Life, Death, and the Equinox

Coming as it does so close, this year, to the Easter Full Moon just three days later, it reminds us of the paradox between night and day, light and dark, Sun and Moon, and life and death. The Equinox, when all the hours of a 24 hour cycle are in equal but separated balance, esoterically represents the Earth’s descent into Hades and her subsequent rebirth. This is an important time. [caption id="attachment_3120" align="alignright" width="265"] A Welsh Sheep[/caption] Two weeks ago I saw a ewe, clearly unwell, move slowly around the field adjoining my garden, unable or unwilling to follow the rest of the flock into another pasture for food. She stayed there, on her own, nibbling some grass for a day or so, and then lay down under an old ash tree, and died. I watched as creatures of the night moved her body and dismembered it; now nothing of her is left except strips of wool lying haphazardly about the area. While sad for the pain of the sheep in her last days, I felt the blessing of this rhythm of nature, where a perfect balance was achieved; her life had been as good as it could have been, and when her time came to go, she did it quietly, in the place she knew and loved, and by so doing she gave her body to sustain many other creatures - even her wool is being collected by red kites and other birds to line their nests. Meanwhile, she lives on, for even sheep have soul, and will be reborn. You, like me, may have noticed how many remarkable people have chosen to die this year, men and women from the world of music, politics, theatre, broadcasting, and science. Many are well-known, and were of a venerable age, but others who were younger, less celebrated but truly gifted have left too, or are are preparing to go, called away to rejoin their great spiritual clan for a new and significant purpose. Each one leaves a precious legacy of achievement and teaching. Their life force continues, and their body transforms - rebirth in different ways, for everything lives, dies, and is reborn, constantly. Death is transformation, and part of life. This Equinox, which goes so far beyond its physical reality of temporal balance, remember its esoteric meaning too. Give thanks for life, and death, and those who are newly gone - even, perhaps, a sheep.   [byline]]]>