Catriona Glazebrook

Spring into Vision

 If you would understand the Invisible, look carefully at the Visible - Talmud

Signs of Spring & Spring Equinox

The Spring Equinox falls on Sunday, March 20 th this year. It is at this time that the day and the night are equal. The Spring Equinox has been associated with renewal and fertility for thousands of years.

Easter, originally associated with the Anglo-Saxon Goddess Oestra – Eostre (Easter) was a recognized time of the year for planting seeds, and dreams.  Eostre is a feminine goddess often associated with the moon. Her “totem animal” was the hare.  She was also associated with chicks hatching out of their eggs, a metaphor for rebirth.

Hares are powerful symbols in many cultures; frequently thought of as a lunar animal, to European ancestors, the hare symbolizes dawn and a new life. Like the Phoenix , the hare is often associated with 'life through death.'  It is universally a fertility symbol and typifies feminine

Periodicity.

To the Buddhist, the hare in the moon was translated there by Buddha and symbolizes

total sacrifice of the self since, when Buddha was hungry, the hare offered

Itself as a sacrifice and jumped into the fire.

To the Chinese, the hare is a yin animal “feminine” and reflects the moon.

The hare is the fourth of the symbolic animals of the Twelve Terrestrial Branches and it is the hare that, with pestle and mortar, mixes the elixir of immortality. 

To the Egyptians, the hare symbolized the dawn; the beginning; and was also associated with the moon.

Ancient Europeans would light bonfires to Eostre at dawn around the Spring equinox. At this time, they would no doubt observe the excited behavior of the hares gathering in the fields to fight and mate. This took place on most nights in March, but could only be seen during the full Moon.

Thus, hares, hatching eggs, the Moon, and the goddess of Spring were all a vital part of the resurrection of the year and the renewal of the world from winter.

The pagan festival of Eostre, became incorporated into the Christian renewal story of the sacrifice and resurrection of Christ. Many of the pre-existing traditions and symbols became part of the new religion.

The Universe is the externalization of the soul.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Visioning During the Spring Equinox

Visioning, or planting seeds for the future (whether they are idea seeds or tangible seeds) around the Spring Equinox is making use of an auspicious cycle of time when the Universe is poised on re-birth and renewal.

By participating with the universe we can cooperate with and acknowledge a divine presence or unity that surrounds us and wants us to succeed and bring forth into this world. Carl Jung expanded upon our innate connection with the world around us when he first proposed “synchronicity”.

We are immeasurably part and parcel of the natural world around us, our bodies are 70% water, and the hemoglobin within our bodies mirrors the chlorophyll found in plants in form and function.

Visioning With Heart

It is important in any visioning process to start at the beginning – which means to go deep to your creative source for your vision – home to the authentic you. Sometimes this is best initiated by “preparing the soil” clearing your mind and emotions and preconceptions.

Make space in your inner garden for inspiration to take root, clear out the cobwebs of frustration, guilt, bitterness and resentments. Make room for creativity, wisdom, and joy.

Affirm: “I have all the good qualities and resources within me to fulfill my dreams”

Once the soil is ready, the next step is to create a short concise vision statement.

This is always the first step in making a thought a thing.  Use intuitive and analytical approaches to finding a vision statement that resonates “rings true” for you.

Once you have a vision statement begin to gather physical manifestations of your vision in the world around you. Images, pictures and words exist in magazines, newspapers, and advertisements all around you that reflect an aspect of your vision. Gather these in an envelope marked with your vision statement. Complete this process of gathering between 7-14 days. This will provide time for you to “live with” your vision statement as your mind and body renew themselves (your body replaces a significant number of new cells in 7 days) but do not go past 14 days or you may loose momentum and focus.

Then select an image that represents your inner or creative self– a photo of yourself, an image that reflects you.

After you have gathered these things, also obtain a large thick piece of paper or board, scissors and glue.

Set aside two and a half to three hours to design a collage on a date and time when you will not be disturbed.  Put the image of your creative self in the center and your vision statement at the top.

Then freely – and playfully – without glue first – arrange a collage using the images and words that you have collected. If you do not use all of the images and words – that is fine.

Once you have a final collage that “speaks to you” intuitively and analytically. Make it final by gluing the pieces in place.

You should then have a collage that is COMPELLING to you.

Over the next 40 days at a minimum – to three months, “let your mind see what your heart knows” by displaying the collage where you see it every day. Spend time considering your collage and imagining what it would be like to be “living and feeling” your vision statement.

Then “let go”.

Let go of the outcome. Let go of masterminding your end result; let the universe work for you.

*An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Traditional Symbols_ by J. C. Cooper:

For more information, please contact Catriona.