by Lindy Gifford,
Today, the people of Earth share more than a pandemic. Today is Spring Equinox—we are half way to mid-summer. We all hang in the balance together, between light and dark, between day and night. Equinox means “equal night” in Latin: day and night are, for a short moment, each twelve hours long. And this is the experience of every person, every creature, every plant—everyone, no matter where you live.
After this moment, our experiences diverge once again. If you live close to the equator, day and night are about equal all year long. If you live in the southern hemisphere, starting today, you will begin to experience the nights growing longer than the days and the days, shorter. But if you live in the northern hemisphere, the Equinox is the beginning of Spring. From this moment on, the days will become longer than the nights and continue to grow longer for another three months.
People have marked and celebrated this moment for thousands of years. We know this from the many ancient stone monuments in Europe, Asia, and the Americas, which are precisely and laboriously aligned to the rays of the rising Equinox sun. We don’t know how these ancient people celebrated, but we know how many of us celebrate still. Nowruz or Naw Ruz, Holi, Purim and Passover, Ostara and Easter are all connected with the Spring Equinox.
In times such as these, I take comfort in the ebb and flow of the seasons, as they spiral round, carrying us each year back to the same place—but of course, different. The death and darkness of Midwinter must always give way to the swelling light and rebirth of spring. Light is born in the dark and life springs from death. Winter lingers on in Maine after other places are enjoying forsythia and cherry blossoms. I have learned Faith from the seasons in Maine. Even this year, when it feels as if life has ground to an unnatural halt—it has not, of course. Today, Spring has arrived.
I turn to this balm of certainty, so rare in these uncertain times. And it is no small certainty. For it has always been and always will be thus. And it belongs to us all. Wherever we live, no matter our religion, and even if we say we have none, the Equinox holds power. Here in the northern hemisphere, we can welcome spring with gratitude and rejoicing. Perhaps we won’t be able to all gather in one place for our festivities, but still we celebrate. As we have for thousands of years. And as our children’s children’s children will celebrate.
May it be so.
Lindy Gifford is an artist, photographer, graphic designer, creative coach, and writer, ordained an interfaith chaplain in 2015 by the Chaplaincy Institute of Maine (ChIME). A life-long Unitarian Universalist, she is rooted in daily interaction with and connection to the Earth and Creation, as well as the Christian and pre-Christian heritage of her ancestors. She is the author of the Doodle-ography Journal. Her spirit-based practice as a creative coach and publishing consultant is Manifest Identity. Lindy lives on and learns from the Damariscotta River where she and her husband Steve raised two shining daughters.
Stump photograph by Lindy Gifford
