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Tomorrow's one of my favorite days of the year: Egg-Dye Sunday.

We've been doing it every year since 1979 (what they call the Paganolithic). On the Sunday before the Equinox, a whole slew of us get together, stoke up the dye-pots, and (using only the finest natural dyestocks) dye up tens (if not scores) of dozens of eggs.

(With the advent of Paganicon, our local weekend-before-the-equinox Pantheacon North, the egg-dye, like clocks at Daylight Savings, has jumped forward. Old-Stylist that I am, I can't say that I'm best pleased with this turn of events, but the Old Ways haven't survived all these years without staying flexible.) 

Yule, Imbolc, Ostara, Beltain, Litha, Lammas, Mabon--the eight points in the year that we stop and celebrate the seasons. In the six to eight weeks between each Sabbat, changes have been taking place--some so subtle that you might not be aware of them. The nights get longer--or shorter--by only a minute each day. The weather warms up, or cools down. One of the things that the Sabbats call us to do is to stop and look at the changes that have taken place. It's a time to regroup, reflect, and plan ahead. So in addition to the celebrations, family traditions and seasonal crafts, it's a good idea to spend some time grounding or balancing yourself to deal with the season that's coming up. It's not hard to do. It just takes a little time, a little quiet, and some concentration.

In about two and a half weeks we'll arrive at the Spring Equinox. It's time for those things that were stirring to life at Imbolc to "spring" up--thanks to a warmer environment and nurturing Spring rain. The element of water is considered by many people to be the mother of us all. Think about it. Life started in the sea. And what about you? You floated around in your mom's tum for months, breathing, eating, and growing in water. About 80% of the human body is made of water! People really feel it when water is missing in their lives. Periods without rain--droughts--can cause failed crops and wildfires (we've seen that in the past year in Australia, and over here in the state of California). But just like everything else, balance is essential. Too much water kills plants, animals and people. Flooded areas can breed danger and disease. Remember Hurricane Katrina? That happened several years ago, but the people of New Orleans are still recovering from an overdose of water.

For most of us on the East Coast, this has been a long, wintry season to be sure. And I’m certain we are not done with weather yet, March having come in like a wee lamb. We are ready–more than ready!–for spring to arrive in the hills and the hollow places.

I follow a path that teaches me that spring arrives with the snowdrops, in the dark drear beginnings of February. I have learned that spring is still a terribly changeable beast and filled with chaos and longing. When I observe the Vernal Equinox, it will be as mid-spring–just as the Winter Solstice is mid-winter–and I will know I am halfway to Summer, at Beltane.

St. Patty's Day can be an odd time of year for we Irish Wiccans and Pagans. On the one hand, the attraction of all things Irish is strong. First there's that stirring fiddle music and the rumble of the drum. The food is mighty tasty, folks are feeling celebratory, and who doesn't like the color of bright, springy green? On the other, who wants to revere a man for driving the "snakes" out of Ireland, a.k.a. the Druids? There is still a spirited scholarly debate regarding how much damage St. Patrick actually did on his own versus the mythic qualities that surround him to this present day. This presents a quandary, but not one insurmountable. I believe that you can partake in festivities in your own way, honoring your Irish heritage. Perhaps this year is one of the most opportune times, when we have the Irish holiday falling within the same week as the Spring Equinox. If you do up a dinner party combining the two, with a focus on some of the more classic Celtic traditions– problem solved!

Take down your favorite celtic knotwork wall hanging and use it as a tablecloth. Hopefully it is nothing you mind cleaning a little spilled food or drink off of. Decorate the table with fresh cut spring flowers, such as daffodils. Invite about 4 to 6 others to join you and pull up a chair. For your menu, think Celtic-eclectic. This is your very own hybrid holiday, after-all.

The next divinity in my tribute to the deities in the “god graveyard” is the Northern European Eostre (Eastre, Ostara) goddess of the dawn and of spring.

The chart of the Spring Equinox — cast for the moment the Sun enters the sign of Aries — is arguably the most important of the four Cardinal ingress charts. Many astrologers believe it sets the tone for the entire year, not just the following quarter. It happens at the same moment (not the same clock time) everywhere, so the house positions of the planets are different, depending on the location. Casting the ingress chart for the capital of a country is considered predictive for the whole country for the following quarter regarding the politics, events, attitudes and general zeitgeist. You can analyze the chart for a particular location, and/or analyze it in reference to another chart. Here is the Aries ingress (Spring Equinox) chart cast for Washington, DC, and here is a bi-wheel of that chart around the chart of the USA (Sibley) if you want to follow along with my analysis.

If you follow this blog, you know that one of the major current transits is the ongoing square of Uranus to Pluto, and that aspect is, of course, a major player in this chart — not exact, but still within less than four degrees of orb. (*Note: in the original version of this post, I said the aspect was exact again in June. This is a good example of why we elderly types should not rely on our memories. :-) It's exact again May 20th.) As I mentioned in my discussion of the Winter Solstice chart, Uranus rules electricity, Pluto rules breakdowns and extremes of all kinds, and there were many, many problems with the electric grid over the last few months in different parts of the country, almost all of them due to a series of severe winter storms, as well as a great deal of public discussion around fracking, a very Plutonian process that provides fuel for the electric grid. In the Spring Equinox chart, Mars joins the fray, strong in its own sign, tightly conjunct Uranus (and more widely, the Sun) square the Moon, and, of course, square Pluto. The three planets in Aries cluster around the IC (4th house cusp) of the USA’s chart, and in the first house of the equinox chart.