Thank Goodness for Spring, by Diane Scott Lewis

 

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Today, thinking about the warmth of spring, and how much I miss it, I thought I'd look into the history of the season. I hope you enjoy the brief - I promise - explanation of the rite of Spring.

Being a California gal, I never went through harsh winters. 50 degrees was chilly for us. If we wanted to frolic in the snow, we drove up into the mountains.

Now that I'm married and have traveled all over with my navy husband, we live on the east coast, where temps can dip far below zero. Each winter I wait for spring.

Spring was the beginning of a new year, the celebration of fertility and the abundance of nature. In the fourteenth century, the period known as Lent, where people deprived themselves of certain things, when it ended it started to be known as "springing time". This was because plants and other greenery started springing back up from the ground.

And people before electric lights could actually spend longer hours outside and plant their fields, so they had food before another winter came. The circle of life.

In California it meant no more sweaters, fog and rain. We had it so easy.

Now, for me, spring is the longer days, the warmth of the sun, and if I was a billionaire I'd return to California. But I would miss my granddaughters, so I'll stay here.

More on the history of spring. The pagans, not understanding the rotation of the earth in relation to the sun, had a god or goddess for everything to explain the changes in seasons. 

Ostara was the pagan goddess of fertility and spring.

Sometimes her name was known as Eastre or Eostre. From this came the word Easter. The goddess of fertility had the animal symbol of the bunny. That's probably why rabbits are associated with Easter. Plus rabbits are known for their procreation abilities.

The poor chicken got left behind.

As for eggs, they represented new life and rebirth. In the medieval period, during Lent eating eggs was forbidden. So by Easter Sunday, eating an egg was a treat. 

Decorating the eggs started from a Persian custom adopted by the early Christians of Mesopotamia. They stained the eggs with red coloring to represent the blood Christ shed at his crucifixion.

For me spring is being able to go out on my front porch and not shiver. Also, sitting in the sun and reading a good book is my treat.

Diane lives in Western Pennsylvania with her husband and one rambunctious dachshund.