by Mary Gelfand.
Can you hear it?
Can you see it?
Can you feel it?
The maples can. So can the crocuses. And the birds and the mice and the bears.Spring is coming!
She has been sneaking up for days—ever so imperceptibly—minute by oh! so slow minute.
Like drops of grace falling, one by one, into the chalice of my soul.
The difference made by each small drop seems imperceptible—ephemeral—and yet—day-by-day—drop by drop—the grace accrues until the day I first notice what is happening.
Until the day I lift my head from my chest and my books—from the interior reflection so appropriate to winter—and notice that the light has changed. In ways both tangible and intangible, I see that spring is coming.
Here in the northern hemisphere, the advent of spring is marked by the Spring or Vernal Equinox—the point in Earth’s revolution which places the Sun directly above the equator. Now we have equal day and night—hence Equinox—and begin the headlong race to the long and heady days of summer.
Spring Equinox has been observed as an important celestial marker since ancient times. Many pre-historic monuments, such as Stonehenge, Angkor Wat, and Chichen Itza were built as both observatories and sites for community celebrations of the changing seasons.
Spring Equinox celebrations world wide are rituals of fertility and re-birth. Eggs and bright colors often play a role as symbols of the arriving spring. It marks the beginning of the planting and growing season, and Mother Nature responds with beauties more abundant than we can imagine.
What seeds are you planting in your soul this spring, in hopes of harvesting abundance?
Rev. Dr. Mary Gelfand is an ordained Interfaith Minister, a gifted teacher, and Wiccan High Priestess. She teaches and writes on the topics of feminist spirituality, Tarot, and Earth-centered spiritual paths. She resides in Wells with her husband Mark, two cats, and a forest full of birds, chipmunks, and other mysteries of life. You can see more of her writings at weavingthestars.blogspot.com.Image of crocuses by Efraimstochter on Pixabay
