The Earth is awakening!
The snow melts into dancing rivers, flowers burst through the soil, singing to the growing sun.
March heralds the arrival of Spring for the Northern Hemisphere! A time for visioning, planning, diving into creative action, play and spontaneity!
We too are reborn, pregnant with seeds from our Winter dreams, full of possibility and creative potential.
How will you begin anew? Gather your dreams, plant seeds and learn from the Earth how to make life grow.
This playful and fiery energy of Spring is enhanced by Aries season – the Spring Equinox, the first day of Spring, is also the astrological New Year, beginning anew the Zodiac calendar with the first fire sign of Aries.
Full Moon
in Virgo
March 7th
New Moon
in Aries
March 21st
Spring Equinox & Astrological
New Year March 20th
Cyclical Insights
On the sacred day of the Equinox, March 20th, the length of night has finally diminished to meet the length of daylight in perfect balance. Take this special day to reflect on balance, to honor the dance of the Earth and the Sun that gives us life. From here forth, each day will become longer, bringing all of us into an expansive bloom.
By practicing what Spring is teaching, you will lovingly tend the seeds that were dormant within you, creating new beginnings within yourself, your relationships, and community.
Notice the plants that sprout first in the Spring: wild weeds, nourishing herbs, bitter greens. They offer the gifts of awakening our digestion, cleansing our liver, and feeding our cells with the vital energy of renewal.
We plan our gardens, start seeds, make herbal juices, eat wild foods, court the bees, and make offerings to the waking Mother – feeding her with prayers, gifts, laughter, love, art, poetry and quiet listening.
Flower
Daffodil
The joyful Daffodil flower opens in shades of yellow, like the newborn Spring Sun. Among some of the first flowers of Spring, Daffodil grows from a bulb, much like Tulips, Freesias and the Iris – reminding us that what is forgotten laying dormant all year will sprout again into new life when we least expect it, like a miracle of renewal. All it takes is planting a flowering bulb in the fall once and you will enjoy the flowers each Spring for decades to come.
Food Medicine
Dandelion
The mighty Dandelion is an incredible source of food, medicine, and a symbol of resilience, endurance and vitality. One of the first plants to grow in the Spring, this unappreciated medicinal weed is a generous gift from Mother Nature, offering us bitter, young, mineral rich greens to cleanse the liver when we need it most. The yellow flowers are edible, may be picked apart and sprinkled on salad, or made into a Dandelion wine or fritters. The roots make a tea that cleanses the body of toxins and stagnation.
Herb
Chickweed
This Springtime tender weed grows like a blanket under the dappled shade of trees and in moist soil. Her young leaves and stems are full of vitamins, minerals and chlorophyll and can be wild harvested and enjoyed fresh as a salad green, made into a tea or as a fresh herbal juice. Unlike other wild greens, there is no bitterness, and her energy is sweet, childlike and heart opening. Medicinally, she is anti-inflammatory, soothing, aids in digestion and can be used in salves to speed up the healing of wounds.
Tree
Elder
Elder is a small tree or shrub that grows wild all over the continental United States, Europe, Latin America, Asia and Africa. Considered a sacred gateway to the fairy realm by the ancient Druids, the wood, flowers and medicinal berries have been used by many traditional and contemporary people. The flowers make a lovely tea that can break a fever and fight a respiratory infection. Famous for their powerful antiviral properties, Elderberries are rich in Vitamins & antioxidants – they are a beloved herbal ally in many homes, past and present.
Movement
Tennis is a playful sport, an intense workout and a game that engages the whole body and mind in movements that echoe the Aries like quick bursts of energy. It is also a fun way to release stagnation, lethargy, winter blues, or extra weight from the winter months while building strength, connecting with a friend, and getting some Vitamin D from the Sun.
Atmosphere
The innocence of life reborn fills the Springtime air. Make a loving commitment to notice the beauty all around you, and to speak her praise. To the growing flowers, the buzzing bees, the wild, fresh greens we say, “Greetings living kin! My, how your beauty awakens the joy in my heart!”
Hello, sun in my face.
Hello, you who made the morning and spread it over the fields…
Watch, now, how I
Start the day
In Happiness
In Kindness.
– Mary Oliver
Garlic Dandelion Leaves
ingredients
- 1 big bunch of dandelion greens
- 1 yellow onion
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 4 T olive oil
- salt & pepper to taste
- balsamic vinegar (optional)
directions
Pick the younger looking dandelion leaves from an area that is not sprayed with herbicides or pesticides. The younger the leaves, the more tender and less bitter.
Wash them well and then soak them in a big bowl of water with 1 teaspoon of salt for 10 min.
Chop and saute the onion and garlic in a pan.
Drain the leaves and shop them into smaller pieces, about 2 inches long.
Add them to the pan until they are sauteed, adding salt and pepper to taste.
Optional: Raise the heat and splash some balsamic vinegar for the last 20 seconds to add a sweeter glaze.
Honor the Equinox
Cultivate Balance and Feed the Forces of Renewal
The Equinox is a sacred day, one of 2 days of the whole year when the light of the day is in perfect balance to the dark of the night. Take this day to reflect on balance & how you wish to cultivate it in your life. What can you release, what can you cultivate more of?
Make an offering to Mother Earth of a song, a piece of nature art, a poem – a gift from your heart honoring that all relationships thrive with the balance of give and take.
Journal Prompts
As you enter Spring, take a moment to look back upon Winter and recognize, honor, and celebrate your blooming journey:
Name one way you honored and took care of your body, heart and soul over the Winter months. What will you carry forth? What will you change?
How do you feel, emerging from the Winter into a Spring full of possibilities and renewal?
Write these words spread over two pieces of paper with lots of space around them: Hope, Joy, Play, Renewal, Growth, Possibility, Miracles.
Put on some music, get into your body, smile and enter a state of play and creative spontaneity to brainstorm and allow messages to come through from your subconscious, your heart, and the spirits of Spring. Begin to free-write words, ideas, feelings as they come to you around each word.
What are your hopes this spring? What Joy do you call in this Spring? At the end, you will see themes of joy, play, miracles and possibilities for ways in which these energies can sprout forth in your life.
