Refresh And Renew

By Author: Carolyn Clayton
Total Articles: 497
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March - the month of mad hares, a Green Man (no not the alien kind) and re-birth: yes, Spring is here! Ok it is April now, but let me tell you why I love March.

March is a special month, the darkness of winter has broken and we celebrate a time of rebirth and renewal that comes with new green buds and longer days. This spring month is infused with folk lore and religious celebrations, from the Easter Bunny delivering children colourful Easter eggs to one of the most important religious feasts in the Christian calender.

Whatever the context, March heralds a time to replenish and allow new growth into our lives.

Worldwide, not only have our ancestors but also modern man, honoured this time, the Spring Equinox. March 21st is part of the natural cycle when the day and the night occupy a span of equal time, ie they are the same length and the Sun has gone from its lowest ebb to a higher place in the sky. Night and day are in balance. The sun will continue to rise throughout the summer months until it reaches its zenith and then starts to fall away, the darkest time being at the Winter Equinox.

In Spring, ...
... the sun rises in the East and travels for 12 hours and sets in the West and this cycle is the exact same for all places, and has been since time by all people on all parts of the earth.
Hence the earth has majestic stone circles and Neolithic and megalithic sites that were built thousands of years ago to honour these cycles in time and space.

Our own beautiful Stonehenge and Avebury ancient sites are wonders in their own right and ancient people built them so that at the Equinox, certain alignments were evident and rituals and gatherings at special times of the year have been maintained for more than 4000 years, the estimated time of these sacred sites.

One of the most amazing spectacles, and one I have yet to witness, is at the Temple of Kukulkan at Chichen Itza, a Pyramid in Mexico built originally by the Mayans and then added too by the Toltecs. The temple was built so that at the Spring Equinox, the sun casts a shadow from the pyramidal steps, so that it appears a large serpent is coming down the side of this magnificent structure. This would signify a time of shedding away the old, as a serpent would shed its old skin so that it can transform itself and grow.

The pagan goddess of fertility and Spring is known as Ostara or Eostra and is from here that the Christian festival of Easter derives its name. Hence we give eggs at Easter time with the hope of fertility and renewal. This festival is not a fixed calender event because it follows the Lunar calender and is after the 1st Full Moon of the Equinox itself, hence Easter being either in March or April. Christ died and was resurrected 2 days after his crucifixion and the theme of death and rebirth is constant. The Greeks at this time give brightly coloured hard boiled dyed eggs. The colour red signifying the blood of Christ and the egg of renewal and fertility.

The Green Man, a man's face depicted surrounded by green leaves and branches is a symbol found in churches and other architectural sites that celebrates Man's connection to all things growing on earth. Even now we see old pubs named after him with signs depicting the green foliage intermingled with the face of a man.

This time of year is the perfect time to decide what changes we need to make in our lives and bring them in. Remember we need to shed away the old before we can bring in the new.
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