Spring Equinox Tarot Spread

I was reminded that the Spring Equinox can be a time for clearing, planning, implementing, nurturing and growing during an Uber trip I took yesterday.  My driver, an Iranian, wanted to share information with me about the Festival of Flames he had attended the night before and I got to learn about a tradition I didn’t know about before.  The Festival of Flames is always celebrated on the last Tuesday before the Spring Equinox which is also Nowruz, the Iranian New Year.  

When I got home, I did a little digging and found that Nowruz means ‘new day’ and is rooted in the beliefs of the religion Zoroastrianism, practiced in ancient Persia.  It is marked by countries with significant Persian cultural influences and while the traditions may vary a bit from place to place, they celebrate the same things: spring and a time for rebirth and renewal.  This two-week celebration also includes many family gatherings, poetry, music, lots of food and drink.  From what my Uber driver told me, here the Iranian community celebrates it with intense spring cleaning leading up to Nowruz, as well as the Festival of Flames, held on the last Tuesday before Nowruz and includes ‘Jumping over the Fire’.  By Jumping over the Fire, they believe that they give their fear, hate and weakness, their yellowness, to the fire, and in return take on the redness of the fire symbolizing happiness, bravery and health. They also observe traditions of vising family, eating and celebrating in the two weeks following Nowruz.

In addition to Nowruz, there are several other Spring Equinox Celebrations honored around the world, including:

• Holi (Festival of Colors) – when Hindus in India and Nepal take to the streets to throw colored powered at each other accompanied by loud music and drumming for two days of partying to praise, fertility, color, love and the triumph of good over evil.

• Songkran (Spring Water Festival), celebrated in Thailand just after the spring equinox.  A three-day water festival to mark the start of the Thai New Year.  Huge water fights take place in the streets with participants grabbing buckets, water pistols and hoses to battle with neighbours, while loud music plays.  The water is said to wash away the bad luck from the previous year. 

• Shunbun no Hi – In Japan many people will head to their hometowns to have family reunions and visit the graves of their ancestors.  According to Buddhist tradition, visiting the cemetery to pray, weed graves, wash tombstones, light incense and leave flowers will help their ancestors make the crossing from this life to the next.  It celebrates nature and all living things.

• Mexican Pyramid Celebrations – where in the temple of Kukulkan, also called the El Castillo pyramid, thousands of people gather to see the “Return of the Sun Serpent”.  Every equinox, the sun cases a shadow over the pyramid that looks like an enormous snake moving down the pyramid.

  
  

While we may not follow any of the practices, I’ve shared there are certainly some simple ways we might consider incorporating mindfully into our lives as we move through the Spring Equinox.  Although the actual moment of the Spring Equinox might have passed, here in Vancouver it was on March 20 at 2.01 am PDT, it is never too late to do something to celebrate. In fact we don’t have to wait for Spring Equinox to take time to clear clutter from our lives, whether that is regular Spring Cleaning and making our environment spic and span, or taking time to clear out mental and emotional baggage we no longer need.  Then once the old has been cleared away, we have room to plant new seeds and grown our dreams. The linked YouTube video is a Spring Equinox Tarot Spread I pulled with the intentions that it would give us all an idea of the general energies around that can be affecting our own wishes and dreams.