Spring Equinox and Equilux

Judith Ashley is the author of The Sacred Women's Circle series, romantic fiction that honors spiritual traditions that nurture the soul.

March 2017 the Genre-istas are talking about the changing seasons and/or the Spring Equinox also known as Ostara.

This year the special day falls on March 20^th a Monday. I know I’ve said this at least once before in a blog post however it bears repeating. In ancient times, the people knew their environment to the point they knew when Yule or Winter Solstice, Ostara or Spring Equinox, Lithia or Summer Solstice and Mabon or Fall Equinox fell. They erected wood and stone circles around the world to mark those occasions.

Gabriella learns as she studies Sacred Geometry that Eratosthenes c.275-194 BC used two sticks and a measuring wheel to measure the earth’s circumference = 24,461 miles.

Using the most advanced, expensive technology we now know it is 24,891 miles! A 430 mile discrepancy.

Ostara is the day when day and night are equal and it marks the beginning of the time of the year when light has more power. Plants and people breathe a sigh of relief after winter’s dark months. Hope and life as well as flowers bloom bright.

It is Valentine’s Day as I write this. A few hardy plants in my yard are pushing their way to the surface (daffodils, crocus in particular). Soon tulips and hyacinths will make an appearance. When I look at my Larch Diana (the larch tree loses its needles in the Fall), I can see a reddening where the new needles will appear. Right now the tree seems edged in red, so different from the stark black of a couple of weeks ago.

We had a hard winter where I live and my yard has suffered. My plan is to prune back many of the plants to see if they can recover from their base or roots instead of just at the end of the limbs. My Larch also lost a limb from the heavy snow and ice we had in January. I’ve pulled it to the side to inspect more closely later in the spring. I think making a wand from that branch would be a way to appreciate the gifts this tree gives me each day.

If you read my December post on Winter Solstice, you know that I follow the Wheel of Life through the year and that in my tradition, Winter Solstice is the beginning of the year because that is when Light overcomes Dark and begins to strengthen.

Celebrating Ostara is about acknowledging the power of light, of life, of the continuity or flow as the Wheel turns.

You may not know this but when Christianity was coming into its own as a world religion, many earth-based religion or pagan customs and sacred days were assumed by the new church. Ostara is one of them.

Easter is determined by the following formula: The first Sunday after the first Full Moon after Ostara or the Spring Equinox.

I’m already looking forward to Spring and new growth. The rebirth of my Armistead Salvia will bring butterflies and the hummingbirds who love it so. From my window next to my computer, even when writing, I have a view (albeit small) of nature. This view feeds my writing with inspiration. And I look for the messages the natural world has to tell me.

What have you learned about the natural world that bring amazement and wonder into your life?

And, my March posts on my JudithAshley.blogspot.com site delve into the aspects of Ostara in more detail. Please join me each Monday as I explore The Wheel of the Year: Ostara.

Learn more about The Sacred Women’s Circle series on her website. Sign up for Connections and receive a free digital copy of Lily.

Follow Judith on Twitter: @JudithAshley19

Check out Judith’s Windtree Press author page.

You can also find Judith on FB!

© 2017 Judith Ashley 

The Turn of The Wheel

Judith Ashley is the author of The Sacred Women's Circle series, romantic fiction that honors spiritual traditions that nurture the soul.

For those of us who look upon the natural world around us as proof of The Divine, Winter Solstice is an affirmation that on some level all is right in the world. In ancient times, the people were connected to the land in a way that most of today’s population is not.

Can you even imagine being so in tuned with the world around you that you would notice the difference in the amount of light there was between the Darkest Day and the next?

There were no clocks, no calendars in the day of the hunter/gatherers or earlier. And yet our ancestors learned how to mark the passage of time.

Winter Solstice marks the longest night and the shortest day of our year. For me, personally, it is my New Year’s Eve because it heralds the returning of the light. If you follow the waxing and waning of the Moon, Winter Solstice starts the waxing of the Sun that represents light. From now until Summer Solstice, the Sun gains in strength. On the Summer Solstice that starts to wane as darkness becomes more a part of our lives.

One of the things that fascinates me is how our ancestors kept track.

Stonehenge and other stone and wood henges, The Great Pyramids of Egypt and pyramids and ancient temples are aligned with the stars, planets and the position of the sun and moon on particular times of the year like the Solstices and Equinoxes.

And when the Judeo-Christian religions took hold and grew, many of the traditions from earth-based traditions were incorporated. There are several books on the subject if you are interested in learning more.

For those people who celebrate life, Winter Solstice gives them a focus.

For those people who have SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) it is a sign the days will lengthen and we’ll be out of winter soon.

For those people who prefer heat to cold, it reminds them that Spring/Ostara, the vernal equinox, when day and night are equal in length, and flowers are not far away.

In my Sacred Women’s Circle series, my heroines celebrate the 8 Sabbats, holy days that mark the turning of The Wheel of Life (Samhain, Winter Solstice/Yule, Imbolc, Ostara, Beltane, Summer Solstice/Lithia, Lammas, and Mabon). And, they each marry on a Sabbat. (For more information on Sabbats and other earth-based spiritual practices, check out my Judith Ashley blog where I post every Monday).

If you are curious about how Sacred Women Circles come together, start reading Lily. In her story, you can learn how to create your own Circle and your own Ceremonies. Sign up for Connections, mynewsletter and get a free copy of Lily.

And to learn even more about sacred women’s circles,The Wheel of Life, and the Women of the 14th Moon Gathering, Elizabeth (Book 2) is available throughJanuary for $.99.

Regardless of your spiritual path, I wish you all the light you need to show you the way to love.

You can learn more about The Sacred Women’s Circle series on my website.

Check out my Windtree Press author page.

Follow me on Twitter: @JudithAshley19

I’m also on Facebook

© 2016 Judith Ashley