Brief Thoughts on The Coming Season

Strange that Ostara and Easter fall on basically the same weekend this year, and also on a Full Moon in Libra, the sign of balance. 

Although I have been a bit preoccupied of late and not feeling especially connected to the season or the calendar, my heart always gladdens at least a little when I realize Ostara is almost here.  I think it may be my favorite Sabbat--the all-too-brief Texas Spring is usually in full swing by then, and the hillsides are blanketed with bluebonnets.  Bluebonnets, the state flower, are more a symbol of Ostara to me than the traditional bunnies-and-eggs.  I don't see a lot of bunnies around Austin except dead on the side of the road, and I'm not too keen on eggs, but bluebonnets are a living embodiment of the breathing-in optimism of Spring.  March brings the Bluebonnet Moon.

Easter is also the one popular Judeo-Christian/secular holiday that doesn't make me want to throw things.  I've always liked it far better than Christmas, which is interesting considering the myth behind Easter involves gruesome death and torture whereas all Jesus has to do at Christmas is be born.  Despite Mel Gibson's Jesus Chainsaw Massacre movie, and the creepiness inherent in wearing the symbol of your god's agonizing death around your neck (thank goodness nobody has deified JFK, or everyone would be wearing gold shotguns), I find Easter a comparatively uplifting holiday, perhaps because it hasn't become as overly commercialized as Christmas, or perhaps because if one can get past the snuff film fetishism that has come to surround Christ's death, the story ends with hope, the triumph of spirit over cynicism, of love over hatred. 

The point of the story isn't that Jesus died a lingering and tormented death, but that in the end the stone was rolled away, the tomb empty...or at least, that's what I like to think the point is.  My Sunday school teacher had other ideas, and was quite happy to guilt a roomful of nine-year-olds into the Sinner's Prayer by telling us in loving detail that the Son of God suffered and died for us, specifically, and it was all our fault for being horrible sinful people (those nine-year-old sins are the worst, aren't they?), and the only way to make up for all that pain was to be saved.

That's a hell of a way to start out a religious education, isn't it?  Shame and guilt may spur someone into conversion, but when it comes to truly winning souls and encouraging lifelong devotion, love and joy are far better motivators. 

Plus, Easter has better candy than Christmas.  I mean, Peeps!  Cadbury Eggs!  Marshmallow rabbits covered in chocolate!  Robin Eggs!  The mind boggles and the blood sugar rises!

Here the Season of Air and the Season of Earth have collided, so it's both cold and windy--seriously windy.  March has officially come in like a lion for the Central Texas area, and the lion has brought along a pride of allergens that have finally started affecting me after eleven years in Austin.  Spring, then, is a time of renewal, of bluebonnets, of sinus congestion.  We worship at the altar of Zyrtec and sow seeds that we hope won't eventually make us sneeze.

At any rate, this year I find myself craving Spring with a longing that surprises me.  I want Spring more than I want Peeps.  I ache for renewal, for revival, for God to move through my veins like a drug, for Goddess to green Her way through my skin.  I want to wrap the Earth around my bare flesh and feel the rain soaking into the parched landscape of my spirit.  Above all, I want to wake up, to yawn and stretch and feel myself quickening.  I want to shrug off the heaviness and dullness of the last few months and breathe.

My morning prayer lately has been,

Goddess, let today be the beginning of something wonderful.

It hasn't been answered yet, but as the cliché goes, hope Springs eternal.

Comments

[Nemmy]

This was just what I needed to hear today.

Thank you.

[Danmara]

I have a feeling something wonderful is going to come along with this spring. At least, I hope it does. :)

[Vince]

Found your site via ESC. Very interesting stuff.

I love Easter as well, but for the Christian reasons. Spring is my favorite time of year.

[rebelleink]

'Quickening' describes it perfectly. Today was the first day in my section of Pennsylvania that could be described as Spring-like. 60 degrees and blustery. The last remnants of Autumn's leaves taking flight for parts unknown and enough warmth that the still mostly dormant countryside wasn't quite so bleak. I will have to see if I can grow bluebonnets in Zone 6.

peace and joy

[Manda]

Very peaceful post. Yesterday was beautiful outside and the first day in NY that offered me some time to wander around aimlessly without freezing. I love Ostara too, it reminds me of a new start.

[lactose intolerant lisa]

What a wonderful post. I found your blog through Shapely Prose, and I love it! I am pagan, and also vegan.

This post really captures some of my feelings right now. I'm ill, and I spent about the last week inside. But yesterday, I walked outside, visited the park, spent time with my partner. It invigorated and inspired me. I was beginning to feel stale, but now I'm really beginning to feel Spring's new life. Looking forward to Ostara!

[Racu]

Nail. Head. That whole thing...bingo. Ha! No pun intended with the nail bit, either.

The whole Jesus died a horrible death for us thing has always bothered me, even when I thought I was a Christian and was really a Pagan in my own inner closet. Plus that particular myth is older than Jesus and is part of the formula that was used, like a virgin birth, to "prove" a god was a god.

Spring is special, and I look forward to it (and the wild flowers of Central Texas!), only until I realize it's the short-lived harbinger of 100+ degree weather...during which time I fervently pray for the grey, drizzly days of our "winter" (hahaha) to return.

[Trista]

Yay spring! In MA, we have to wait a bit longer, but that bluebonnet picture is an awesome harbringer. :)

Thanks for the good giggle the other day. Wish the lunatic fringe hadn't come out in force. Thumbs up from my husband and I. :)

[Angela-Eloise]

At any rate, this year I find myself craving Spring with a longing that surprises me. I want Spring more than I want Peeps. I ache for renewal, for revival, for God to move through my veins like a drug, for Goddess to green Her way through my skin. I want to wrap the Earth around my bare flesh and feel the rain soaking into the parched landscape of my spirit. Above all, I want to wake up, to yawn and stretch and feel myself quickening. I want to shrug off the heaviness and dullness of the last few months and breathe.

These are my sentiments exactly! I'm so ready for Spring I can't stand it, and here in Boston we have a longer wait than you do in Texas. I'm thinking of doing a cleanse so that I feel as healthy and fresh as the new season (when it finally gets here).

[sharon]

"The point of the story isn't that Jesus died a lingering and tormented death, but that in the end the stone was rolled away, the tomb empty...or at least, that's what I like to think the point is. "

You're instincts are exactly right, and that's the big difference between the original Church (Orthodox and Catholic) on one side, and the Protestants on the other side. The first emphasizes the Resurrection, while the second emphasizes the death. For the Os and Cs, Easter is the main event, but ask most any P and they'll tell you that Christmas is the most important event on the Christian calendar.

[LadyJake]

I'm quite fond of Jesus as One of a long line of Living & Dying Gods. The guilt thing is an unfortunate, traumatising distraction. Bring on the Spring!

[Lillith]

Jesus Chainsaw Massacre...that's probably the best description of that movie I've ever heard. Thanks for the great article on Spring AND the laugh.

[Lillith]

Jesus Chainsaw Massacre...that's probably the best description of that movie I've ever heard. Thanks for the great article on Spring AND the laugh.