Dear Friends,

Worms, a pyramid, an egg, serpent, a cult, and the sun. Isn’t the Spring Equinox exciting?

Here in the Northern Hemisphere, the Spring Equinox occurred on Sunday, March 20, 2022, at 11:33 a.m. Did you feel it? Did the power of the equinox fly through you and leave you feeling warm, squishy and toasty? Kind of like in ‘The Santa Clause 3’ when the little girl hugs Jack Frost and he defrosts from the inside out? Quite a visual, eh?

Well, I can tell you that 11:33 a.m. passed me by without anything celestial happening, other than Monica doing a fabulous job with my haircut. It surprised me how many people mentioned to me that this weekend was the Equinox, which is why I decided to look into it. I was intrigued, and wanted to learn what other historical events, facts, myths and legends surrounded this special time of the year. My research did not disappoint!

First, what is Spring Equinox?

According to The Almanac, which my husband believes has the answer to absolutely everything, “The Spring Equinox occurs when the Sun crosses the equator line, heading north. This event marks the start of the spring season in the northern half of the globe.”

Which basically means where I live (in upstate NY) we are starting to tilt more towards the sun, which gives us more hours of sunlight, warmer temperatures and that I can start wearing open toed shoes again. Which reminds me, I need a pedicure ASAP. Here is your public service announcement that if you haven’t given your feet and toes some TLC recently, don’t wait. You’ll be helping yourself and doing something good for humanity. Winter squirrel toes are no laughing matter!

The Spring Equinox marks a Mexican celebration that involves a serpent and a pyramid. According to ‘Reader’s Digest’, in the ancient Mayan city, Chichén Itzá, people gather around an ancient pyramid, called El Castillo.

Dating back to 1000 A.D. this pyramid was built to honor the god, Quetzalcoatl, who was a serpent. Twice a year, during the spring and fall equinox, at sunset, the shadow that is cast looks like a giant snake and as the sun sets it appears as though the snake is slithering down the pyramid steps.

This festival is filled with music, poetry, performances, food, and tourist flock from all over the world to see this amazing display. While this is traditionally held on the 21st of March each year, the snake-like imagery can be seen a couple days before and after the official equinox. I know what’s on my bucket list! I just hope they don’t mark this festival with actual snakes. Shadows of snakes is one thing. Real snakes are something else entirely. No thank you.

This is a good segue to talk worms. Earthworms that is.

Did you know that the first full moon in March is referred to a ‘Worm Moon’? With all the rain that we get this month the earthworms deep below the soil lack oxygen and literally need to come up for air. Hence, “Worm Moon”, due to the number of earthworms you can find soaking up the air (and view) on these nights.

Imagine, all snuggled up in the ground and you need a breath of fresh air. You squirm your way to the top, take a deep breathe (your skin does at least) and bam! You’re grabbed and thrown into a bucket for someone’s next fishing trip.

What’s that got to do with the price of eggs? (Extra points if you can name the movie!)

There is a myth that during the Equinox, you can balance an egg on its end, and it will stay, sitting upright. While this is claimed to be because of the magic of the Equinox, apparently those who are talented can do this any time of the year. I have never tried it, but I was curious, so I tried to do it. No luck.

Another name for the Spring Equinox is the Vernal Equinox. Yeah, sound weird to me but there is one group that likes this phrase better and those are the members of the Cybele Cult. This cult, dating back to ancient Romans, celebrate the deity, Cybele, a goddess attributed with nature and fertility. I read a little bit about this cult, and they celebrate the Equinox by partying! Lots of wine, decorating pine trees (much like we do at Christmas time), dancing and living it up until they drop. Personally, I would drop by 10 pm but they must be single without kids.

Equinox is Latin for “equal” and “night”. During the equinox there is equal part day and night, so the day is literally split into two equal parts. I think I mentioned this earlier, but this only happens twice a year. The fall equinox will occur on Thursday, September 22nd at 9:03 p.m. so start planning your party, egg balancing and earthworm hunts now!

While I didn’t feel anything particularly magical during the Spring Equinox, there is something exciting and promising about the coming of Spring.

Spring is about rebirth and renewal.

It’s an opportunity to start again, try again and to get excited about what is coming. Let this Spring be the time that you say, “I am going to do ______!” and you take the steps to make it happen!

To quote The Beatles, “Here comes the sun, and I say, it’s alright”.

Happy Equinox!

~ Kerri

The views and opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views and positions of any entity that this author represents.