Spring: Proof of Life
Ah, Spring. There's no other time quite like it. And because we are parts of the Earth, just like the grass and the trees are parts of Her, our physical bodies cannot help but experience the same changes that the planet is experiencing. This is fact, not fancy. We react to the seasons physically. Our hair comes in thicker in winter. Our body begins storing fat even still, because human DNA changes due to experience over time, and our ancestors spent long, hungry winters in many parts of the world. So we still experience those physical changes. Those are not questioned. It's not farfetched, then, to presume that we earthlings experience the changing seasons in all other ways as well, in every system and cell of our bodies, in our minds, in our energy levels, in our spirits.
Spring is living proof of life after death. Think deeply on this. If "As above so below, as within so without" is true (and it is) then every pattern we observe on the large scale will also hold true on the small scale. If winter comes and all visible life dies, and then spring comes and all life is restored, then there is no such thing as death the way we see it. There's only a transition, a rest period, a dormant phase, a withdrawal, followed by rebirth, new life.
And the best part is, each time we experience this cycle, we are improved! (Because evolution)
What our bodies are experiencing is much like what the earth is experiencing in the area where we live. And the longer we've lived there, the more in tune we'll be with those local cycles of nature. (But we do adapt quickly.)
And so in spring:
Our blood flows more freely like the sap begins flowing freely in the trees.
Our energy rises in direct response to the sunlight, just as that same energy charms the plants into sprouting up from the soil and the leaves to burst forth from the formerly dead-looking twig fingers of the trees.
Our mood improves, because the longer hours of sunlight spur the release of endorphins and other feel-good chemicals in our brains.
Our bodies begin to happily burn the fat it didn't need to survive winter after all.
We become more active, and emerge more frequently from our homes.
Creativity burns brighter, new ideas we are compelled to pursue, sprout like newborn grass.
Projects begin, seeds are planted, journeys are begun.
It's spring. Like the happy snakes in summer, we can bask in the sunshine and slough our old selves away to reveal the new being we have become. Every spring we are renewed in this way. We reveal new layers of ourselves, new ways of being, new depths of understanding, new ways of relating to the world, new parts of our journey begin and new creations are created.
Spring Specs
This year the Vernal Equinox, which the Ancient Celts celebrated as Ostara, arrives at 11:33 a.m. on Sunday, March 20th where I live. It's the date when the sun crosses the equator from south to north, or rather when the tilt of the earth makes this appear to happen.
Eostre, the Goddess of Spring
We find the first mention of a Germanic goddess called Eostre, who represents spring, rebirth, fertility and whose sacred animal is a white hare, in the writings of "The Venerable Bede" (672-735,) an English monk at the Monastery of St. Peter and the Monastery of St. Paul. Historians have dismissed her as a being made up by the monk, since no earlier mention of her has yet turned up, but it will. I find it interesting the Eostre and Ostaara are names strikingly similar to Ishtar and Astarte.
Participate in the Shift
Here are just a few of the ways we can work in harmony with the season and bring its energy of renewal alive in our homes, spaces, and in ourselves.
Spring Cleaning; decluttering. This opens your space to make energy for the new.
Fresh flowers: These bring the energy of spring right into our homes.
Change: Try out new hair, new glasses, new styles, and new approaches.
Plant: Yes, actual seeds, but also the seeds of what you wish to harvest this year.
Emerge: Get outside as often as you can and just be still and bask and align with nature.
Move: Increase activity levels in whatever way feels right to you.
Learn: Begin studying something you've always wanted to learn.
Detox: Join me for a ten-day plant-based challenge that will detox your body and leave you clear and ready whatever this summer brings.
BONUS
The 10-Day Plant-Based Challenge - April 1st - 11th
So my two sites and I (BlissBlog.org and MaggieShayne.com) are challenging you to go plant-based for ten days to detox your body and revitalize your health in ways you have to experience to believe.
We've created a FACEBOOK GROUP for this challenge. Recipes, shopping lists, tips, tricks, support, ideas, all are already being posted NOW. Join the group so you can stock your kitchen with healthy fruits, veggies, whole grains and legumes and a few regular food substitutions to help along the way.
