This week on Wednesday, March 20th, at 11:02am UTC {or 6:02am EST if you’re like me and UTC throws you} it will officially be spring.  The spring equinox will happen and for a moment the earth will be in complete balance; day and night will be of equal length and the sun will rise and set due east and west respectively.  Spring is a wonderful and amazing time where it seems that not only does everyone outside of us come alive but on the inside we suddenly have a spike in our energy and we’re more ready to get up and go than we are any other time of year.  This makes sense when we consider that we are just as much a part of nature as the flowers that are blooming and that our energy is impacted by this seasonal shift in the same way that the birds, bees, and rabbits that are flocking to be part of the changes.  Spring is our body, mind, and spirit’s natural “waking up” point!

Many spiritual traditions have some form of celebration that revolves around the season of spring.  Whether you honor the Pagan traditions of Ostara and the spring equinox, the Christian celebration of Easter, the Hindu traditions of Vasant Panchami, or any of the many traditions around the world, there is often a common thread to these celebrations.  They all honor a sense of renewal and reawakening of spirit and the world around us.

My own personal spiritual traditions, has many of you know now, has been evolving a great deal in the last year.  This year I decided to take time to set aside a small space for a spring altar and to honor this special time of year.  Ostara and the Spring Equinox has always been one of my favorite times of year spiritually.  It’s an amazing time to work magic, ritual, or meditation for bring real change into our lives, but only if we’re really ready for it.  Anything that we do this time of year along those lines that we say we’re ready for but in action we clearly aren’t will not only fall flat but frustrate us immensely.  I know in the past I’ve found myself heading into the crossquarter of spring and summer at the start of May feeling like I wasted an opportunity at the spring equinox by not really being ready to receive what I asked for.

Below I’m going to share 10 ways to honor the arrival of spring.  Some will be spiritual, some magical, and some seemingly mundane but just as helpful, healing, and supportive as anything else.  Here’s something to keep in mind as a general rule of thumb as you move into spring if you just don’t know what to do.

 

[fontpress type=”webfonts” name=”Coming Soon” size=”22px” lh=”24px” color=”#00B784″]Think of the coming of spring like your second chance with your New Year’s resolutions. [/fontpress]

If you made a New Year’s resolution, changes are by now you’re looking at that resolution turning into a tiny speck in your rearview.  The spring equinox is a great time to revisit and recommit to anything that you seriously want to do or transform in your life during the rest of the year.  Yes, resolutions often set us up for failure, but when approached from the point of view that you can always revisit and adjust them they can be great markers and goals for our year.  So think of that as you’re moving through the coming of spring and see what from January could use an infusion of spring’s energy of renewal!

[fontpress type=”webfonts” name=”Coming Soon” size=”22px” lh=”24px” color=”#00B784″]10 Ways To Honor The Energy Of Spring[/fontpress]

1. Stand an egg on one end!  Yup, seems like a silly kid’s game, but it is a reminder that balance is always possible, even in the most improbably circumstance.

2. Put on some classical music and open your windows!  A lot of classical music has very light and uplifting feel.  Not all classical is the same; what we might consider “traditional classical” is music composed between the Baroque and Romantic classical periods.  Composers like Hayden, Beethoven, and Motzart fall into this time period.  Hayden is great for spring…put some on and open your windows to let in the spring air and let the vibrations of the music and the negative ions in the fresh air transform the energy of your home.

3. Spring cleaning!  I know, we all say we’re going to do it and we might start and then realize we’re in over our heads and then we stop.  Spring cleaning, and it’s sister process of autumn cleaning, help us to let go of anything that no longer serves us.  It’s also a time for us to get into the corners of the home that we never get to clean.  Negative energy, both in a real scientific sense and in a woo-woo kind of sense, collect under the furniture, in the corners, and among the giant dust bunnies turned dust monsters that we often bypass the rest of the year.

4. Plant flowers!  You don’t have to start with seeds, but you certainly can.  Even bulbs that are already in bloom work great.  Pick flowers with spiritual and magical properties that go along with someone you wish to grow in your life and bless them before planting them in the ground.  As you care for them and grow them so too will your desires grow and bloom.

5. Take a nature walk in your own neighborhood!  It doesn’t matter where you live or how lacking in “nature” you have in your environment.  Your signs of spring might not be flowers blooming or trees beginning to show their leaves but the change of the clothing styles on the mannequins in the shops you pass on the street each day or noticing that at your local coffee shop they suddenly have egg shaped cookies for sale.  Find your natural signs of spring in your environment.

6. Set up a bird feeder around your home!  The birds are back and whether you want to attract song birds or humming birds to your home, sharing some seeds with the birds and letting them know they are welcome to your home is a wonderful way to see how spring is opening itself up around you.  You’ll start to see birds you’ve never seen before; take a cup of tea outside with you and sit down and watch the birds coming around and listen to their songs.

7. Make an inspiration mobile to hang in front of a window!  This is a simple little craft that you can even do with your kids.  You’ll need a wooden dowel, some natural thread or twine, colorful paper cut into equal sized squares, a needle, scissors, and markers.  On the paper write inspiring words or short affirmations large enough that you can read them from a little bit of a distance.  Cut pieces of twine in varying lengths and tie one end to the dowel.  Use the needle to poke two holes in each piece of paper, one at the top and one at the bottom, and then thread the papers onto the twine.  Then hang the completed mobile by a window so that when it is open and the wind blows in the papers will rattle and move around.  Notice which words or phrases are facing you at different times and see what winds of change are blowing into your life.

8. Decorate and eat magical eggs!  Hard boil some eggs and then dye them in colors that correspond with something you want to draw into your life.  Add to this by drawing symbols or even writing words on the shells as well.  Bless then eggs and then eat them or cook with them to take into yourself the power of the colors and symbols to draw your desires within.  {Vegan or don’t like eggs?  Check out this blog post from a few years ago that I did to give you another way you can work with this magical manifesting technique.}

9. Add bright spring colors to at least one room in your home!  Colors hold a great deal of power because of their vibrations.  Chromotherapy is a wonderful thing that we can bring into our environment simply and easily, all it takes is picking out the right colors for what we need.  No doubt you might need a little fresh spring color by now, so consider doing things like changing your bedsheets to a light pink or pale blue to bring love or peace to you as you sleep, or add creamy yellow throw pillows to your living room sofa to bring a little happiness and joy to your space.

10. Use the clouds as your oracle!  So simple and yet so fun, and another thing you can do with kids.  Find a safe, quite place in nature and lay down a comfy blanket and simply lie on your back and look up.  This is best done on a day that has some clouds floating around, obviously.  As you look up close your eyes for a moment, take a few deep breaths, and set your intention and ask the clouds to show you signs to answer a question…then ask that question in your mind.  Open your eyes and with a soft gaze and open heart and mind, just look.  Let the clouds pass over and form the answers you need.

 

[fontpress type=”webfonts” name=”Coming Soon” size=”22px” lh=”24px” color=”#00B784″]May your spring be one of love, blessings, and new opportunities for your spirit to grow and be joyful! [/fontpress]