That Old Paschal Moon

Easter for the Western Christians is always celebrated on the Sunday immediately following the first Paschal full moon (or first full moon after Passover) after the vernal (spring) equinox. As if this is not complicated enough The Eastern Christians celebrate it on a different day mainly because they use the Gregorian calendar while the Westerners use the Julian. One final note of explanation for this movable feast is that all this is based on the calculations that establish the date for Passover which is thus: according to the Ecclesiastical tables, the Paschal (Passover) Full Moon is the first Ecclesiastical Full Moon date after March 20 (which happened to be the vernal equinox date in 325 AD). So, in Western Christianity, Easter is always celebrated on the Sunday immediately following the Paschal Full Moon. Got that?

Now let me just ask one question: does anyone really care when the Easter Bunny makes his appearance? As long as the weather warms up and spring break occurs sometime in late March or early April it's cool. I remember several years when my only concern was that the giant chocolate bunny basket would appear at all. Had I been a good boy that year, or wait, I guess the good/bad thing was more Christmas and Santa Claus. One year my mother had hidden my Easter basket in the front window and when we came back from church my bunny had melted all over the jelly beans and marshmallow Peeps. What a mess!

Today it is the vernal equinox that is my signal to rev up for spring and all the excitement that accompanies it. It is a time of exuberance and fertility, a celebration of the abundance of nature. In fact, a time for the celebration of just about everything. Winter is over! We've made it!

As I prepare for the coming of the this event I am reminded of a ritual incantation that was used to invoke Ostara the Germanic goddess of Springtime. It goes something like this:

Spirits of the East, spirits of air,
Awaken us with the Spring breeze
 
Spirits of the South, spirits of fire,
Warm us with the rising sun

Spirits of the West, spirits of water,
Wash us in gentle rain

Spirits of the North, spirits of earth,
Clothe us in the finery of new growth

Ah, traditions and ceremonies. They are all part and parcel of what makes us tick after all. So Happy Easter and a blessed Passover. But even more so a happy blessed Spring Equinox because it is the Spring renewal that is the real celebration here.