Nearly everything in the universe is spinning. Maybe everything. From the newest newly-discovered, tiniest sub-atomic particle, to the electrons in every atom, to the sperm spinning like crazy to reach the egg, to the baby's head spiraling out of its mother's womb, to the braided waters pouring so fast between boulders in a spring river, it's all spinning. From the spiral winds of hurricanes to the spinning of earth as she orbits around the sun, to the largest galaxies, we are all spinning in a hundred million trillion goddessillion ways.

Spiral comes from a Middle English word meaning "blade of grass". Perhaps this has to do with the fact that plants turn around and spiral up as they grow. And roots grow spiralically down into the soil. Whirl, whorl, helix, twist, twirl, spin.

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Spinning implies cycles; regular, as in planet orbits, or with variations like ocean waves. The spiral movement cannot always be predicted, yet the science of mathematics tries. Early Greek mathematicians plotted spirals on graphs, and the spirals were named after them.

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On the other hand, early paths of spirit didn't want to control the spiral, but rather to honor and welcome its wisdom. In ancient Greece also, there were spiral walking gardens in front of the temples. It was said you would not find what you were looking for if you walked a straight line into the temple. They knew the spiral is the movement of all life.

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The teachings of darkness and light, the teachings of empty and full, and the teachings of life, which includes birth and death. We make ceremonies, write songs and dances, eat special foods, tell particular stories to help ourselves make the journey. We use earth holidays to mark passage in our lives. At the same time we honor the source of our life - this earth - and the beauty of the seasons as the earth also lives and ages. In ritual we can connect ourselves to the source in sacredness. In ritual we can plant seeds of growth in our own selves, cultivate ourselves as the garden of Life's beauty that we are. 

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Up! is the movement of spring and Up! is the direction. In the spiral of the year around, spring brings new growth. Green plants are a most literal example, as they grow Up! I love to catch the wave of energy that spring offers (at least in part by eating new spring plants!). Especially following winters of particular depth, as those since menopause, as those in times of loss, as those of big change, I appreciate the healing power of the rising of spring. It is really about our need and our ability to trust in the return. Developing trust in the return brings faith as a gift. The dark winter is only bearable because we have faith the spring will come. The seasons of the year travel not from dark to light, or light to dark, but around and through it all; dark to equinox to light to equinox to dark to equinox...one day at a time. It is only possible to go to the darkness with our hearts intact if we can do it gradually, knowing that the light will then grow, that spring will then come.

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Ritual helps here too; a sacred circle of women is a strong container. Chanting helps to weave a strong container. Intention weaves a strong container. As we reclaim the practice of celebrating the earth holidays around the year, we see that spring is worth noticing because although it is the same season as last year this time, we are different, we have changed. We have grown. It is worth noticing! A spiral is a circle as it moves through time. This is the dance of life. Come dance with us as we honor the Rising of Spring.