Vernal (Spring) Equinox 2008

The first day of spring—Lady Day herself—arrives this year in the wee first hours of March 20th. The Vernal Equinox occurs every year when the Sun enters 0 degrees of Aries. In doing so, it passes over the celestial equator from its southerly to northerly declination. The hours of daylight are equal to the hours of night. Equinox means ‘equal night’. Dane Rudhyar in The Pulse of Life says, “The Day-force now balances in intensity the waning Night-force.”

A new ‘tropical’ astrological year has begun. What in your life would you like to begin? This traditionally is a good time to conceive, plant the new seed, conceptualize your next creative project, or do a ritual of invocation for bringing in the new.

There are many myths and mythic archetypes which characterize this bursting-with-life time of the year, like Ostara, the Germanic goddess Eostre, Alban Eiler of the Druids, Lady Day (the festival of the Annunciation of the Virgin) etc. The Myth*Ing Links web site is wonderful, beautifully illustrated and goes into endless detail on these and many other myths.

One unique Goddess from our North American continent that I like is Estsanatlehi (est-san-AT-lu-hee). She is a Navajo deity representing “woman/Earth who changes”. Thus, in the spring she is the young maiden who plants the seed and watches it germinate and begin to grow. The Navajo tradition considers her the wife of the sun. She works with all four directions, but brings rain clouds from the eastern mountains to nourish the young growing seedlings. She is considered the author and originator of all the Navajo special rituals and songs used in their Blessingways.

The Vernal Equinox is a wonderful time to create your own celebration of new life. Yes, it is nearly Easter, and thus the celebration of the risen one. These ancient themes of victory of the god of light over the powers of darkness can be seen in the Christian story of the death and resurrection of Christ or in the Lupercalia, the ancient Roman festival that is said to predate civilization itself. I encourage you to keep the spirit of this time of year alive in your own life by being innovative and creative, especially over the next three months prior to the Summer Solstice, another turning point in the great solar year. Consciously renew what is waiting for resurrection in your own life!

Certainly the Equinox Chart for 2008 bears these themes out with a tremendous power and force not seen in a very long time. While the configuration of this chart is global in its dynamic pattern and impact, I have calculated the chart for Washington DC, the capital of the land where I live. The chart shows clearly that a deep and intense force wishes to manifest as a transformation of old established structures and institutions into something altogether new. Plutonian energies are at work here that either invite further destruction or the possibility of major renewal and reconstruction into something more sustainable on this one earth that we all inhabit together. The choice seems to be available to go either way. The process itself promises to be intense, much as any birthing process is.

The asteroid Pallas, named for Pallas Athena, Goddess of Wisdom, joins the Sun in Aries, giving us hope. The feminine aspect here brings a quality of inspiration and new collective ‘brainstorming’ to the creative prowess of the Sun. These symbols denote the potential for transforming old warrior themes, of endless battles to be fought, into greater cooperative efforts made to protect and regenerate the commonality of the One World/ Earth Home that is implied in the stellium of energies in both Aquarius and Pisces that form the back-up committee for the fighting spirit of Sun/Athena in Aries. It was Athena, after all, who won every battle she ever fought, and then became a wise ruler who patronized the arts.

The missing leg of the three-legged T-square in Cardinal signs in this chart is Libra. John Lennon, where are you? Lennon was born with Athena conjoining his Sun in Libra. His songs of peace and love continue to reverberate to this day. The spirit, which imbued his inspirational music in the mid-60s, is still alive and ready to be re-born. Pluto in Capricorn threatens us with a truly Orwellian scenario if we don’t wake up and fight for poetry, beauty, singing and dancing in the streets again. This message is clearly etched in this Equinox chart for 2008.

Fear and anxiety are evidenced by the Moon together with Saturn in Virgo opposing all that cacophony of Piscean bliss or disillusionment. Pragmatism must balance fantasy now. Hard work is needed to bring vision into manifestation. This Virgo/Pisces polarity can mean either ‘poor me’ or ‘when the going gets tough, the tough get going.’

How do you want to shape your life knowing that this 2008 Vernal Equinox is marked by such great intensity? In keeping with the theme of equal day and night, I would suggest that you walk in balance daily, cultivate stillness and receptivity as much as movement and activity, express your feelings without doing harm to others, eliminate the non-essentials and realize that you are not alone. You are part of a great living web of life, and you matter. What you think and do does make a difference. It’s good to keep on loving and living no matter what the outer conditions are, and don’t forget that Aries also thrives on playfulness, that great anti-dote to morbid thoughts of doom and gloom. The Day-force, as shown by Aries, is dancing fire. Singing and dancing are options available for everyone to participate in. Let’s keep this spirit alive as we commence a new Zodiacal Year.