Spring!

Ahhhhh, finally.  

Spring is here!!

My house has been given that special Spring cleaning, the furniture re-arranged to give energy a new rhythm.  The house has been Spiritually cleaned to rid the heavy energy of Winter. During a rare warm Nebraska day, the windows opened to air out the home. I've prepared my living environment for the promise of the new beginnings this season brings.

Winter brought more snow than last year, some have had more rain and serious storms.  By the end of February I was tired of the coats, the boots, the scarves; especially the chill that slaps when you walk outside. This Winter was a long one.

Yesterday there was still a chill in the air, very windy and the weather forecast for Thursday and Friday is snow.  So dressed for the chilly weather, I walked my flower beds and noticed that some of the 'usuals' that pop in the Spring are still not showing their pretty faces...yet.  I did see some green, but the garden is still silent. Somewhat disappointed that I didn't see the surprises I was expecting...I thought of last Spring.

Surprising many, Spring arrived a couple weeks early; I'd missed the dance of the daffodils.  We have the perfect climate for Spring, I was so disappointed that I had missed much of the early blooms.  I had missed the birth of Spring.   The time when renewal is anticipated and given as a reward to the soul of the gardener.  It made me wonder why did I miss the entrance of Spring?  Where was I - mentally?  This held some meaning...

I now know how fickle Mother Nature is.  As all women do, she has her own internal clock.  She will give birth when only she knows the time is right.  I looked around the yard, thought of the placement of the new flower bed creation that had bloomed in my head over the winter.  Looking at that specific spot, I could see the tiny garden in full bloom and as we all know perennials take time to grow.  The first year the bloom is a little weak, the second year they show promise and then the third year what was created in my mind has come to pass. A design I came across on Pinterest.

Spring.  The Vernal Equinox.

Always, at this time of year, I recall a memory which happened around Spring/Easter.  We were living in Texas and we were migrant workers, but dad had found someone to work for year round and it was maintaining the man's farm and animals.  This included a house for us to live in.

The memory:  Mom, the girls and I had just returned home from somewhere.  The minute I got out of the car I walked away from them.  The Sun was shining, the sky was a vibrant blue with not a cloud in sight.  We lived in the middle of a field, or so it seemed to me at this young age.  We were miles away from the closest neighbor and mostly what anyone could see from my perspective was soil - Earth.  I sat on the ground and picked up some soil. Immediately the aroma of Earth filled my senses, the soil a very fine texture slipped through my tiny fingers - it was warm, but as I dug a little deeper it was much cooler.  I actually see myself sitting there on the soil, with the smell of Earth, the Sun warm and a slight breeze blowing through my unruly curly hair.  There was such a peacefulness, the quiet was amazing.  I felt safe knowing that my family was somewhere around - I could see our home from where I was sitting and knew that I was safe.  I also knew that out of the soil that surrounded me would come the food that would end up on our table - canned and saved for the winter months.

Since it comes to mind every Spring - is there an importance to this memory?  I don't know.  In the past, I thought that eventually this meaning would become clear, and now at my age that meaning still eludes me...but, does it really?  Was it meant to be a memory of simplicity?  Was it the Goddess' gift to me knowing that my Spiritual path would be Mother Nature's caretaker?  I still carry the gifts of 'knowing' offered by Her while growing up in Texas; the "sense" of when the weather will turn, Nature's changing signs She teaches; the energy in the air before a thunderstorm, to enjoy the peacefulness of a cloudy day, to take the time to enjoy the Earthly aromas of that first Spring rain.

So in Spring when I first place my hand in the soil to plant that very first bloom this particular memory becomes so real.  I instinctively close my eyes and I'm transported back to an easier time to a little girl playing in the dirt, sun shining brightly in the warm breeze; I felt so safe and maybe knowing that I was always meant to play in the dirt.

Now, I share with you the insight to missing the arrival of last years' Spring - I wasn't grounded.  I was too busy giving my attention to issues that in the end didn't matter and missed the one thing that does matter - to a Witch. The turning of the Wheel and the welcoming of a new Season.

Happy Spring!!!