After a long, chilled winter, the day of celebration has finally arrived with the spring equinox, also known as March equinox or vernal equinox. It’s the time for the northern hemisphere to bid winter adieu and welcome spring. It also signifies that it’s the time for the gardens to get a riot of colors, while the trees get laced by blossoms and Easter is on its way. From northern hemisphere to Ancient Greece – the entire world gets ready to celebrate this occasion in diverse traditional ways.
The sun vertically sits above the celestial equator twice a year, giving us approximately equal day and night everywhere on the earth. Interesting fact is, when the northern hemisphere enjoys spring equinox, it’s time for the southern hemisphere to celebrate autumn equinox. Since the ancient times, spring equinox has been considered as a major occasion for jollification. It may be difficult to imagine how ancient people celebrated this turning of the seasons, but they did it in their very own ways. The first day of spring did act as a means of ringing in a new year with festivals, fertility and drama, and of course, by honoring the earth.
So, whether you’re planning to have some pre-Easter fun or looking to celebrate Ostara in a different way, here’re some exciting ways people in different corners of the globe use to welcome the spring equinox.
#1. Northern Hemisphere
The spring equinox is the time when World Storytelling Day is celebrated. Since stories are an integral part of almost every culture – both past and present, it’s a great holiday to have when you listen and tell stories (in as many places and languages as possible, to as many people as you can)!
#2. England
Touring the globally celebrated Stonehenge on the spring equinox’s morning could be a good plan for New Age practitioners having links to the Wiccans, pagans and druids. Over 100 people, many of whom come dressed in traditional garb to have a pagan good time, assemble before dawn to start their trek to Stonehenge and take in the magnificent view of the sunrise in silence.
#3. Africa and the Middle East
Mother’s Day isn’t celebrated until May in North America. However, on the vernal equinox, Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Sudan, Libya and others celebrate Mother’s Day. Despite not being an official Muslim holiday, Mother’s Day celebrations in Egypt started in 1956, which was soon followed by other countries.
#4. China and the United States
It was China where the art of balancing egg originated. People did it around the lunar New Year. The practice has even become popular in the U.S. where the spring equinox is when people attempt this egg balancing act. You may have heard about this act being related to the gravitational pull of the sun or moon but it isn’t in reality. However, it’s a cool party trick for sure.
#5. Mexico
The spring equinox marked the Mayan celebration of the Sun Serpent’s Return for many years. At present, a celebration occurs at the El Castillo pyramid, which is located at the heart of the Mayan archeological site of the Chichen Itza. During the autumn and spring equinox, a shadow cast over the pyramid by the late afternoon triggers the illusion of a snake sliding down the pyramid.
#6. Japan
For the Japanese, Shunbun no Hi or the spring equinox is time for reuniting with the family or paying respect to the ancestors by visiting their graves. Though the celebrations for Shunbun no Hi continue for seven days, families visit each other and play floral respect at their ancestral graves apart from cleaning their homes and surroundings on the actual equinox date.
#7. Asia and Middle East
The Persian New Year, also widely known as the observance of Nowruz, is another exciting way to celebrate the vernal equinox in a tradition that has been carried over since the ancient times. People in Asian and Middle East countries including Turkey, Kosovo, Iran, Iraq and other nations celebrate the New Year during the spring equinox every year.
#8. Ancient Greece
Dionsus, the god of fertility, rebirth, flowering plants and wine, is greatly associated with spring in ancient Greece (and in ancient Rome later on). Every March in Athens, the Dionysian Festival was celebrated to demonstrate the best theatrical poets. To make it your own way of spring equinox celebration, you can host a wine-filled get together sans the drama part.
