Spring Equinox: myths of love, death and rebirth to celebrate the awakening of nature

Easter is celebrated on the Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox.

Christian Easter is rebirth, transition from life to death, resurrection.
Jewish Easter, “Pesach”, is the memory of the passage of the Red Sea, the death angel passing over the doors marked with lambs’ blood.

The egg is a symbol of rebirth. The Persians exchanged eggs at the arrival of spring, a symbol of renewed life.

There are many Easter symbols: fire that regenerates – the triumph of light over darkness, the candle, the water that purifies, the dove returning to Noah’s ark with an olive branch – a symbol of the renewed relationship with God, the lamb tied to Jewish tradition.

The oldest Spring festival in the world seems to be Sham El Nessim, traces of which date back to about 4700 years ago. Sham el Nessim, literally, “to sniff the wind,” which in Egypt marks the beginning of spring, it falls on the first Monday after Coptic Easter. In Pharaonic time it was a recurrence linked to agriculture, whose fertility rites were incorporated by Christianity in Easter services.

In May, the Celts celebrated Beltaine ( “bright fire”), festival dedicated to the god of light. In Greece in the spring they celebrated the Little Eleusinian Mysteries.

The Romans continued this custom, enriching it with Megalenses Ludi, public games that followed the public sprinkling ritual, made with consecrated water, the statue of the Great Mother.

Easter greetings to all: life renewing itself, the Phoenix will rise again from the ashes for everyone.

Good rebirth