The vernal equinox will take place at 5:24pm EST this coming Monday, March 20. And in honor of this important turning point of the year, we wanted to share a few celebratory offerings to hopefully enhance your joy of the season.
First, who can not feel the running of the sap, the bursting of the buds, and the return of lifeblood coursing through and all around us when listening to “La Primavera” from Vivaldi's Four Seasons. This spirited rendition comes from Voices of Music, a San Francisco-based ensemble.
Next, many of us know of the solstice sunrise rituals at Newgrange and other passage tombs. But Cairn T of the lesser known Loughcrew tomb displays the same phenomenon on the vernal and autumnal equinoxes. As the sun crests over the horizon on these days, the light streams down the passage, illuminating one particular carved stone slab. Though there are many theories, knowledge of the exact message and meaning of these symbols has been lost in time. This video, taken on the vernal equinox 2015, gives us a taste for the experience. More on Loughcrew, including some wonderful images, here.
And lastly, we offer this 1911 poem from the fabulous ee cummings that brings the energy of this transition point home with its wonderfully visceral expressions. “The earth-shell cracks with underneath desire…”
Metamorphosis
ee cummings
We’ve plodded through a weird and weary time,
Called Winter by the calendar alone;
We have beheld an earth pool-deep in slime,
Image a heaven of stone.
We’ve found life hid between the folds of mire,
Sensed life in every place, heard life in tune.
The earth-shell cracks with underneath desire;
Spring crawls from the cocoon.
Her puny wings vibrant with will to grow,
She clings, expanding like an opening eye;
More large, more able, more developed, lo,
The perfect butterfly.