Spring equinox
The spring or vernal equinox on 20 March is a turning point in the year when the day and night are of equal length. For many religions and cultures the spring equinox signifies new beginnings: leaves appear on the trees; crops and flowers emerge from the ground; animals and birds breed. This is a time of hope for the future.
For the Kurds it is Newroz, for the Iranian Zoroastrians No Ruz, for the Baha’i Naw Ruz – all of which mean ‘new day’.
Pagans call the coming of spring Ostara (from which the word Easter is derived) after the fertility goddess, and ask that humans, animals and the fields will be fruitful in the coming year.
In the Christian calendar, 25 March is the Feast of Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the time when the Angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she was pregnant with the child who was to be born a the next winter solstice, 25 December. This date is also known as Lady Day – a name which probably predates Christianity and comes from the Pagan fertility festival.
Most recently, 21 March has been designated Human Rights Day in South Africa, a country which struggled for decades against violent tyranny. This date was chosen to celebrate the country’s Bill of Rights, in commemoration of 21 March 1960, when the police opened fire on a peaceful demonstration in Sharpeville near Johannesburg, leaving 69 dead and 180 wounded.
May this New Year bring hope, human rights and an end to discrimination everywhere.
