The Spring Equinox
Spring is just around the corner, can you feel it yet?
March is full of promise. It’s the month of the spring equinox, a time of natural magic as everything emerges from the earth around us and the world feels full of green shoots and new opportunities. It’s a tipping point as the wheel of the year turns, the seasons change and winter slips gently into spring.Â
This year the spring equinox falls on March 20th. The word roots from the Latin ‘equi’ meaning equal and ‘nox’ meaning night. If you hear any pedantic souls contradict the date and mention the 17th, this is the equilux (yes you’ve got it, equal light) and yes technically this date is slightly more accurate. The difference is the equinox is measured by the centre of the sun on the horizon and the equilux notes the top of the sun appearing over the horizon. However, I’m with the neo-pagans on this one and much prefer to mark the equinox, named Ostara on the wheel of the year. There are many springtime goddesses, Ostara included but the best known is the Greek goddess Persephone.
In case you’re unfamiliar with the myth, here it is in brief. Persephone, a goddess of nature and vegetation was beautiful and admired by many, including her uncle Hades, god of the Underworld. In an attempt to claim her for himself, he abducted her. He trapped her in his realm by tricking her into eating pomegranate seeds and made her his wife. Her mother Demeter (goddess of the harvest) was devastated by the loss of her daughter and as her grief spread through the land, everything stopped growing. As harvests failed and famine ensued, Persephone’s father Zeus stepped in and tried to reason with Hades and a bargain was struck. Persephone may leave Hades and return to her mother for half of the year but she must return and spend the second half with her husband. So every year upon her return, Demeter rejoices and the land comes back to life and spring begins and summer blooms. But when Persephone must return to the underworld, her mother’s sadness drains the life and warmth from the world, autumn leads to winter and the land remains cold and barren until Persephone returns once more in the spring.
So as the days lengthen and Persephone’s return is around the corner, I find myself getting a little over excited. Day dreaming of those long hot summer days to come, lying on the grass in floral floaty dresses, sipping ice tea, reading a good book and dozing off to the hum of bees in the lavender. Not that this is likely to happen with my toddler about and it’s even more unlikely in spring. I have to remind myself that the emergence of sunny daffodils does not mean it’s time to break out the sun lotion. Far from it, one minute it's blue skies and the next it’s storming, and my emotions tend to follow suit, one day I’m full of optimism and the next, my emotions are as up and down as the winds whipping and twirling outside my windows.Â
By this point, I think we’re all impatient for winter to end, the blues can drag on and low mood feels like the norm by now but it’s not. I promise the mental fog will lift as the days lighten, the weather warms and the world can feel bright and new again. I feel so different when the trees are full of blossom and the wildlife re-emerges. I have found that to help me shift seasonal affective disorder, I count down to spring, a bit like a child with a chocolate advent calendar. Each day brings me closer and there’s so much to prepare for.Â
Something that helps me stay positive is to make a list (you can tell I’m a list person) of all the things I can do which will make for a joyous spring. Then I try to allocate one or two things a week in the lead up to Easter and make sure each task is a feel good one and not a chore. This will look different for all of us but my list looks a bit like this:
Read my glossy gardening books and plan what I want to plant in my garden.
Plant sweet peas in little egg shells, sat snug in an egg box (just for the fun of it).
Make a wish list for the garden centre (ready to whip out on Mother’s day when my husband looks a bit guilty that he hasn’t made plans).
Jot down what I wish I had grown last year (strawberries), what I wish I’d had more of (calendula) and what suffered neglect (definitely the kale!).
Make a foraging list of what will be growing and when.
Get my watercolours out and paint some flowers.
Plan some creative projects that are just for me, like a nature journal, noting the flowers as they come back and where I see them.
Look back through photos of last spring and take note of the days that felt special and set dates to do them again. Past years have included trips to the seaside and eating sugar coated donuts, playing party games at a country fete, enjoying an afternoon tea in the sunshine and perhaps my favourite was dancing around a maypole, with my son perched on my hip at a May Day festival at Hedingham Castle.
Now the chances of me actually ticking everything off this list is unlikely, as my days are shaped around 12 hour shifts keeping my toddler happy, fed and safe. You would be amazed at how creative my toddler can be when it comes to endangering himself! So any kind of hobby is squeezed into very short timeframes but it’s the mood this list puts me in which is the point – hopeful, optimistic and having things to look forward to and I think that’s important for everybody really, regardless of circumstance.
Speaking of being a stay-at-home mum, I can’t say the transition from career woman to homemaker has been an easy one and the least enjoyable aspect is definitely housework (I previously had my husband very well trained!). However, even housework haters like me aren’t immune to the pull of spring cleaning, so I thought it worth sharing some recommendations that make it more enjoyable for me.
I have a reward system that serves me well and makes me sound like a child with a sticker chart but it works. If I keep the table and surfaces clear then I can fill them with tulips and daffodils. If the kitchen is clean and tidy then I have space to bake cake. If I need to mop then I add some chamomile teabags to the water and imagine I’m washing away any stagnant energy in my home. If I deep clean the bathroom then I can have a long hot soak in a herbal bath. My favourite way of doing this is to take a reusable empty teabag (or cotton drawstring bag) and fill it with dried flowers from my garden, including chamomile, lavender, rose and calendula. I also add a big spoon of organic rolled oats and this creates a lovely oat milk that spreads out into the bath water and acts as a moisturiser. It’s also great for calming my eczema and dry skin. If you don’t have dried flowers then simply use your favourite herbal tea, perhaps a night-time blend if you’re soaking before bed. You can do the same thing with epsom salts and (skin safe) essential oils. I love using the teabag method because it saves me from scooping flower bud porridge out of the plughole! If herbal isn’t your thing, then go on, be indulgent and pour milk and honey into your bath. I can promise you it looks and feels amazing. An important note here, I leave out the calendula whilst pregnant and breast feeding. Please do your own research when using herbs, especially if you’re pregnant, nursing, take medication or have health conditions.
To put me in a spring cleaning mood, my book of choice is Simply Living Well by Julia Watkins (I won’t lie, I bought it for the cover!) and it’s been a joyful inspiration. It’s such a beautiful book that I find myself flicking through it with my morning coffee just as a pick me up. I love the helpful lists of natural swaps for the kitchen and bathroom, which are cheaper, sustainable and eco friendly. The herbal remedies for skincare, health and homemade cleaning products look lovely and I appreciate how few ingredients are required for each. In trying out some basic swaps (and discovering how surprisingly effective lemon, distilled vinegar and bicarb are) I’ve realised that my aversion to cleaning is more of a physical reaction to the chemical cleaners I was using. Turns out it wasn’t the elbow grease leaving me fatigued, nauseous and fighting a headache. Speaking of which, the turbulent weather in March tends to bring tension headaches so the first self care remedy I’m going to try is the headache balm pictured below. I happen to have the ingredients on my shelves, so I’ll let you know how it goes.
I hope you’re all enjoying the lead up to spring. This month’s podcast episode has been delayed due to a relentless cough which has prevented me from recording, along with sickness bugs (nursery is both a blessing and a curse) disastrous potty training incidents and my car breaking down (it’s really not been my week!) but I’m optimistic that the rain will stop, the sun will shine and the spring equinox will bring a little good luck.
