![]() ![]() Between the winter solstice and the spring equinox the key word is ‘purification’ during the period between the spring equinox and the Summer solstice the sun is gaining strength and spiritually this is a period of ‘enlightenment’. The three months between the equinoxes and the solstices have a particularly spiritual feeling. Dion Fortune says in ‘Aspects of Occultism’: “causes set going on the inner planes at one equinox will take the full tide of six months to work out on the physical plane, and if we realise this, we shall be content to exercise patience until the cosmic tides at each quarter of the six months are completed”. It is thought that work commenced at one of these solar points needs a full six months to reach completion. The solstices are milder tides and the emphasis is not so much on ‘work’ as ‘play’: for many people the Winter and Summer Solstice correspond to holiday time. This is thought to be a good time to begin occult work. The equinoxes are strongly flowing tides (one is reminded of the high sea tides at Spring time). The so-called cosmic tides are recognised by pagans and occultists as being powerful and highly influential forces. So the Spring Equinox is the releasing of the cosmic springtime whilst May Eve is the midpoint of the tide. The equinoxes and solstices are known as the ‘Lesser Sabbats’ whilst the cross-quarter days are known as the ‘Greater Sabbats’ (Candlemas, May Eve, Lammas and Hallowe’en.)ĭoreen Valiente in “Witchcraft for tomorrow” remarks that the ‘lesser Sabbats are the releasing of new cosmic tides at each quarter of the year and the greater Sabbats are its culmination, mid-point or perfection’. when day and night are both twelve hours long.) The equinoxes and solstices are important points in the cycle of the solar year, as opposed to the ‘cross-quarter days’ which are important points in the agricultural year. The equinoxes mark the time when day and night are equal in length (i.e. Beginning with March 21st we celebrate the Spring or Vernal equinox. Between March and May there are several festivals which appear in both the pagan and Christian calendars. In this issue of Wiccan Rede we celebrate the season of Spring. This article first appeared in (C) Wiccan Rede * Spring 1980 ![]()
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