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THE SPRING EQUINOX
March is the month of celebrating the return of
Spring. Among Witches it is a time to welcome the return
of the Goddess from her sojourn into the Underworld.
Beneath the soil long held in the embrace of Winter, the
seeds of new life begin to awaken. In ancient times the
first signs of budding trees announced the coming
arrival of the Goddess. Ritual fires burned to encourage
the sun to warm the soil and stir the sleeping life
beneath it. Dancers came together upon the ancient sites
to celebrate the Goddess and the promise of abundance
symbolized by bud and leaf and stem.
Traditional symbols of Spring Celebrations include
colored eggs, colored ribbons, budding flowers, baby
rabbits and newborn chicks. The egg is of particular
interest because of it's great antiquity as a symbol. In
the Orphic Mysteries of Greece the Great Goddess couples
with the World-Snake Ophion and produces the Orphic
world-egg from which all things originate. This serpent
egg became the egg of a hen when the Orphics adopted
Apollo (whose sacred bird was the rooster) as their god
figure. The Druids later incorporated this theme into
their mysteries where we find the red egg of the sea
serpent called Glain.
In March the Vernal Equinox marks the first day of
Spring. Modern Witches and Pagans associate the Goddess
Ostara with this special Season. A form of this goddess
name appears in such early Christian works as the De
Temporum Ratione under the title Eostre (Ostre) who was
the Anglo-Saxon goddess of Spring. In this text we find
a connection between the German word Ostern denoting an
eastern orientation and the word Easter. Thus the
related goddess Ostre (Ostara) can be seen as a goddess
of the East and therefore of the dawn. Modern Easter
celebrations include a sunrise ceremony symbolic of the
resurrection from death symbolized by the dawn. As the
goddess of the East, Eostre was worshipped at this
quarter of rebirth as the maiden aspect of Triformis,
the Three-fold Goddess.
Traditionally offerings of cakes and colored eggs
were made to Eostre at the time of the Vernal Equinox.
The symbolism of the egg as a representation of the seed
of life is a very ancient association. Both eggs and
rabbits are fertility symbols found in the ancient
worship of Eostre. The rabbit was sacred to the goddess
of Spring and is still one of the focus points of Spring
today found in the figure of the Easter Bunny. The egg
is an interesting symbol of great antiquity. The
earliest icons of deities found in Old Europe during the
Neolithic period are largely bird goddesses believed to
have the power over birth and rebirth. To find the
inclusion of eggs in the worship of Spring goddesses is
clearly something inherited from long forgotten
fertility cults.
In southern Europe we find the goddess Eostre under
the name Eos, the Greek goddess of the Dawn. In ancient
Rome it was the practice to carry eggs in a sacred
procession to the Temple of Demeter. In modern times
Italians still observe this in street processions during
the Pasqua dell'Uovo (Easter of the Egg) where eggs are
exchanged as symbols of spiritual rebirth. In Naples a
traditional tart called Pastiera is made from wheat
berries soaked in spiced milk and flavored with lemon
and orange. This tart is descended from a traditional
sweet made of tender grains sacred to Demeter. Another
traditional food associated with the Spring is the
Italian Pane di Pasqua, the bread of Easter.
Myths associated with the Spring Equinox all reflect
themes of the Mystery of Renewal. This is another reason
why we see the egg appear in Spring symbolism. Marija
Gimbutas, in her book The Goddesses and Gods of Old
Europe, tells us that ancient Neolithic Bird Goddess is
inseparable from the Snake Goddess of this same period.
In Neolithic art the two goddesses are often unified as
a single divinity. It is interesting to note that the
Caduceus portrays two serpents entwined around a rod
which bears wings (the serpent and the bird symbols).
The Caduceus was the wand of Aesculapius who was the son
of Apollo. Apollo as noted here was associated with the
rooster, and by extension with the egg.
With the approach of Spring comes the arrival of many
birds returning from their earlier migration. In
Neolithic art we find the bird goddess particularly
associated with water fowl. The Snake Goddess is also
associated with water snakes. Both goddesses appear with
the ancient symbol of the V typically marked upon their
breasts. This is the Neolithic symbol largely used to
symbolize rain. Spring is traditionally a rainy season
and it is easy to see the connection here between the
goddess and her water symbol. Many ancient goddess
figures found in what is now Greece depict goddesses
bearing the V symbol.
Another symbol associated with the bird goddess is
the labyrinth. The labyrinth is a classic Greek mythos
found in such legends as that of the Minotaur. Gimbutas
calls the pre-historic bird goddess it's Mistress.
Panels of labyrinth designs appear on anthropomorphic
vases and figurines connected to rituals or festivals
dedicated to water divinity. Is the traditional Easter
egg hunt the memory of an ancient theme of passing
through the labyrinth to retrieve the divine egg of the
Bird of Serpent Goddess? |
