Despite this morning's snow flurries, the
March equinox (vernal in the northern hemisphere, autumnal in the southern hemisphere) occurred this morning at 7:44 AM Eastern Time (UTC-04:00, since it's now Eastern Daylight Time). By convention, this marks the "official" start of Spring, though we've been tracking
signs of Spring closely for a few weeks now.
The Return of
Persephone (1891), by Frederic Leighton (1830–1896). Leighton depicts Hermes helping Persephone to return to her mother Demeter after Zeus forced Hades to return Persephone.
For the third year, I'm using the image above to illustrate this post. I like the story of
Demeter and
Persephone. Winter doesn't occur because Hades is evil/dark/etc.
Persephone was not the keeper of the earth. The earth didn't miss her,
Demeter did. Demeter grieved for her loss, and neglected her gardening duties, and that's why Winter occurs. Demeter rejoices at the return of Persephone, which restores her interest in the world, and that's when we get Spring.
Illumination of the Earth by the Sun on the day of an equinox
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Related Posts
Persephone Rises, 2008
Happy Vernal Equinox, 2007
Links
Wikipedia:Equinox
