Men and The Goddess

Our “little or no accumulation” of snow yesterday amounted to three inches! It is melting quickly today and tomorrow will be in the 60s. I love this time of year with fickle weather, unexpected returns to winter and wonderful hints of Spring. Newness is in the air and everywhere I look.

Today we have a new moon bringing in a fresh look to the evening skies and the energy of the planet. It’s a great time to let go of old stuff, whatever that is. The old moon is taking its last breath and will sweep away any of the “clutter” that might be holding you back. And on Saturday as the Sun moves into Aries to begin the new astrological year, Spring rolls in with it. The Vernal Equinox on Saturday is the day of balance between light and dark. It is this balance that is required in everything. If we are to bring in new then old must be chucked.

Persephone is the Greek Goddess of Spring. She’s the Goddess captured by Haides and abducted to the Underworld to be his wife. She was rescued but still had to spend some of her time with Haides. She returned from her Underworld sojourn in Spring and brought with her fresh growth and new beginnings. She returned to Haides for the balance of her time in the fall as growth ended in withering and death. Persephone’s story reminds me of Inanna’s which is much older and the likely basis for the Greek stories.

So, we look for Persephone’s return! I saw my first Robin last week no doubt looking for sluggish, still nearly frozen worms. In telling this story at our Sunday Celebration yesterday I reminded Don of his story on his harbingers of spring. It is so good I am including it here for your enjoyment:

Harbingers of Spring

The return of the robin, businesslike in his red vest industriously extracting earthworms from the front lawn, is a sign of Spring so enshrined in American art and literature that it is almost a cliché. So, too, is the first crocus, small and delicate in the garden testing the cold air and the lingering snow as it reaches up, opening itself to the sunshine of the lengthening days. Despite the overused words and oft reproduced images recapitulating these annual events, the events themselves are new and fresh each year. For many, they herald not only the biological reawakening of a new growing season but also a personal emotional revitalization.

For much of the time when I was growing up in the 1940’s and 50’s, the only water we had fell from the sky or was hauled from a spring in jugs and cans. And, even after we got water from a pipeline, our attempts to grow a garden or a lawn met with limited success. So, the harbingers of Spring which touched my youthful soul (and still touch me the most deeply) were different, wilder, more robust.

Spring was heralded, not by the robin, but by the meadow lark standing erect on a fence post, yellow bib bared to the world, loudly trilling a crisp melodious flute like greeting to all, as I passed on my walk to school. Rather than the smooth petite crocus of the garden, I saw the floral face of Spring in the larger, hairy, almost disheveled, yet delicately beautiful pasque flower.

If I could choose to live again the Springtime of my life, I would again choose to live it where the meadow lark announces the season of reawakening.

Perhaps that is one reason I am passionate preserving those wild places where our increasingly urbanized and regulated community can reconnect with the meadow lark and the pasque flower, the dynamic order of nature in contrast to the designed and manicured order of the city.

Walk the Section 16 trail connect with the pasque flowers.

We are at the beginning of a new season!

Don Ellis

Thanks, Don!

What are your harbingers for this wonderful season of newness and growth?