A Tribute to the Spring Equinox

Spring Cleaning & Spring Equinox- equinox is the time of year when the length of the day and night are equal.

“Solo venimos a sembrar, solo venimos a cortar flores…” -Nahuatl poem

This year the vernal equinox arrives at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, March 20th. All over Mexico thousands will dress in white and go to the pyramids to greet the spring. People from all continents and walks of life gather every year at these remarkable pyramid-temple sites.

The indigenous do ritual alongside the new age. In clay chalices called copaleros, they burn the sacred resin called copal as part of a cleansing ritual. Tour guides offer their services, as thousands of tourists walk the grounds in awe.

The pyramids are indeed awesome in the original sense of the word. They are a step into the timelessness of eternity, and a memorable way to welcome the season of new life.

With spring equinox upon us, it’s a wonderful time to ally ourselves with the natural world and do ritual of our own. Spring cleaning is the best way to start, both inwardly and outwardly.

As we transition from winter to spring, many of us have suffered colds, sore throats, and/or malaise in general. Pesto is one of my favorite internal spring tonics. Wonderfully delicious, basil and garlic help knock out infections, and purify the blood. Combined with the toasted pine nuts, it provides protein and is also a natural energizer!

Spring cleaning of the home and community was an ancient tradition in all cultures. In rhythm with nature, it is a way of starting fresh. For me, it’s time to get out the broom, dust out the cobwebs, and recycle all the recyclables, including clothes I no longer wear and books that overflow on my shelves.

Once the house is clean, I burn copal and give thanks. Then I head to the mountains for a hike, alone, or with family and friends.

Having left Mexico five years ago, I’ve been living in Los Angeles and Griffith Park has become my backyard and holy grounds, as it were. This year on the mountain, I’ll leave an offering of Mexican corn in honor of la Virgen Guadalupe-Tonantzín. I’ll give thanks for the winter that brought us Angelenos so much rain and now, blesses us with so much green in these desert mountains.

I’ll give thanks for the amazingly, powerful songs of such wee birds, for the clucking of the ravens, and for the soaring red tail hawks, for the lanky coyote tricksters, and for the graceful antlered buck that my daughter and I saw this winter roaming these mountainsides.

I’ll pray for wildlife everywhere, and for our collective awakening as an evolving human family living in justice, peace, harmony, and abundance. I’ll pray for my personal needs and those of my family, and friends.

And like these cuervos tan escandolosos, I’ll cackle from sheer delight and the wonder that being in nature brings. This Saturday, where ever you are, I invite you to listen to the song of the birds and create your own life-renewing spring ritual!