Myth*ingLinks: Spring Equinox 2008 -- Greetings, Lore, & CustomsPageis graphics-rich: please be patient as it loads.MYTH*ING LINKSAn Annotated & Illustrated Collection of WorldwideLinks to Mythologies,Fairy Tales & Folklore, Sacred Arts & SacredTraditionsby Kathleen Jenks, Ph.D.GREETINGS, LORE, & CUSTOMSfor springtime 2008[Note: extensive links are belowthe opening introduction] The Morrighan, Goddess of Battle: © KinukoY. Craft. All rights reserved, used with permission.[No endorsement of this web site, its contents, oropinions expressed there-in is intended.] 24 February 2008,Author's NoteSome weeks ago while searching for one of LaurenRaine's performance art/mask webpages for a pastlife client of mine, Icame across her amazing page, "The Curse of the Morrigan," at: http://www.rainewalker.com/morrigan.htmI was astonished by the power of these words,for they are literally cursing one into enlightenment. I wrote toask Lauren's permission to use this work on my 2008 spring equinox pageand she generously granted it. She said she felt the Morrigan herself seemedto write the words, and I believe that the Celtic goddess' hand is indeedon this work. These "curses"come full circle and are immensely satisfyingand profound. As Lauren wrote me:The Morrigan is the bringer of justice - but true justiceis the evolution of conscience and compassion within each of us, so thatwe circle back, and understand, at last, that we are all a part of eachother, with deep roots in the earth.My thanks to Lauren Raine for her fierce yet compassionatewords and to Kinuko Craft for her perfect depiction of those same qualitiesin the Morrigan with her fierce hounds. Here, art and words mutually complementone another:<><><><><><><><><><><><>The CURSE OF THE MORRIGANYou who bring suffering to children:May you look into the sweetest, most open eyes, and howl the lossof your innocence.You who ridicule the poor, the grieving, thelost, the fallen, the inarticulate, the wounded children in grown-up bodies:May you look into each face, and see a mirror. May all your clevernessfall into the abyss of your speechless grief, your secret hunger, may youlook into that black hole with no name, and find....the most tender touchin the darkest night, the hand that reaches out. May you take that hand.May you walk all your circles home at last, and coming home, know whereyou are.You tree-killers, you wasters:May you breathe the bitter dust, may you thirst, may you walk hungryin the wastelands, the barren places you have made. And when you cannotwalk one step further, may you see at your foot a single blade of grass,green, defiantly green. And may you be remade by it's generosity.And those who are greedy in a timeof famine:May you be emptied out, may your hearts break not in half, but wideopen in a thousand places, and may the waters of the world pour from eachcrevice, washing you clean.Those who mistake power for love:May you know true loneliness. And when you think your lonelinesswill drive you mad, when you know you cannot bear it one more hour, maya line be cast to you, one shining, light woven strand of the Great Webglistening in the dark. And may you hold on for dear life.Those passive ones, those ones who force othersto shape them, and then complain if it's not to your liking:May you find yourself in the hard place with your back against thewall. And may you rage, rage until you find your will. And may you learnto shape yourself.And you who delight in exploiting others, imaginingthat you are better than they are:May you wake up in a strange land as naked as the day you were bornand thrice as raw. May you look into the eyes of any other soul, in yourradiant need and terrible vulnerability. May you know yourSelf. And mayyou be blessed by that communion.And may you love well, thrice and thrice and thrice, andagain and again and again:May you find your face before you were born.And may you drink from deep, deep waters.<><><><><><><><><><><><>May springtide bring you and yourloved ones unexpected joy and abundantly kind blessings.Warmly,Kathleen SpringEquinox arrives when the sun enters the sign of the Ram, Aries,creating an equal balance of dark and light on earth.This year, the Sun enters Aries pre-dawn Thursday,20 March 2008, at 1:48 AM EDT, 0548am GMT/UT,and 10:48pm PDT, 19 March 2008.Easter in the West is Sunday, 23 March 2008.OrthodoxEaster this year is 14 April 2008 (Gregorian calendar).Passoverbegins at sundown on Saturday, 19 April 2008. Links to Vernal Equinox& Other Springtide sites:  Lady SpringCourtesy of TradestoneInternationalDavid Paladin on Openness to ever-changingrealities[Added 23 February 2001;annotation updated 11 March 2002]: This is a briefchanneled passage from Navajo shamanic-artist, David Paladin. AfterI read it in 2001, I received permission from his widow to put it on aMyth*ing Links page. Paladin looks at what it is that stops us fromgreater openness to the realm of mystery and creativity -- he says thatit's when we become frozen in our myths, when we stagnate, or when we dryup. Spring is a wonderful time to be reminded of the deeper wondersof life that shimmer beyond, around, and through the limiting constraintsprovided by our religious and political leaders.http://www.webofoz.org/heritage/Eostar.shtml[Added 12 March 2002]:This is "Heritage of Eostar" by Lark, a member of Web of Oz, a pagangroup in Kansas. This no-frills, wide-ranging essay explores cross-culturalspring ["Eostar"] celebrations across Europe and the Near East. Iespecially like her concluding words on the Green Men of Europe:...In the woods,the Green Man puts forth sprouts from every root and branch. Even in churches,he flowers in carvings of wood and stone, on arches above doorways or hiddenbeneath benches. "Here, a throat come aleaf, there a branch held aloft,"his green fire races through the woodlands and pulses in our blood: "thisgreen source, this welling-forth in ever-widening circles, this 'spring'."* (*from "The Book of the Green Man" by Ronald Johnson)Note: the essay isn't footnoted but Lark offers a separatepage with a lengthy and useful bibliography at: http://www.webofoz.org/heritage/bibliography.shtmlhttp://schooloftheseasons.com/march.html [3/7/02:updated link]This wonderful page covers the month of March from WaverlyFitzgerald's School of the Seasons, one of my favorite sites. Waverlyis thorough, wide-ranging, and has a superb eye for lore & rituals. Click on any calendar day and you'll go to a great page filled with furtherdetails, rituals, and ancient customs (Note: she's a careful researcher& her sources are listed at the bottom). For additional monthlyupdates, go to her "School of the Seasons"HomePage, where you'll also find great special feature articles on thisspring holiday season -- for example....http://schooloftheseasons.com/spring.html [3/7/02:updated link]....this is Waverly's impressively rich page on "CelebratingSpring Equinox".......http://schooloftheseasons.com/lent.html [3/7/02:updated link]......and this is her exquisitely balanced page on "PaganLent," wherein she looks at fasting from foods but also from processes,habits (e.g., "artistic anorexia"), and behaviors (e.g., nagging). I lovethe way she discusses the paucity of foods available in early spring forpeoples who lived close to the earth in earlier times. I also loveher emphasis on the healing power of this season:...But it's notjust the number of days [40] that are significant but their conjunctionwith the season. In Chinese medicine, spring is the time of the liver,whose energy is change. Haragano, who teaches Wheel of the Year classesin Seattle, says that treatment centers experience higher success ratesin spring than at any other time of the year. She attributes this to theincredible energy for change which courses through the earth at this time,the force that through the green fuse drives the flower, as Dylan Thomasput it. The sap is rising in the trees, which are budding; the greenstalks of crocuses and snowdrops are pushing through the frozen ground.There's an incredible shift happening which -- in those parts of the worldwhich are frozen -- manifests in the spring thaw, the breaking up of thecontraction of winter.... Robert Graves says swings, with their crescent moonarcs-in-motion, date back to ritualscelebrated by ancient Greek priestesses (see TheGreek Myths, vol. I:262-3).This is an exuberant modern version: "On the Swing"by T. Smirnova.(Note: a larger version is on my 2005 Spring page.)Courtesy of TradestoneInternationalhttp://www.religioustolerance.org/spring_equinox.htm[Added 12 March 2002]:Fromreligioustolerance.orgin Canada comes a lengthy, well organized overview on spring equinox celebrationsin monotheistic, pagan, and indigenous traditions worldwide. It isboth humane and informative, with footnoting that combines books with websites(of varying quality). Here are some passages:The Spring Equinoxis also known as: Alban Eilir, Alban Elfed, Eostar, Eostre, Feast of Annunciationof the Blessed Virgin Mary, Festival of Trees, Lady Day, NawRuz, No Ruz,Ostara, Ostra, Rites of Spring, and the Vernal Equinox........Christianity and otherreligious associate three themes with the vernal equinox:1) Conceptionand pregnancy leading to birth on the winter solstice.2) Victory of a god oflight (or life, rebirth, resurrection) over the powers of darkness (death).3) The descent of thegoddess or god into the underworld for a period of three days. This issuch a popular theme among religions that mythologists refer to it as "theharrowing of Hell." .......Monotheistic religions,like Judaism, Christianity and Islam, tend to view time as linear. It started with creation; the world as we know it will end at some timein the future. Aboriginal and Neopagan religions see time as circular andrepetitive, with lunar (monthly) and solar (yearly) cycles. Their "...ritualsguarantee the continuity of nature's cycles, which traditional human societiesdepend on for their sustenance."http://groups.msn.com/HearthofArianrhod/festivalcalendar.msnw?action=get_message&mview=0&ID_Message=4299&LastModified=4675514516476415319 [Linkupdated 9 March 2008, Note: text below is similar but from a now-defunctlink.][Added 12 March 2002& expanded 26 February 2003]: This is "Ostara"by Anna Franklin, a rich excursion into springtide lore. I especiallyliked her passages on the ram (Aries, the astrological sign for March)and serpent eggs, although I wish she had provided footnotes for her data,or at least a bibliography. Regardless, for non-specialists, thereis much of interest here. Here are excerpts on eggs and serpents:...The egg isanother obvious fertility symbol, betokening burgeoning life. In severalmythologies, a ‘World Egg’ is laid by the Goddess and split open by thesun God. In Hindu tradition, the divine bird laid the cosmic egg on theprimordial waters and from it sprang Brahma and the two halves formed heavenand earth. The cosmic tree is sometimes depicted as growing out of an eggfloating on the waters of chaos. In Egyptian legend the Nile Goose laidthe cosmic egg from which Ra, the sun, sprang. In China the yolkwas the sky and the white the earth. The egg is also an emblem of resurrectionand the initiate or ‘twice born’, since its laying is one birth, its hatchinganother.The egg is closely associatedwith the serpent, another important springtime emblem. One Egyptian legendsays that Kneph, the serpent, produced the egg from his mouth. Orphism,holding the egg to be the mystery of life, creation and resurrection, oftendepicted the egg surrounded by Ouroboros, the circular serpent with itstail in its mouth. The Druids called the cosmic egg the ‘egg of the serpent’.The symbolism of the snakeis complex. It can be male and phallic or female, representing the powerof water- sinuous streams, rivers and healing wells. On one hand it representsthe underworld and the powers of night and winter that the sun god mustovercome [Bel is sometimes shown with a serpent or dragon, as are Apollo,Pythios and Helios]. On the other hand it symbolises regeneration and thesloughing off of winter; the snake sheds its old skin and emerges renewedand ‘reborn’.... Springtide Maiden and Hare(Note: a larger version is on my 2005 Spring page.)Courtesy of RussianSunbirds[Note, 3/17/07: unfortunately, Russian Sunbirds isslowly disintegrating.]http://merganser.math.gvsu.edu/myth/march98.html [2/26/03:Link is now dead...but I'm keeping the annotation; UPDATE: 3/20/05: mytrusty links-elf, Michaela, found this again]This is a 1998 essay on the Celtic view of the vernal equinox,"Song of the Otherworld is Heard In the Balance of Spring," by C. Austinfrom the always-excellent Celtic Connection. One image especiallystruck me: "...the Goddess, wrapped in her verdant cloak of Spring."[7March 2002 Note: Austin's topic changes each year but it's always worthreading. UPDATE: 20 March 2005: the above link is to the essay Ifirst read -- it offers a great collection of links and topics to manymore of Austin's essays.]http://web.archive.org/web/19991118200718/http://www.zaranna.com/seasons/ostara.htm [3/7/02:Link is now dead...but I'm keeping the annotation;UPDATE: 3/20/05: still in existenceon Web Archive]From Rae Beth comes this lovely little page on Ostara, orspring equinox. She wisely points out how stressful this period is:...The two weeksbefore and after both equinoxes are often times of stress and great tension.This is because all the elements of life are being brought into new balance,psychically, as day and night attain equal length....She also explores the beauty of the season as it shows its face in theSpring Maiden Goddess, the young God, and so many fertile eggs. [FYI:here's her homepage: http://www.knibb.org/rae/index.htm] "Spring is always young, even though we aren't...."[Poignant words from Kathleen McCormick: see hersite below]Dandelion Spring courtesy of RussianSunbirdshttp://members.aol.com/HPSofSNERT/holid.html#springThis page begins with Strinennia on March 9th andlooks at a whole series of traditional Slavic springtide celebrations (concludingwith Rusal'naia Week in early May) -- there's wonderfully rich loreand tradition here (plus hypertext to rituals).A Strinennia Ritual for March9 & BeyondI "lurk"on a Slavic pagan discussion list where a beautifulritual for Strinennia (March 9th) recently appeared. I knew at oncethat I would use it to celebrate privately on the eve prior to the 9th,but I also wanted to share it with others who visit my Springtide Greetingspage. With the author's permission, it now has its own special pageon my website. Garnet's ritual was written for a specific date, butits timeless quality makes it appropriate for any springtide ritual. (Seeimmediately below on grounding & centering prior to any ritual.)http://www.robinwood.com/LivingtreeGrove/Magic/MagicPages/GroundCenter.htmlRegardless of your path, whether in daily life or ritual-space,this little page on "Grounding & Centering" from Robin Wood (oftarot fame) is highly recommended. In addition to a simple butcrucial exercise, there is a remarkable image of a human body shimmeringwith 7 glowing chakras (I use it as a screen saver to remind me to staygrounded among all the pixels <smile>).http://macaroo.com/spring.htm [3/10/02:Updated URL]This is a tranquil little site with a brief essay on springby Kathleen ("Mac") McCormick, a woman with a poet's sensibilities:THERE comes atime when even Winter Folk have had enough. We hunger for color and thesmell of warming soil; the rich dark green taste of asparagus, the youngbreeze, the strident clamor of small birds....We cannot escape the messyrhythm of life, and it's a small, bright mercy that we don't want to. Ahundred Springs may come and go, but each lifts the heart without effort. Spring is always young, even though we aren't....(She also includes several seasonal recipes and a handfulof well chosen links.)http://www.islandnet.com/~see/weather/arts/springwords.htmFrom Keith Heidorn, the "Weather Doctor," comes The EldersSpeak: About Spring, a great collection of quotations on spring. For example:But it [the weather]gets through more business in spring than in any other season. In the springI have counted one hundred and thirty-six different kinds of weather insideof four and twenty hours.[Mark Twain on New England weather]Like a sound spring spreadsand spreads until it is swallowed up in space. Like the wind, it movesacross the map invisible; we see it only in its effects. It appears likethe track of the breeze on a field of wheat, like shadows of wind-blownclouds, like tossing branches that reveal the presence of the invisible,the passing of the unseen. [Edwin Way Teale]Heidorn, whose huge site is one of my favorites, has many essays combiningweather science with the arts and humanities. Try his site map ifyou wish to explore: http://www.islandnet.com/~see/weather/general/site_map.htmhttp://revealer.com/platonic.htmThis is the second chapter in a book entitled Secretsof the Sphinx by Andrew Raymond. It looks at the Platonic Year,Dragon Star, the Age of Aquarius, and an amazing sweep of timespans relatingto the vernal equinox. Cosmic Eggs[More gorgeous eggs can be seen at http://www.svetki.lv/lieldien/index.htm--if no longer there, try writing their webmaster.9 March 2008: link is dead.]http://web.archive.org/web/20070806004830/http://www.okana.org/pisanka.html [URL updated 2/19/02;9 March 2008: now only found on Web Archive. Okana, where are you?Been trying to contact you for years.]This is a page on decorated "Easter eggs" with a beautifultitle: Pisanki: Icons of the Universe. It comes from Okana'sWeb. Okana writes knowledgeably of Polish Pisanki -- theirtraditions and symbolism of color and design.One of the primeicons and symbols of Spring, of birth and rebirth and fertility, is theegg, and Poles have made decorating and sanctifying them an art form. Theperfect icon of the universe, decorated eggs were taken out into the fieldsas the grains were sown, along with a candle blessed at Gromniczne (Imbolc),in order to bring life back into the warming soil. Eggs were also buriedat the base of fruit trees to make them bear in abundance. Even the waterin which boiled-style eggs were prepared is sacred; used to wash in, blesswith, poured along the property lines to protect against lightening andthunder and the ravages of weather, and annointing bee hives to bring plentyof sweet tasting honey. A bowl of decorated eggs was kept in the homesat all times, to ensure good health and prosperity....http://www.polstore.com/html/polisheaster.html[Added 4/12/01]:Thisis another page on Polish Easter traditions, lore, and special regionalfoods.http://hungaria.org/projects.php?projectid=4&menuid=116#258 [3/10/02: link updated -- note: a quick scan suggests changes in the text,which makes me glad I saved passages from the earlier version ///// 3/13/04:updated again -- this one looks more like the original one I saw; scrollup its page for Hungarian version.]This is "Easter in Hungary," by Emese Kerkay, anintriguing folkloric site about ancient Hungarian fertility traditionsinvolving decorated eggs as well as water-dowsing:...When one handlessomebody or something like a himestojás [Easter egg]it means that the person takes absolutely good care of that somebody orsomething.......The decorated egg isknowingly connected with the custom of water plunging on Easter Monday.LOCSOLÁS - dousing with water - is a very old custom. In pagan timesdousing girls with water was a magical fertility act....Linked pages will take you to the art of these eggs -- they have wonderfuldesigns and symbolism:...The cult ofthe decorated egg is one of the most ancient religious customs of humanity,and goes back thousands of years. The egg plays a significant role in thestory of creation for many people. It represents the secret of eternallife condensed in a small enclosed and perfect geometrical form. Insideof the protective white mass is the mysterious gold, the Secret of secrets.......Over the centuriesthe meaning of some of the cultic drawings were forgotten, but Hungarianwomen still write the same symbols onto the eggs as did their ancestorsmore than a thousand years ago.......The color most frequentlyused in decorating eggs is red. This is the reason for the other popularHungarian name for the decorated egg: red egg (piros tojás). Themagical red is the color of blood, which is the "residence of life" accordingto the belief of ancient people. Asian horsemen-cultures - the ancestorsof the Hungarians included - often put a decorated red egg in the handof the deceased. The color red also symbolizes eternal life, renewal, love,spring, joy, freedom, new life, resurrection.....http://www.b-info.com/places/Bulgaria/Easter/ind_old.html:[Link updated 9 March 2008]This is an intriguing site on Bulgarian folk traditionsconcerning specially decorated Easter breads and red-dyed Easter eggs. There are many rich details. For example, families painted theireggs red on Holy Thursday and one of these eggs would be taken to servicesin the local church; immediately afterwards, this egg would be buried inthe family's vineyard to protect against hailstorms and to ensure a goodcrop [Note: since Holy Thursday celebrates the Last Supper, when winewas changed into blood, perhaps it's not really far-fetched that the consecrated"wine"-red egg should protect vineyards]. Later, 10-15 of thesered eggs would be sent to the family's Turkish friends along with a loafof Easter bread -- these Moslem friends would be hurt if their Christianfriends neglected to do this [Note: one can't help but be struck bythe implications of friendship in earlier years between Christian and Moslemhere].Customs not involving eggs are also touched upon: e.g., in one region,pumpkins were planted on the Feast of the Annunciation because it was believedthat these would be especially sweet [as was the "fruit" of the Virgin'swomb]. The site also offers links to more "orthodox" Eastertraditions. (Note: this site is also listed on the second of mytwo Bulgarian pages.) Woman in Poppy Fields,a flower sacred to the ancients, widely used in sacredritualshttp://www.geocities.com/Athens/Oracle/2810/velykos.htmlFrom Sacred Serpent comes a great page on the Balticspring feast of Velykos:...The week before Equinox, called the Velykos of Veles(souls), concludes the annual cycle of commemorations of the dead. As duringKucios (Winter Solstice Eve), families remember their dead and leave theirdinners on the tables overnight for the veles to eat.The verba, principally made of juniper, birch and willow twigsinterwoven with colored papers and flowers, symbolizes the force of life,the birth of new life, and rebirth of nature. It also improves health.Before or on the Equinox, people whip each other with verbas, wishing eachother well....Here, the cosmic eggs are those of harmless grass-serpents:...Breaking eggs re-enacts the breakage of the cosmicegg, from which the snake, called 'gyvate,' comes to grant life and fertility.The zaltys, the sacred zigzagged garden snake of the Lithuanians, alsowakes from hibernation at this time.http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Oracle/2810/uzgaven.htmlAlso from Sacred Serpent comes this page on the springtidemerriment associated with the Lithuanian fertility celebration of Uzgavenes:Uzgavenes (uhzh-gah-VAY-nays), or the Escort of Winter,essentially waits for Spring and helps prepare for the new season. A.J.Greimas writes: "Under Christian influence Uzgavenes became a movable day,while earlier it was celebrated at the time of the Spring Equinox," usuallyduring the weekend closest to the beginning of March.The holiday consists of processions, costumes, tom foolery, games,and plays....http://www.luth.se/luth/present/sweden/history/folklore/easter.htmlFrom Lulea University in Sweden comes an interesting pageon rural Swedish Easter customs, including decorated eggs, fertility games,and several odd stories about Easter "hags" (i.e., witches) and their broomsticks.http://virtual.finland.fi/finfo/english/paaseng.html[Added 4/12/01]:This is "Finnish Easter Traditions," a charming page by Sirpa Karjalainen,Assistant of Ethnology, University of Helsinki. Subtopics include:The Catholic Medieval Inheritance; The Silent Week; The Dancing Sun; Oven-bakedMalt Porridge, a Finnish Easter Treat; Witches Fly at Easter; Witches WishingYou Luck Blend the Eastern and Western Traditions; and Easter cards froma century ago. Here's an excerpt from the introduction:...Well before Easter, children plant rye-grass seedsin little pots. Green grass is a sure sign of spring, even if itonly grows on the windowsill. Pussy willows are ancient Easter decorations,and birch twigs are placed in vases, where they soon start budding. Nowadaystulips, lilies and daffodils are flown in from the Continent, but thatdoesn't mean Finns didn't always have Easter 'flowers'. These were madeby hand, out of tissue paper and dyed feathers....http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/ostara.html[Added 3/06/03]:This is Professor D. L. Ashliman's brief page on Ostara, the Germanic Goddessof Springtime:...The name of Ostara's (Eostra's) festival was transferredto the celebration of Christ's resurrection when Anglo-Saxon and Germanheathens converted to Christianity. Thus, unlike other European cultures,English and German Christians still attach the name of a heathen goddessto their most sacred holiday: Easter or Ostern. In other European languagesthe holiday's name is based on the Hebrew word "pasah," to pass over, thusreflecting the Christian holiday's Biblical connection with the JewishPassover....http://web.archive.org/web/20070101204850/http://www.utah.edu/planetarium/EquinoxVernal.html [Linkupdated 6 March 2000; now at Web Archive, 9 March 2008 -- I've emailedhim to see if he'll put his pages up elsewhere.]From Von Del Chamberlain at Utah's Hansen Planetarium (9March 2008: it now calls itself the Clark Planetarium) comesthis witty essay on the spring equinox and the "mystery" of balancing eggsat the exact moment of the equinox. You'll learn some fascinatinginformation along the way.http://www.atozteacherstuff.com/themes/easter.shtml [Linkupdated 3/6/03][Added 4/12/01 &updated 3/6/03]: For more great approachesto the season, try this page of Easter celebration lesson plans for teachersand home schoolers. If you still want more, try this one: http://www.LessonPlansPage.com/Easter.htm "Lady Day"Russian Lacquer Box[Author's Collection]http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/7280/ladyday.html [URLupdated 3/8/02]Lady Day: from Mike Nicholscomes this literate and enjoyable essay on "Lady Day," which may be celebratedeither on the Vernal Equinox or on 25 March, the Feast of the Annunciation:...the old and accepted folk name for the Vernal Equinoxis 'Lady Day'. Christians sometimes insist that the title is in honor ofMary and her Annunciation, but Pagans will smile knowingly....Nichols brings in lunar and solar deities, Welsh myth, King Arthur,the Goddess' Descent into the Underworld for three days, Easter, and muchmore.http://www.wicca.com/celtic/akasha/ostara.htm[Expanded 3/6/03]:Fromthe Celtic world comes Herne's brief page on Lady Day:March 21 -- Ostara -- Spring or The Vernal Equinox. Also known as: Lady Day or Alban Eiler (Druidic):As Spring reaches its midpoint, night and day stand inperfect balance, with light on the increase. The young Sun God nowcelebrates a hierogamy (sacred marriage) with the young Maiden Goddess,who conceives. In nine months, she will again become the Great Mother.It is a time of great fertility, new growth, and newborn animals.The next full moon (a time of increased births) is called theOstara and is sacred to Eostre the Saxon Lunar Goddess of fertility (fromwhence we get the word estrogen, whose two symbols were the egg and therabbit.The Christian religion adopted these emblems for Easter whichis celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon following thevernal equinox. The theme of the conception of the Goddess was adaptedas the Feast of the Annunciation, occurring on the alternative fixed calendardate of March 25 Old Lady Day, the earlier date of the equinox. Lady Daymay also refer to other goddesses (such as Venus and Aphrodite), many ofwhom have festivals celebrated at this time....Herne lists the day's traditional foods, herbs & flowers, incense& gemstone. Pre-Islamic IranianDeity with springtide garden and a swimming fish --the fish was once an ancient symbol for the gravidwomb but today, according to the site (see below),the "goldfish in a bowl represents life and the endof astral year-picas [i.e., pisces]."http://www.farsinet.com/norooz/[Added 19 March 2001]:Thisis a refreshing site on Persian New Year, Noruz, which is celebratedat spring equinox and lasts for thirteen days beyond that date. Ifyou scroll down this page, you'll find excellent data on lore and traditions-- also many fine illustrations....The originsof NoRuz are unknown, but they go back several thousand years predatingthe Achaemenian Dynasty. The ancient Iranians had a festival called "Farvardgan"which lasted ten days, and took place at the end of the solar year. Itappears that this was a festival of sorrow and mourning, signifying theend of life while the festival of NoRuz, at the beginning of springsignified rebirth, and was a time of great joy and celebration....Click on the illustrations and you'll get additional data as well asfurther illustrations which expand on the theme.http://classes.colgate.edu/osafi/coreculture/noruz.htm[Added 14 March 2004]: This is a site focused on the foods of Noruz. The symbolic lovelinessand delicious descriptions make me wish I had Iranian friends nearby willingto invite me to share in this celebration!A few days priorto the New Year, a special cover is spread on to the Persian carpet oron a table in every Persian household. This ceremonial table is calledcloth of seven dishes, (each one beginning with the Persian letter cinn).The number seven has been sacred in Iran since the ancient times, and theseven dishes stand for the seven angelic heralds of life-rebirth, health,happiness, prosperity, joy, patience, and beauty....Another interesting aspect involves the last -- or 13th -- day of thethe 2 week celebration. This is Sizdah bedar: "getting ridof the 13."...This fun andexciting outing involves all family members and is intended to end theholiday season on a relaxing and positive note. The concept of avoidingthe number thirteen is mainly to symbolize the will and power to deal withall evil in the new year....Part of the ritual is to cast away into running water the sabzee,or sprouting miniature garden of wheat or lentils from the ceremonial table: ...Thesabzeeis supposed to have collected all the sickness, pain and ill fate hidingon the path of the family throughout the coming year! Touching someoneelse'ssabzee on this thirteenth day or bringing it home is thereforenot a good idea and may result in absorbing their pain and hardship....Anothermeaningful ritual performed with the dumping of thesabzee is thatyoung single women tie the sabzee leave(s) prior to discarding it, symbolizingthe wish to be tied in a marriage by theSeezdah Bedar of next year!The young ladies are often heard whispering the following rhyme while tyingthe leaves: "Sal-e deegar, khune-yeh showhar, bacheh baghal!" This translatesto: "Next year, in the husband's house, with a baby in arms!" Newlyweds also tie a grass knot making wishes for a baby, a house, or whateveris on their Have-To-Have list....This site also offers great illustrations (including the pre-Islamicdeity who opens this section).http://Persia.ORG/Culture/nowruz.html[Added 14 March 2004]:Thisis an unillustrated, excellent page written in 1999 by Massoume with abrief but good bibliography at the end and, at the beginning, a chart ofglobal start-times for Nowruz. [Note: this link isillustrated, differently formatted, but has the same text: http://www.payvand.com/ny/massoume.html. Since it provides the author's name, it's probably the original version.]What I like best about this site is its sweeping historical overview. Here are some excerpts:No Ruz, new dayor New Year as the Iranians call it, is a celebration of spring Equinox.It has been celebrated by all the major cultures of ancient Mesopotamia. Sumerians, 3000BC, Babylonians 2000 BC, the ancient kingdom of Elam inSouthern Persia 2000BC, Akaddians all have been celebrating it in one formor another. What we have today as No Ruz with its’ uniquely Iranian characteristicshas been celebrated for at least 3000 years and is deeply rooted in thetraditions of Zoroastrian belief system.This was the religionof Ancient Persia before the advent of Islam 1400 years ago. It is knownas the mother religion in the area. The familiar concepts of Hell, Heaven,Resurrection, coming of the Messiah, individual and last judgment werefor the first time incorporated into this belief system. They still existin Judo-Christian and Islamic traditions. In order to understand No Ruzwe have to know about Zoroastrians’ cosmology.These people believedin two primal forces. In their ancient text, Bundahishn foundation of creation,we read that The Lord of Wisdom residing in the eternal light was not God.He created all that was good and became God. The Hostile Spirit, AngraMainyu (Ahriman), residing in the eternal darkness created all that wasbad and became the Hostile Spirit (The word anger in English comes fromthe same origin)....These two forces created two totally separate, non-material worlds,each containing the essence of what would eventually unfold in reality. After three thousand years, the material world was created:...At the endof the third millennium the Hostile Spirit saw light, wanted it and attackedthe good world. This was the beginning of all troubles we face now....To protect his realm, the Lord of Wisdom created the world in sevenstages (notice how similar this is to Genesis with its seven days of creation)....There wasone problem with this material world, it did not have a life cycle. Thesun did not move. There were no days or nights and no seasons. The threeprototypes of life were sacrificed. From the plant came the seeds of allplants. The bull produced all animals and from the human came the firstmale and female. The rest of the humanity was created from their union. The cycle of life started. Sun moved, there was day, night and the seasons.This was called the first No Ruz.......Zoroaster (Zardosht)the architect of this cosmology introduced many feasts, festivals and ritualsto pay homage to the seven creations and the holy immortals. Seven wereamongst the most important. They are known as Gahambars, feasts of obligation. The last and the most elaborate was No Ruz, celebrating the Lord of Wisdomand the holy fire at the time of spring equinox.(FYI: Zoroaster lived and died in Bactria, a region in northwesternAfghanistan.)Then more specific history comes into play:The oldest archaeologicalrecord for No Ruz celebration comes from the Achaemenian (Hakhamaneshi)period over 2500 years ago. They created the first major empire in theregion and built Persepolis complex (Takhte Jamshid) in central Iran. Thismagnificent palace/temple complex was destroyed by Alexander the Greatin 334 BC.......What we have todayas No Ruz goes back to the Sassanid period. They were the last great PersianEmpire before the advent of Islam 1400 years ago. Their celebrations wouldstart five days prior to the New Year. They believed the guardian angels(Fourohars) would come down to earth within these five days to visit theirhuman counter parts. A major spring-cleaning was carried out to welcomethem with feasts and celebrations. Bon fires would be set on rooftops atnight to indicate to the guardian angels that humans were ready to receivethem. This was called Suri Festival.Modern Iranians stillcarry out the spring-cleaning and celebrate Wednesday Suri. ...Bonfires are made and all people will jump over the fire on the last Tuesdayof the year. This is a purification rite and Iranians believe by goingover the fire they will get rid of all their illnesses and misfortunes.Wednesday Suri did not exist before Islam and very likely is a combinationof more than one ritual to make it last....Many fascinating details follow -- these explore customs of ancientpre-Islamic times and what remains today. This webpage, written in1999, concludes with the following major insights:...Why this festivalhas survived? There have been major attempts by the Muslim rulers overthe centuries to minimize it, ban it or get rid of it once and for all.The reasons for their failure should be sought in the spirit of this festival.Contrary to the Islamic traditions where death and martyrdom mark all themajor rituals, No Ruz is a celebration of life.......Lord or not, life andwisdom are what that makes us humans. We are the only beings who know wehave a life and what we do with our lives depend on the wisdom. At theend of the millennium with the mess this planet is in we need that wisdommore than ever. Creating a balance with nature and maintaining order arevery relevant. These are the lessons we can learn from such a wonderfuland ancient tradition. So happy New Year, enjoy the festival. Joy and happinesswere regarded as major forces defeating the hostile spirits. This is whywe are still celebrating this occasion after 3000 years.Do I wish other Americans as well as President Bush and his narrow-mindedneo-conservative counselors were more fully aware of this rich traditionin a country so recklessly declared part of the "axis of evil"? Yes.Do I think it would make a difference? Yes, where non-fundamentalistAmericans are concerned. No, where Bush and his admirers are concerned. Monotheistic fundamentalists, whether Christian, Islamic, or Jewish, areextremely difficult to tell apart. All feel that it's acceptableto take the lives of others as long as one's own side wins. In my view, this is a pernicious and "evil" policy, no matter who espousesit.Anyone who rigidly splits the world into good and evil is what istechnically termed a "radical dualist." I personally am opposed tosuch radical dualism -- "evil," as I see it, is a disruption of an essentiallyharmonious core -- rituals and sacred arts exist to restore that lost orcompromised harmony. The problem, of course, is that too few cultureshave retained their ancient knowledge of such rituals and scared arts. Nevertheless, in keeping with Zoroastriancosmology, which underlies much of monotheism, one would have to say thatthose who accept the good versus evil scenario to the degree that the fundamentalistsof all three monotheisms do, are truly followers of what Zoroastercalled the "Hostile Spirit." The results of their beliefslie all around us and they are not good.http://www.azer.com/aiweb/categories/magazine/61_folder/61_articles/61_noruz.html[Added 14 March 2004]:Thisis a 1994 photo essay on Noruz in Azerbaijan -- it has good photos andit also includes internal links to an intriguing mystery surrounding a"Maiden's Tower" in Baku, a moving essay on refugee camps, and an essayon Noruz itself. From this latter, here are some excerpts: ...Oilon canvas by Beyuk Mirzazade. The title of the painting is called"Harvest Festival" though clearly the coloration and the Wheat Sproutsindicate Spring and Noruz. (Soviets tried to stifle celebration of Noruzas it was considered "nationalistic".)It's official once againafter having been prohibited for 70 years under Soviet leadership. Noruz(pronounced "No-rooz" meaning "New Day" and sometimes written Novruz) isback again on the calendar as the most important National Holiday in theRepublic of Azerbaijan. The day, itself, marks the Spring Solstice (aroundMarch 21st), the "Coming of Spring," and is celebrated not only in Azerbaijanbut in Iran, Afghanistan, and several of the newly independent CentralAsian Republics including Kazakhstan. Next year, Turkey, too, will officiallycelebrate Noruz according to a recent announcement by Prime Minister, TansuÇiller.......This illustration paintedhere by artist, Beyuk Mirzazade, in 1966 clearly reflects this period.Curiously, it was published under the title, "Harvest Festival" but thecoloration and composition both contradict the title. Red poppies blanketAzerbaijan hillsides only in spring and newly sprouted wheat in the foregroundis only associated with the celebration of Noruz.... ...Manypeople buy a little goldfish and a fishbowl as it is rumored that the fishwill remain motionless facing the direction of the North Pole the exactmoment that the New Year arrives.... ...InIran, on the 13th day after Noruz holiday "Sizdeh bedar" (outing / ousting)everybody heads to the parks and nature for a picnic. Still today, you'llfind young girls tying two blades of grass together symbolizing their wishto get married and have a child by this time the following year. Together all these customs signify an exuberance for life-full of hope,joy, happiness, health, prosperity, luck, and long life-qualities all sodeep and inherent to man's nature that they could never disappear-no matterwho tried to dictate otherwise.[Note: the final two graphics come from: http://www.payvand.com/ny/massoume.html.]http://www.vohuman.org/Article/Noruz,%20The%20Fire%20of%20Spring.htm: [Linkupdated 17 March 2007][Added 14 March 2004]:Froma Zorastrian-focused site comes "Novruz, The Fire of Spring," well-writtenby Hannah M.G. Shapero. Here are a few excerpts from her lengthytext:...There aremany layers of meaning to Noruz: astronomical, mythical, historical, ritual,and spiritual.......The beginning of spring,the renewal of the earth after barren winter, also symbolizes the "frasho-kereti,"or the renewal of the whole world, which Zoroastrians believe will happenat the end of time, when all evil and darkness will be vanquished and allcreation will be renewed and purified. Every spring, therefore, for Zoroastrians,is a preview of the cosmic renewal of the universe.... ...One modern Zoroastrian,following this mythological logic, has even speculated that the "Big Bang,"the modern scientific concept of the beginning of the Universe, happenedat Noruz - though, at that original point, there were yet no years or daysto measure Noruz by, so every moment was Noruz....She offers an interesting cross-cultural comparison:...The festivalof Noruz, though truly Iranian, has its counterparts in Jewish and Christiancelebrations. The Jewish feast of Passover, the commemoration of the liberationof the Jewish people from their slavery in Egypt, takes place around thebeginning of spring, though the Jewish calendar does not place Passoverdirectly at the Equinox. In Judaism, sacred history connects with the cyclesof the earth, so that the renewal of the earth and liberation from winteris compared symbolically with the liberation of the Jewish people frombondage.The same symbolism existsin the Christian faith. Long before Christ, pagan peoples celebrated therenewal of the earth by worshipping gods that died and were resurrected.In Christianity, the actual event of the martyrdom of Christ, and the honoringof sacred nature, converge. The resurrection of Christ from the dead, whichin Christian belief took place around the Passover feast, also parallelsthe rebirth of the earth in spring. Sacred history, building on the Jewishcelebration of Passover and the Christ event, re-creates the old mythsin a new light....The author continues her cross-cultural comparison with a discussionof the elaborately symbolic table of foods:...Though thisNoruz table is an Iranian custom, a Jewish guest would find it familiar;a similar table, the Seder table, is set up for the Jewish observance ofPassover. Some of the foods on the Seder table are the same as the oneson the Noruz table, such as bread, eggs, herbs, apples, and nuts (appleand nut mix, or haroseth). But the Jewish foods have different symbolism;they belong to the historical commemoration of the Jewish Exodus. For instance,the matzoh or unleavened bread on the Seder table, symbolizes the journey-breadof the fleeing Jews, who could not wait for it to rise and baked it withoutleaven, and the Passover herbs are called "bitter herbs," to symbolizethe bitterness of bondage and exile.Here is a major differencebetween the festival of Noruz and the Jewish Passover or Christian Easter:the Zoroastrian festival does not celebrate a single historic event inthe past, but a yearly renewal with its spiritual significance. The Exodus,or the death and (in Christian belief) the resurrection of Christ, arehistorical events whose commemoration has converged with the celebrationof the renewal of nature....Finally, the author also discuses leaping over bonfires, mentioned inother links as well -- but she adds an interesting nuance:...On the Wednesdaybefore Noruz, Iranians celebrate a holiday called Chahar Shambeh Soori.This means "Red Wednesday" in Persian. The red refers to fire. On the eveningof that day outdoor bonfires are lit and the more agile members of thecommunity leap over the flames. With this leap they recite: "My yellownessis yours, your redness is mine," thus hoping to send ill-health (yellowness)into the fire and absorbing "redness" or good health from the fire. Thesebonfires are also said to burn away the bad luck of the old year. In thepast Iranian Zoroastrians used to light fires on their roof-tops to guidethe visiting souls of the dead to their homes. These ancient customs involvingfire show how the Zoroastrian influence persists in Iran....This is an interesting website, deserving to be read in full.http://www.vohuman.org/SiteMap/CulturalEventsFestivals.htm[Added 14 March 2004]:FromVohuman.org, a Zorastrian Educational Institute, come 13 essays, 5 of whichrelate to Noruz. One of these is Shapero's -- see directly above. The other four are of mixed quality. Dr. Ali Akbar Jafarey's twoessays are good but the dates he gives for the origins of this celebrationare on the wild side. Personal insights and other details are goodin all these essays. A Seder MealBarcelona Haggadah (see link below)Myth*ing Links page onJudaism[Added 21 March 2006]:On my recently completed page on Judaism, I annotate some fine links onPassover as well as Haggadah texts used in this celebration. Detail of Palm Sunday Celebration in MexicoPhotography by GeriAnderson at Mexico Connect [seebelow]http://mexconnect.com/mex_/feature/easterindex.htmlFrom Mexico Connect comes a lavishly illustratedwebsite on Holy Week and Easter in Mexico. The connecting pages arerich with firsthand descriptions and photos (including the one of thelittle girls above).http://web.archive.org/web/20010417184957/http://gomexico.about.com/travel/gomexico/library/weekly/aa040499.htm [3/6/03, 4:40am: dead link, but I'm keeping the annotation in case Jodyputs this on another page;UPDATE: 3/20/05 = found at WebArchive]From Jody Miller, the about.com guide to Mexico andCentral America, comes this interesting 2-part essay on Holy Week, SemanaSanta, in Mexico. She looks at Christian customs as well as prehispanicindigenous traditions among the Tarahumara (she has several additional-- and very moving -- links on Tarahumara). Fragrant Japanese Plum Blossoms[See directly below...]http://www.jun-gifts.com/others/culturalcalendar5/culturalcalendar5.htmFinally, I couldn't do a springtide page and leave out Japaneseblossoms, soybean celebrations, and ancient doll festivals. Thissite, which covers February to early May, has many fine photos (clickable)and good lore on spring festivals and traditions in Japan. (Fora brilliant, powerful depiction of the Doll Festival, try to rent a videoof Kurosawa's "The Peach Orchard," one of several stories in his film,DREAMS.)http://www.nationalcherryblossomfestival.org/cms/index.php?id=895: [Linkupdated 17 March 2007][Added 20 March 2005]: Spring also means cherry blossoms in Washington, D.C. This page letsyou know when they begin to bloom each year. And the following linkoffers many lovely & clickable photos of them in full glorious bloom:http://www.kestan.com/travel/dc/cherryblossoms/links to May Day(Beltane):I have created a special page for this May Day celebration:BeltaneTo the Wheel of the YearTo European Earth-BasedWaysTo Earth DayTo archived Springtide2007To archived Springtide2006To archived Springtide2005To archived Springtide2004To archived Springtide2003To archived Springtide2002To archived Springtide2001To archived Springtide2000To archived Springtide1999*** RELATED MYTH*ING LINKS PAGES ***Water: Sacrality &LoreWars, Weapons,and Lies: The Dehumanizing ImpulseArtists & Muses: The Creative ImpulseThe Crone Papers: Notes on theMideastKosovo e-mailsLorenz & Watkins: SilencedKnowings, Forgotten Springs: Paths to Healing in the Wake of ColonialismLorenz & Watkins: Individuation,Seeing-through, and Liberation: Depth Psychology and Colonialism My complete Site Map willbe found on the Home Page --also my e-mail address (nearthe bottom of the page).© 1999-2008 Kathleen Jenks, Ph.D. Unless noted, all links are from 1999 & 2000.[Note: see previous years for their own date-logs.]*** New page for 2007:28 February 2007, midnight to 3:30am: added openingart, background, and rough draft of essay.1-2am, 4 March 2007: minor revisions to essay + updatedseasonal times and dates.11pm-ish 16 March 2007 to 1:40am 17 March 2007: didfinal essay revision;updated most of the few broken links, thanks to Michaela,my links-elf,but still need to grok the new "cosmic egg" linksshe found to replace the dead one.Meanwhile, I'm officially launching this page tonight.*** New page for 2008:24 February 2008, midnight to 4am-ish: googledlots of art, including Picasso's "Woman with Crow";wrote Kinuko Craft for permission to use her art;wrote intro & re-formatted opening sequence.3 March 2008: I have Kinuko Craft's permission, sonot using Picasso; updated seasonal dates and times;launching page even though I still have a few Links-Elf'supdates to do.1-2pm, 9 March 2008: finished updating links and "officially"launched the page on my Home Page. |
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