Yesterday, Thursday 20th March, was the vernal equinox. This is the day when night and day are exactly 12 hours each. Of course, that means 12 hours from sun-up to sundown, not actual light in the sky. For several days round these here parts it has been getting light at around 5:30-ish and, as the year rolls on, this lightness is set to break earlier and earlier until mid-summer's day when it barely gets dark between extended bits of twilight.
Without getting into the ins and outs of tilted planet Earth, the term vernal refers to the points on the celestial sphere within which the sun is rising, i.e. on the cusp of Aries, and is therefore more appropriate within an astrological discussion. This term is surely better than a 'spring' or 'March' equinox because of its flowery connotations.
Equinoxes have always been important and various religious festivals have been associated with it. Lady Day roughly coincided with the equinox, as does the Thai Songkran and the Parsi Nowruz, each being the beginning of the year for the respected traditions. The day and night in equal measure, have a auspicious significance that affects the religious sensitivities of many. It was also celebrated in the Abrahamic religions, with the Jewish Passover falling on the first full moon after the equinox, and the Christian Easter, that moveable feast, more or less falling at a similar time. In pagan Scandinaia a dísablót, a sacrificial feast, was –and is still– held in honour of the valkyries!
Well, whatever you did, and however you did it, I hope you had a pleasant equinox – only another 6 months until the next one.
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