The first day of spring will officially occur this morning — Sunday, March 20, 2022 at 11:33 a.m. EDT (in the Northern Hemisphere.) That date and time is the arrival of the Vernal (Spring) Equinox.
Traditionally, the first day of spring has ben celebrated on March 21, but the astronomers and calendar makers now say that the spring season starts on March 20th, in all time zones in North America. In case you’re interested, back in 2020 spring fell on March 19th — the earliest first day of spring in 124 years….
Every year I usually talk about the equinox and often get into the debate as to whether eggs and brooms can stand alone, but this year I’ll just stick to the equinox itself and the fact that it marks the official start of the spring season.
Vernal translated to “new” and “fresh,” and equinox is derived from the Latin aequus (equal) and nox (night.) That basically means that our hours of daylight — the period of time each day between sunrise and sunset — have been growing longer each day since the winter solstice in December. The days start getting longer after December 21st and the vernal equinox marks the turning point when daylight begins to win out over darkness.
There’s always some confusion between equinoxes and solstices. Seasons are caused by the Earth having a slight tilt on its axis. As the Earth wobbles around the Sun, different points of the Earth receive more or less sunlight throughout the year. If the Earth wasn’t tilted, the Sun would just shine directly on the Equator all year long and we’d have no seasons.
Solstices designate the point where the Sun’s path in the sky is the farthest north or south from the Equator — that occurs around the 20th and 21st of June and the 21st and 22nd of December. The summer solstice is the longest day of the year and the winter solstice is the shortest day of the year.
The equinoxes are when the Sun is right over the equator. They occur around March 21st and September 23rd and mark the beginning of spring or autumn. We call the beginning of spring the vernal equinox and the beginning of autumn is the autumnal equinox. You just have to remember that solstices are the longest and shortest days of the year and equinoxes mark the times when the day and night are equally as long.
Some people are more connected to the Earth than others and these events take on a deeper spiritual meaning…. many believe the equinox is the period of struggle between darkness and light, death and life. They believe that the equinox is definitely the best period of the year to focus on some new projects, or get rid of something which doesn’t serve us anymore and to find the balance we need in life. Their belief that the Spring Equinox is physically, emotionally and spiritually a special time of energetic opportunity certainly seems like a good time to celebrate to me — not to mention the fact that winter is finally in the rear view mirror.
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