The 2008 spring equinox in the northern hemisphere occurs Tuesday, March 19, at 10:49pm PDT; 05:49 UT 3/20, when the Sun enters Aries. It is one of the two days of the year that the Sun moves across the celestial equator, the imaginary line among the stars that lies directly above the Earth's equator circling from east to west. The Sun's crossing of the celestial equator occurs one other time on the autumn equinox.
http://www.souledout.org/nightsky/springequinox/springequinox.html
Why the early date?
In fact it is only after a complete leap-year cycle of four centuries that these dates will be repeated. In the present century the times of the equinoxes have ranged between the latest dates - March 21 at 19h and September 24 at 06h (in 1903) - to the earliest dates - March 20 at 08h and September 22 at 17h (in 2000).
http://www.nmm.ac.uk/server/show/conWebDoc.3843
How is the equinox related to Easter, and to eggs, rabbits, flowers?
The Spring or Vernal Equinox marks the point when day and night are of the same length - 12 hours.
After the Winter Solstice the days lengthen and the nights shorten, and 'Equinox' means equal night and 'Vernal' comes from the Latin word for 'bloom', as in the northern hemisphere the Spring equinox marks the end of Winter and the beginning of Spring….This equinox is also known as Ostara or Eostre - and is celebrated as a festival of new growth, renewal, a re-balancing of energies and the return of longer days. …..
Ostara…was the pagan goddess of fertility and Spring, and the Christian festival of Easter derives its name from her. Easter is calculated by the moon, and occurs on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the equinox…
The egg symbolized Eostre's wholeness and fertility - the female hormone oestrogen is named after her - and is offered at this equinox as a symbol of fertility and new life. …..Decorated eggs, egg rolling and egg hunts originate from pagan fertility rites dedicated to Eostre - symbolising fertility and re-birth, eggs are offered to the earth to ensure a fecund future harvest.
The hare was regarded as the sacred animal of the lunar goddess, because of its fertility and activity at this time. Now rabbits have become one of the symbols of Easter - they are these days more prolific and common than the graceful hare.
http://www.new-age.co.uk/spring-equinox.htm
What about Passover?
When the early English Christians wanted others to accept Christianity, they decided to use the name Easter for this holiday so that it would match the name of the old spring celebration. …The early Christians, many of them being brought up in Jewish tradition, regarded Easter as a new feature of the Pascha (Passover). It was observed in memory of the advent of the Messiah, as foretold by the prophets. ….
…., churches in the West observe it on the first day of the full moon that occurs on or following the Spring equinox on March 21., it became a movable feast between March 21 and April 25.
http://www.theholidayspot.com/easter/history/easter_history.htm
What about Persian New Year, Nowruz?
"This ritual is supposed to clean the body of illness, bad feelings, or unhealthy things that might be in the body—getting rid of that and picking up the warmth, the glow, of the fire," Afkhami, the Foundation for Iranian Studies director, said. On the first day of spring, Nowruz day, families gather around a table set with the Haft seen arrangement of seven items. Each item begins with the letter s in Persian and symbolizes the hoped for happiness, abundance, and health in the New Year. For example, there is an apple, the Persian word for which is seeb. The fruit symbolizes health and robustness. Garlic (seer) is said to ward off evil and illness. Sprouts of wheat (samanoo) symbolize good crops of growth and plenty, Afkhami said.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/03/0317_050317_nowruz.html
Maybe we should try jumping over a fire and substituting apples, garlic, and wheat for chocolate eggs during the coming days! (she said, surrounded by chocolate….) J
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