Many Questions For A Rising Tide

[cedar_grove]

The goddess of love has lost her love.
She was sailing the heavens in a bright chariot
powered by swans, far from her lover, joyous and fee,
when she heard his voice. He was groaning.
Groaning in pain. Instantly she turned her steeds
and few back to his side. But too late!
Even from the sky she could see he was gone.
Even from the high air she could see
his lifeless body, the red stain of blood.
She saw what could not be seen: his absence.

--Ovid, Metamorphoses

We do not celebrate the seaons the way our foremothers did.

It's interesting to me the difference in focus between here, in coming from the Romans, where the spring festival is celebrated by mourning with the goddess the loss (and subsequent rebirth) of her lover - which for the celts/celtic traditions is an autumnal/winter occurrence. For we celts, spring festival revolve around the return of the goddess from her underworld habitat, symbolising the return of life to the barren winter world.

The symbol of the egg (adopted by 'ahem' later, incoming religions), and the seed are prominent, as is the ritual of planting, associated with affirmations or desires for the coming year. Balance of light and dark too... as the Vernal Equinox is of course a balance of the same, and is generally when most people these days celebrate the beginning of spring. Ah, the Wheel of the Year definitely turns differently than it used to... even in the relatively short (If you can call 26 years short) amount of time that I have been practising.

What will [i]I[/i] be doing this year, in celebration of the Turn of the Wheel. Well, I haven't really thought about that, even though it's technically only 4 days or so away. I have a real hangup about this, never on a rising tide admonition that I was given when training. I appreciate if you're going to do something, you have to make preparations, get supplies and things, and that's normal, but the actual wording and things - the form of the rite, perhaps I will not work on until the actual day. But then of course there is the question of 'when' and choices abound. 20th? (the astronomical date of the equinox this year, at 5.15am UST), The nearest following weekend? The nearest following full moon? The nearest following appropriate moon? There could be arguments for all of these, and all would require research and meditational discovery as to where my heart feels it is best celebrated. But right now, I have the image of a decorated egg in my mind.

Now to make it happen.