The 2021 Vernal (Northward) Equinox, Start of Spring, Aries Ingress
For the ritually oriented and the curious, here are 2020 Spring Equinox times for Greenwich and the USA.
March 20, 2021
9:37:21 AM UTC (GMT/Zulu) +00:00:00
London, England (not yet on Summer Time)
USA TIME ZONES
Saturday, March 20
Eastern
Boston
5:37 am EDT
Central
New Orleans
4:37 am CDT
Mountain
Salt Lake City
3:37 am MDT
Pacific
Seattle
2:37 am PDT
Friday, March 19
Hawaii
Kahului
11:37 pm AHST
 |
| Eostre by AngiandSilas |
March 19-20 brings the Vernal Equinox, also known as Ostara, or Eostre, or Eastre, named for the Germanic Goddess of spring and dawn. When the Sun's path along the Ecliptic crosses the Celestial Equator from the South to the North we have the Vernal Equinox, the first day of Spring, zero degrees of Aries. The longer nights of the winter season are now in equal balance with daylight. From this point, the length of daylight increases. It is the beginning point of the Zodiac that astrologers use for measure. 
All points in the eight-fold year (defined by the astronomical measure of solstices, equinoxes, and the midpoints between those) are marked by human celebrations, holidays, and holy days. Those coincidental celebrations are not accidental but knowingly or circumstantially correspond to the astronomical. There are holy days with the Jewish and Christian calendars (also with Chinese, Hindu, and other systems of reckoning) that combine New and Full Moons with solstices and equinoxes. For example, the Full Moon after the Spring (Vernal) Equinox is Passover. The Sunday following that Full Moon is Easter (the preceding Friday is Good).
Some astrologers chart the Vernal Equinox (Aries Ingress) and derive information about at least three and at most twelve months following. Other astrologers favor the Winter Solstice (Capricorn Ingress) for the twelve months following that event. Many mundane astrologers will chart all four, Solstices and Equinoxes, and utilize those charts for a sense of the three months that follow each. The chart for the first day of Spring is said to be in effect, for the year until next Spring. It is considered especially strong until the Summer Solstice chart "comes in" in June. Tropical zodiac positions are always measured from the Vernal Equinox.
Happy Spring!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yz3lqVv0vCE
“The Mummers' Dance” is a single by Canadian Celtic singer Loreena McKennitt from the 1997 album “The Book of Secrets.” The song refers to the seasonal Mummers Play performed by groups of actors, often as house-to-house visits.
[Verse 1]
When in the springtime of the year
When the trees are crowned with leaves
When the ash and oak and the birch and yew
Are dressed in ribbons fair
When owls call the breathless moon
In the blue veil of the night
The shadows of the trees appear
Amidst the lantern light
[Chorus]
We've been rambling all the night
And some time of this day
Now returning back again
We bring a garland gay
[Verse 2]
Who will go down to those shady groves
And summon the shadows there
And tie a ribbon on those sheltering arms
In the springtime of the year
The songs of birds seem to fill the wood
That when the fiddler plays
All their voices can be heard
Long past their woodland days
[Chorus]
We've been rambling all the night
And some time of this day
Now returning back again
We bring a garland gay
[Verse 3]
And so they linked their hands and danced
Round in circles and in rows
And so the journey of the night descends
When all the shades are gone
A garland gay we bring you here
And at your door we stand
It is a sprout well budded out
The work of our Lord's hand
[Chorus]
We've been rambling all the night
And some time of this day
Now returning back again
We bring a garland gay
We've been rambling all the night
And some time of this day
Now returning back again
We bring a garland gay
