Our group meets to celebrate the “turning of the wheel” – the seasons’ change.
Twice a year (at the solstices) we open the group to the public through posting on the VanU website and sharing on social media. In between current members and their friends are invited to gather in community to celebrate the “sabbat” (solstices, equinoxes and cross-quarter/in between days).
In March we celebrate Ostara or the Spring Equinox.
Here in Vancouver, there is much to celebrate! On our garden path labyrinth, the daffodils and grape hyacinths will be blooming while the snow drops will go underground to return next Imbolc/St. Brigid’s Day.
Ostara is a Pagan solar holiday honouring the spring’s warmth, light from the sun, and the awakening of the earth. Pagan celebrations during this holiday have themes of balance, renewal and rebirth. The symbols of Ostara are spring flowers, fairies, butterflies, rabbits and eggs.
The feast day of Easter was first a pagan holiday of renewal and rebirth. Honored in the early spring, it praised the pagan goddess of fertility and spring known as ‘Ostara’, ‘Eastre’ or ‘Eostre’. The word “Easter” finds its etymology from the goddess’s name.
From timeanddate.com you can check moon phases and seasons. Spring 2024 The March Equinox is on March 19 and 8:06 pm Vancouver time.
Unitarians draw on many sources, including: “Spiritual teachings of Earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature.”
Learn more about Earth Spirituality at VanU here: https://vanu.ca/services/earth-spirit/
If you have questions please contact us at earthspirit@vanu.ca