Guess what time it is?

The Vernal Equinox

As the newly reborn sun races across the sky, the days become longer, the air warmer and, once again, life begins to return to the land. Twice a year, day and night become equal in length.

To the elders of the Olde Way, these times, equinoxes, were markers in which seeds would be planted and then harvested. The first of these, the Spring or Vernal Equinox occurs on or about March 21st.

The ancient goddess, Eostre, a Saxon deity who marked not only the passage of time but also symbolized new life and fertility, was the key symbol of this celebration which was also known as Ostara.

Legend has it that the goddess was saved by a bird whose wings had become frozen by the cold of winter. This process turned the bird into a hare. Yet this was no ordinary cottontail; this long-eared rabbit could also lay eggs!

The main symbols for Easter are the egg, for new life or beginnings, and the rabbit/hare, for fertility.

A common old wives' tale regarding the vernal equinox is that this is the one day of the year that eggs can be balanced on their end. Although this myth is untrue (eggs can be balanced on any date with enough patience) and unsound (would it be different in both hemispheres? Why only the instant of vernal equinox? Why not autumnal equinox?) it is often perpetuated in the news. Also, the current Guiness world record for egg balancing wasn't done on the Vernal equinox.

Relationship to Easter

As Christianity spread across Europe and Britain, these older symbols became incorporated into the new faith's holiday of Easter; even the name seems to have been a variant of the Goddess whose festival was originally celebrated with the arrival of spring. The old rites honoring the planting of new seeds, the fertility of the land and its people, and the hope of the new life arising in the world were replaced by solemn displays commemorating Christ and Christian beliefs.

(BTW-Here's the truth about the Easter bunny!)