles. So the Spring Equinox is the precise moment |
| crosses the equator. These crossings are the Spring | | | | when the Sun crosses the Equator. It is also the |
| and Autumnal Equinoxes. | | | | precise moment when the Sun moves from Pisces to |
| Around March 20 or 21 the Sun crosses the equator | | | | Aries. |
| from south to north. It's the beginning of Spring in | | | | From a spiritual point of view, the Equinox is an |
| the Northern Hemisphere - for example in Europe and | | | | extremely powerful time. When the Sun is on the |
| North America. By contrast it's the beginning of | | | | Equator a gateway is opened, where the cosmic |
| Autumn in the Southern Hemisphere, in countries | | | | energy manifests down here on Earth. |
| such as Argentine, Australia and New Zealand. | | | | It's therefore not surprising that in some cultures the |
| On the day of the Spring Equinox the hours of day | | | | Spring Equinox is the beginning of a new year. And |
| and night are equal, wherever you live on Earth. | | | | this is perhaps also reflected in the Christian festival |
| After the Spring Equinox the days in the Northern | | | | of Easter - as a rule of thumb, Easter Sunday is the |
| Hemisphere get longer and longer, and reach their | | | | first Sunday after the first Full Moon after the Spring |
| peak length at the Summer Solstice, at the end of | | | | Equinox. The darkness of Winter has been |
| June. Of course it's the opposite in the Southern | | | | vanquished and it's a time of resurrection. |
| Hemisphere. | | | | From a magical and mystical point of view, I know |
| After the Summer Solstice the days start getting | | | | that many occultists and pagans like to celebrate the |
| shorter again. Then, at the end of September, it's the | | | | Equinox with a ceremony or ritual. At the very least, |
| Autumnal Equinox, the second time in the year when | | | | it's a way of getting in touch with the natural |
| night and day are equal. After that Autumn gets | | | | rhythms of nature. And what's more natural than the |
| under way, and the days get increasingly short, | | | | progression of the seasons? |