The Spring Equinox is a moment of perfect balance between day and night. The energy of Spring beckons you to break free from the confines of winter's dormancy as you reach toward new horizons in the journey of your becoming. We invite you to create your own Spring Equinox Ritual as a way to honor this threshold crossing, leading you from one state of being into another.
In this blog post you will find:
The Joy of Becoming
Spring Equinox marks a threshold crossing, when nature's energy shifts from an internal focus to an outer one; a time to turn dreams into reality and spin straw into gold. As nature breaks free from winter's dormancy, so too are we invited to contemplate the elements of life that help us shake off the heavy, slowness that often accompanies the dark time of the year.
Spring Equinox provides us with a powerful opportunity to orient our nervous system toward the momentous energy of expansion and to align our intentions to the joy of becoming more of what we long to see in the world.
Of course, expansion sounds lovely and all accept for the fact that it requires some effort on our part to notice where stagnant energy has been building. It can challenge us to push beyond our comfort zones, interrogate our habits and routines, and look at areas of our life that are holding us back from really stepping into our power and purpose. This is no easy task! Staying in comfort can feel all too easy since it's familiar. But as nature teaches us, change is constant, so shifting things up and taking new risks is what will bring a flood of new energy into our lives.
Spring Equinox invites us to pay close attention to what sets us free, what brings us joy and what supports our thriving so that we can show up fully resourced to live boldly in service toward creating the world our hearts long for.
Spring Equinox Poem
Behold, my sisters, the spring has come,
The earth has received the embraces of the sun
And we shall soon see the results of that love!
Every seed is awakened and so has all animal life.
- Sitting Bull
Themes, Symbols & Elements
Themes: Balance, new beginnings; taking risks, expanding your comfort zone, planting seeds for growth
Symbols: Egg - contains 'all potential', full of promise and new life. It symbolises the rebirth of nature, the fertility of the Earth and all creation. In many traditions, the egg is a symbol for the whole universe.
Colors: The flowers of early spring are the colors of hope and joy; bright yellow, imitating the light and warmth of the sun, which will increase and grow from this day onwards.
Plants & Herbs: nettle, chickweed, violet, cleavers, caledula, dandelion, honeysuckle
Animals: Hare - represents the rebirth of nature in Spring; Serpent
Goddesses: Anglo-Saxon goddess Eostre, Ashanti (Ghana) goddess Asase Yaa, Roman goddess Cybele, Norse goddess Freya, Hindu goddess Saraswati,
Gods: Egyptian god Osiris, Green god Zephyros
Ritual Preparations
What You'll Need
1. Elements for your altar. Drawing on the symbols and elements offered above, consider what you might want to bring to your altar. Start simple. There is absolutely no need to go out and "buy" altar items. This is something that we encourage you to unlearn. Everything we need is within us and can be found around us. A simple candle will do, or a yellow flower for example.
2. Candle & lighter
3. Journal & something to write with for the journaling portion.
Important Considerations
1. Right Relationship: being in right relationship with your spiritual practice means approaching each aspect with humility, curiosity and reverence. This includes checking yourself on the nature of how you relate to "objects" as things and the process itself.
For example, if you feel called to stones as part of your ritual, consider WHY first. Then contemplate the impact of whatever action comes next. For example, instead of mindlessly purchasing cheap precious stones from somewhere like Amazon (which have more than likely been harmfully mined/extracted and then shipped across the world as part of the consumer machine that's destroying our planet), perhaps part of your spiritual practice is to resist such a prompting and instead take the time to go for a mindful walk in your backyard, or a nearby stream and see if the right stone presents itself to you.
2. Be Mindful & Strive for Integrity Always.
To be done on the eve of Spring Equinox:
Create a Spring Equinox Altar
Cleanse yourself & your space
1. CREATE A SPRING EQUINOX ALTAR
Altar items: Early spring blooms, plants or herbs that are abundant where you live. Candles. Any meaningful items or objects of importance that reflect your current phase of life.
Create an altar inside or outside: Find or make a space (like a table or at the base of an oak tree) that won't be disturbed and that will be used for creating your altar.
If appropriate place a colorful cloth over your altar. Place the candle(s) at the center surrounded with fresh flowers. Follow your intuition as you decorate.
2. CLEANSE YOUR SPACE & PURIFY YOUR MIND
SPACE CLEANSING: Cleansing, also known as purification, is the practice of clearing out and releasing negative energy from your space, as well as energy that’s just old, stale, stagnant, or no longer serving you. Here are a few different methods:
Physical cleaning: dusting, vacuuming, opening windows for fresh air
Salt: a common element used for purification and protection in many different cultures. To use, simply sprinkle salt along doorways and windowsills to protect them from negative energy entering or just keep a small bowl of salt on your altar or nearby surface.
Smoke cleansing: light incense or burn a bundle of dried herbs such as rosemary, cedar, or mugwort. Choose plants that you have grown yourself or that grow abundantly wild nearby, plants that you have ancestral tied to or just those that have been grown and harvested ethically. Never take more than 1/3rd if you are wild foraging, always seek consent and leave an offering when you do.
NOTE: If you do not have meaningful/authentic relationships to Indigenous culture and customs, "smudging" with white sage cultural appropriation and is dishonoring to Indigenous nations across Turtle island. It is important to understand that smudging is not just about burning sage to purify the negative energy from your space but is a sacred ritual that is culturally specific to tribes such as the Lakota Sioux, Comanche, Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Navajo. If you have been gifted sage by an Indigenous friend, use to your discretion in how to engage with this medicine. This sacred plant is being abused, exploited and mass-harvested for commercial and consumer use which perpetuates the violence of white supremacy and settler colonialism. Take some time to locate yourself within a settler-colonial context interwoven with the land you currently occupy. Check out Native Land to learn the name and more about the territories you occupy.
CLEANSE & PURIFY YOUR BODYMIND
Take a shower our bath; visualize any negative energy that has accumulated in your auric field to be washed away as the water goes down the drain.
Meditate, center and take some time to ground in stillness and embodied presence.
Write or speak your intentions for your ritual out loud
Ritual Overview
This ritual is about the JOY OF BECOMING and naturally follows the previous seasonal initiation. At Imbolc we begin to notice the lengthening daylight hours and also sense life stirring beneath the soil even though new life is not yet made apparent on the surface of things. Spring Equinox brings us into the manifested realm, reminding us that the dreams we plant in the fertile soil will be tended and toiled for the benefit of all kin and kind.
This ritual is all about coming back to life and finding your JOY as the secret ingredient to BREAKING FREE of old ruts and routines. It calls us home to our embodied belonging by engaging practices that cultivate inner resiliency in the face of oppressive systems and rigid structures that do not reflect nature’s intelligence. As microcosms of earth, we know that change is the only constant, flow is our inherent movement, and that our power lies in the ability to fluidly adapt and remain responsive to subtle cues and shifts taking place in the ecosystem.
Time Commitment: 2 hours (if you are following this template)
Opening - 15 minutes
Write an Intention - 10 min
Invocation, Prayer, or Blessing - 5 min
Middle - 1.5 hours
Somatic Practice: Wet Noodle - 15 min
Free Flow & Spontaneous Movement - 30 min
Breath Practice - 15 min
Journaling - 30 min
Closing - 15 minutes
Integration - 10 min
Gratitude - 5 min
Opening
1. WRITE AN INTENTION FOR YOUR RITUAL
An intention is a way to bring heart and mind into alignment. There is power in naming that which you are calling in.
When we speak to God/Spirit/Source/Allah, gods & goddesses, deities, ancestors, and forces of love, we acknowledge that we are not alone and that support and guidance is available to us as multidimensional beings who are interdependently woven into the fabric of existence. When we give voice to our intentions, we are speaking to the larger Self that encompasses the intelligence of the universe.
The intentions we give voice to now will stay with us and ripple through the unfolding of the seasons.
Example: "May this ritual prepare my soul for the path that lies ahead as I confront and explore the edges of my comfort zone. May I courageously step into new territories of the heart as I allow myself to fully experience new levels of joy and aliveness. May I open my heart to receiving the loving support I need to strengthen my commitment to the path of my soul's calling. May all that I do be of service to all kin and kind."
2. SPRING EQUINOX INVOCATION or PRAYER
*See below for examples
A blessing, invocation or prayer can be done in silence, but there is power in speaking words that come from your hearts deepest longing. A prayer is spoken to the animating, loving force of the universe - that which gives us life and is the source of love. How you call this permeating, loving presence is unique to each of us, but here are some words that you may have resonance with: Ancestors, place-based spirits and dieties, god(s), goddesses, Allah, Source, Buddha, Creator, Spirit, Tao etc. It's important to remember that Spirit is not outside of you, but also within you... so when you pray, you're also praying to the deepest, divine aspect of your nature.
Spring Equinox Invocation
To be spoken out loud on the day of the Spring Equinox with your bare feet making contact with the earth.
Mother Earth, Mother Earth,
Take the seed and give it birth
Father Sun, gleam and glow
Until the roots begin to grow.
Sister Rain, Sister Rain,
Shed thy tears to swell the grain
Brother Wind, breathe and blow
Then the blade, green will grow.
Earth and Sun and Wind and Rain
Turn to gold, the living grain.
Spring Equinox Prayer
Greetings to the spirit of Spring whose nature is movement and dance is change.
I bow to the blowing winds and feel your movement press up against my stubbornness.
Rattle my inner stagnation awake like a tiny seed bursting from the crack of their outer shell.
Break me open in all the places that need new growth so that I may see myself with eyes wide open.
I feel the water of life flowing around my feet.
Yes, you encourage me on my way.
Middle
1. SOMATIC PRACTICE: WET NOODLE (15 minutes)
Wet Noodle is a somatic practice that supports you to relax your muscles, bring warmth to your body and allow for spontaneity and flow. As we go about each day / season, it is very normal for stress and tension to build up in the body. This can result in uncomfortable tightness and constriction in the muscles. By practicing the wet noodle, we invite the possibility of letting go of this tension through softening and building up toward spontaneous movement.
OPTION 1:
Intentionally squeeze your muscles tightly, then let the tension go so that your limbs feel like wet noodles. This can be practiced when you are seated, for example while sitting in traffic or at your desk. You can do this with your whole body at one time, or you can break it up and start with one area of the body before moving on to another. For example, squeeze your feet then relax them. Next, squeeze your legs and relax them. And so on until you've relaxed your entire body.
OPTION 2:
Make you body straight and tight like a piece of uncooked spaghetti. Glue everything together and squeeze. Breathe slowly in and out through your nose. Your belly should rise as you breathe in and fall as you breathe out. Notice how you feel. This is what happens to your body when stress builds up in your system. Now imagine that your uncooked spaghetti noodle is being placed in a pan of hot water. The noodle is wet and it begins so soften. From the top of your head all the way down to your feet begin to soften and allow your body to explore what it would be like to be a wet noodle boiling in hot water. Express your wet noodle self.
When your done, ask yourself:
How would I describe my felt sense experience before doing this activity?
How would I describe my felt sense experience after doing this activity?
2. FREE FLOW & SPONTANEOUS MOVEMENT (30 minutes)
Now that you are feeling loose and warmed up, it's time to explore how your body wants to express joy through movement. Movement is essential to life and is a form of expression. Free flow movement is about exploring movement on your own terms and learning about what works best for you body. It's about getting curious and starting small.
When was the last time you allowed yourself to playfully explore your body's inner promptings? How often do you allow yourself to be silly? Free flow and spontaneous movement exploration is a playful way to practice moving outside of your comfort zone. When you try new things you strengthen your neuroplacticity, which is "our brain's ability to modify, change, and adapt both structure and function throughout life and in response to experience." (source)
The more you try new things, the more comfortable you will become at taking new risks, and the less afraid you will be of appearing silly or making mistakes. Your courage will grow the more you practice leaning into discomfort.
This practice supports embodied knowing, emotional resilience, and deepening self-trust.
Turn on whatever music brings you joy or gets you in the mood to dance!
3) BREATH PRACTICE: Equal Breathing (5-10 minutes)
The Spring Equinox marks a day of perfect equipoise, when night and day stand in equal proportion. As a way to align your system to the seasonal energy, the following breath practice supports inner balance by focusing on making your inhales and exhales the same length. Making your breath smooth and steady can bring about an inner state of equanimity.
Equal Breathing Technique:
Find a breath length that is comfortable for you, but not to easy or too hard. Somewhere between 3 - 5 counts.
Find a comfortable position.
Breathe in and out through your nose counting to make sure that both the inhale and the exhale are of equal proportion.
Practice this for 5-15 minutes.
4) JOURNALING (30 minutes)
For this next part, find a comfortable place near your altar where you can write and reflect on any or all of the following journal prompts. Alternatively, you might simply wish to allow yourself to write without filters. What's most important is that you follow your own inner promptings and allow creative inspiration to flow.
Jot down a few thoughts as you contemplate the previous activities (if you did them):
What did I learn about myself from these practices?
What feels different now compared to before?
Additionally...
In what context do I feel most on my edge? How do I know when I'm in my growth zone? What are the felt sense indicators?
How does my/our joy guide me toward becoming / breaking free from industrial growth society & the systems of oppression that uphold it?
Where in my life do I need to take more risks? What feels scary to lean into but important for my/our growth and liberation?
In what area(s) of my life am I being asked to stretch in new ways?
What new patterns of movement, behavior, thought am I making space for?
Closing
1. INTEGRATION (10 min)
Find a comfortable place to sit so that you can relax and sink into the gravity of earth's embrace. Notice how you feel and what it’s like to be in your body now. Dwell here in the vibration of your inner home. Soak in whatever sensations are present for as long as feels right to you.
2. GRATITUDE (5 min)
Offer gratitude to your body-mind-heart, to the source of love within you, to your ancestors and all of those who have joined you in your ritual. Gratitude for the joy of becoming and for the only constant that is change who gives birth to new beginnings.
Take one final moment to pause...
Inhale, appreciating all of the gifts you've received.
Exhale, giving it all back from where it came
Now your heart is open, increasing the flow of love in our life.
Did you like this post?
We'd love to hear from you!
How are you celebrating Spring Equinox?
What miracles are you bearing witness to?
How is nature teaching you?
Leave a comment below :)
Resources
Freeman, Mara. Kindling the Celtic Spirit.
Matthews, Caitlin. Celtic Devotional: Daily Prayers & Blessings