The Spring Equinox is also known as: Alban Eilir, Eostar, Eostre, Feast of Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Festival of Trees, Lady Day, NawRuz, No Ruz, Ostara, Ostra, Rites of Spring, and the Vernal Equinox.

Overview:

Religious followers from around the world observe many seasonal days of celebration during March and April. Most are religious holy days, and are linked in some way to the spring or vernal equinox. On that day, the daytime and nighttime hours are approximately equal -- each being 12 hours long.

Christianity and other religious associate three themes with the vernal equinox:

• Conception and pregnancy leading to birth on the winter solstice.
• Victory of a god of light (or life, rebirth, resurrection) over the powers of darkness (death).
• The descent of the goddess or god into the underworld for a period of three days. This is such a popular theme among religions that mythologists refer to it as "the harrowing of Hell." ₁₃

People view other religions in various ways, and thus treat the celebrations of other faiths differently:

• Some people value the worldwide variety of March and April celebrations, because demonstrates the diversity of religious belief within our common humanity. They respect both their own religious traditions and those of other faiths for their ability to inspire people to lead more ethical and fulfilled lives. Religious diversity is, to them, a positive influence.
• Others reject the importance of all celebrations other than the holy days recognized by their own religion. Some go so far as rejecting some of their religion's holy days when they are discovered to have Pagan origins (e.g. Easter and Christmas).
• Some consider religions other than their own as being inspired by Satan. Thus the equinox celebrations of other religions are viewed as Satanic in origin, and intrinsically evil.

When and why the vernal equinox happens:

The seasons of the year are caused by the 23.5º tilt of the earth's axis. Because the earth is rotating like a top or gyroscope, it points in a fixed direction continuously -- towards a point in space near the North Star. But the earth is also revolving around the sun. During half of the year, the southern hemisphere is more exposed to the sun than is the northern hemisphere. During the rest of the year, the reverse is true. At noontime in the Northern Hemisphere the sun appears high in the sky during summertime and low in the sky during winter. The time of the year when the sun reaches its maximum elevation occurs on the day with the greatest number of daylight hours. This is called the summer solstice, and is typically JUN-21 -- the first day of summer. The lowest elevation occurs about DEC-21 and is the winter solstice -- the first day of winter, when the night time hours are maximum. Almost exactly half-way between the winter and summer solstice is the time of the vernal or spring equinox. It is one of two times during the year when the daytime and nighttime are almost exactly 12 hours long, and very close to being equal to each other. 

History of the spring equinox:

The early Romans used a lunar calendar in which months alternated between 29 and 30 days. It was not a precise measure; it gradually fell out of step with the seasons. Julius Caesar reformed the calendar by switching its base from lunar to solar. The day on which the vernal equinox occurred was defined as MAR-25. The length of the year was fixed at 365 days, with an additional leap-year day added every fourth year. This made the average length of a year equal to 365.25 days, which was fairly close to the actual value of 365.2422 days.

The annual error of 0.0078 days accumulated over time until it became unmanageable. A second reform of the calendar was ordered by Pope Gregory XIII. Under the new system, 1582-MAR-21 CE became the date of the vernal equinox, the year 1582 was shortened by ten days, and future centennial years (1600, 1700...2000) were not considered leap years unless they were divisible by 400. ₁ The Gregorian Calendar continues in general usage today. Eventually, its 0.0003 day annual error will accumulate and necessitate an elimination of a leap-year day circa 4915 CE.

The linkage between the equinox, Pagan celebrations & Easter:

Many, perhaps most, Pagan religions in the ancient Mediterranean region had a major seasonal day of religious celebration at, or following, the spring equinox. In one religion, Cybele, the Phrygian fertility goddess, had a consort who was believed to have been born via a virgin birth. He was Attis, who was said to have died and been resurrected each year during the period MAR-22 to MAR-25; i.e. at the time of the vernal equinox in the Julian calendar. 

Wherever Christian worship of Jesus and Pagan worship of Attis were active in the same geographical area in ancient times, Christians "used to celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus on the same date; and pagans and Christians used to quarrel bitterly about which of their gods was the true prototype and which the imitation." Since the worship of Cybele was brought to Rome in 204 BCE, about 250 years before Christianity, it is obvious that if any copying occurred, it was the Christians that copied the traditions of the Pagans.

Today,  no consensus exists on the linkage between the Attis legend (and the stories associated with many other god-men) and Jesus Christ:

• Some religious historians believe that the god-man's death and resurrection legends were first associated with Pagan deities many centuries before the birth of Jesus. They were simply grafted onto stories of Jesus' life in order to make Christian theology more acceptable to Pagans in the Roman Empire.
• Ancient Christians had an alternate explanation; they claimed that Satan had created counterfeit Pagan deities with many of the same life experiences as Jesus had. Satan and his demons had done this, in advance of the coming of Christ, in order to confuse humanity. 
• Most modern-day Christians regard the Attis legend as being a Pagan myth of little value. They regard Jesus' death and resurrection account as being an exact description of real events, and unrelated to the earlier Pagan traditions.

Among the Roman Catholic church and Protestant denominations, Easter Sunday falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon after MAR-20, the nominal date of the Spring Equinox. Its ancient linkages to sun and moon worship are obvious. Many sources incorrectly state that the starting date of the calculation is the actual day of the Equinox rather than the nominal date of MAR-20. Other sources use an incorrect reference date of MAR-21.

Easter Sunday can fall on any date from March 22 to April 25th. The year-to-year sequence is so complicated that it takes 5.7 million years to repeat. Eastern Orthodox churches sometimes celebrate Easter on the same day as the rest of Christendom. However if that date does not follow Passover, then the Orthodox churches delay their Easter - sometimes by over a month.

Spring celebrations by various faiths - ancient and modern

• ANCIENT BRITAIN: Both the solstices and equinoxes "were the highly sophisticated preoccupation of the mysterious Megalithic peoples who pre-dated Celt, Roman and Saxon on Europe's Atlantic fringe by thousands of years." The equinoxes were not otherwise celebrated in ancient Britain, until recent years.
• ANCIENT IRELAND: The spring and fall equinox were celebrated in ancient times. A cluster of megalithic cairns are scattered through the hills at Loughcrew, about 55 miles North West of Dublin in Ireland. Longhcrew Carin T is a passage tomb which is designed so that the light from the rising sun on the spring and summer equinoxes penetrates a long corridor and illuminates a backstone, which is decorated with astronomical symbols. _19,20
• ANCIENT GERMANS: Ostara, the Germanic fertility Goddess was associated with human and crop fertility. On the spring equinox, she mated with the solar god and conceived a child that would be born 9 months later on DEC-21: Yule, the winter solstice.
• ANCIENT MAYANS: The indigenous Mayan people in Central American have celebrated a spring equinox festival for ten centuries. As the sun sets on the day of the equinox on the great ceremonial pyramid, El Castillo, Mexico, its "western face...is bathed in the late afternoon sunlight. The lengthening shadows appear to run from the top of the pyramid's northern staircase to the bottom, giving the illusion of a diamond-backed snake in descent." This has been called "The Return of the Sun Serpent" since ancient times. ₁₄
• ANCIENT GREEKS: The god-man Dionysos was a major deity among the ancient Greeks. "As a god of the spring rites, of the flowering plants and fruitful vines, Dionysos was said to be in terrible pain during winter, when most living things sicken and die, or hibernate." Persephone, a daughter of Demeter, descended into the Otherworld and returned near the time of the spring equinox. This story has close parallels to various Goddess legends, stories of the life of King Arthur, and of Jesus Christ. ₁₀
• ANCIENT PERSIA; ZOROASTRIANISM: Various ancient civilizations (Mesopotamia, Sumeria, Babylonia, Elam) circa 3000 to 2000 BCE celebrated new years at the time of the spring equinox. "No Ruz," the new day or New Year has been celebrated in the area of modern-day Iran since the Achaemenian (Hakhamaneshi) period over 2500 years ago. It survived because of Zoroastrianism which was the religion of Ancient Persia before the advent of Islam 1400 years ago. Many religious historians trace the Judeo-Christian concepts of Hell, Heaven, Resurrection, the arrival of the Messiah, and the last judgment to Zoroastrianism. In that faith, the Lord of Wisdom "created all that was good and became God. The Hostile Spirit, Angra Mainyu (Ahriman), residing in the eternal darkness created all that was bad and became the Hostile Spirit." ₁₆ This dualistic God/Satan concept is surprisingly close to the views of conservative Christianity today. 
• ANCIENT ROMANS: In "about 200 B.C., mystery cults began to appear in Rome just as they had earlier in Greece. Most notable was the Cybele cult centered on Vatican hill ...Associated with the Cybele cult was that of her lover, Attis ([the older Tammuz, Osiris, Dionysus, or Orpheus under a new name)...The festival began as a day of blood on Black Friday and culminated after three days in a day of rejoicing over the resurrection." Attis was born of a human woman, a virgin named Nana. He "grew up to become a sacrificial victim and Savior, slain to bring salvation to mankind. His body was eaten by his worshipers in the form of bread...[He was] crucified on a pine tree, whence his holy blood poured down to redeem the earth."  ₂ The celebration was held on MAR-25, 9 months before his birth on DEC-25. In Rome, the rituals took place where St. Peter's now stands in Vatican City. ₈ The similarities between the stories of Attis and Jesus are obvious.
• ANCIENT SAXONS: Eostre was the Saxon version of the Germanic lunar goddess Ostara. She gave her name to the Christian Easter and to the female hormone estrogen. Her feast day was held on the full moon following the vernal equinox -- almost the identical calculation as for the Christian Easter in the west. One delightful legend associated with Eostre was that she found an injured bird on the ground one winter. To save its life, she transformed it into a hare. But "the transformation was not a complete one. The bird took the appearance of a hare but retained the ability to lay eggs. ..the hare would decorate these eggs and leave them as gifts to Eostre." ₁₀
• BAHÁ'Í WORLD FAITH: Naw-Rúz is an ancient Iranian New Years day festival which occurs near the Spring Equinox. It is now a world holiday of the Bahá'í faith. If the equinox occurs before sunset, then New Year's Day is celebrated on that day in the Middle East; otherwise it is delayed until the following day. In the rest of the world, it is always on MAR-21. It is celebrated with many symbols indicating regrowth and renewal - much like the Christian Easter. Some members follow the ancient Iranian "haft-sin" custom on this day involves arranging seven objects whose name begin with the letter "S" in Persian; e.g. hyacinths, apples, lilies, silver coins, garlic, vinegar and rue.
• CHRISTIANITY: The record of the Roman Army's execution date of Yeshua Ben Nazareth (later known as Jesus Christ) has been lost. Dates linked to the Jewish Passover celebration in the years 30 to 33 have been suggested. Easter commemorates Jesus' execution, visit to Hell, and resurrection. Easter Sunday is a moveable holy day, being celebrated  from late MAR to late APR. It is named after the "Teutonic goddess Eostre, whose name is probably yet another variant of Ishtar, Astare and Aset..." ₈
  
  The Feast of Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary is held on MAR-25, on the nominal date of the spring equinox, according to the old Julian calendar. This is the time when the angel Gabriel told Mary that she was pregnant. (Luke 1:26-38) Nine months later, at Christmas/Yule, Mary is traditionally believed to have given birth to Jesus, while still a virgin. 
• JUDAISM: "In its origin, the Passover dinner itself was a spring fertility festival–the unleavened bread coming from the agricultural past of the people and the paschal lamb from its more distant pastoral years." ₆ The Bible passages of Leviticus 23:5-8 and Numbers 28:16-18 state that Passover is to be celebrated in the springtime, on the 14th day of the Jewish month of Nissan. The Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord is held on the 15th.
• NATIVE AMERICAN SPIRITUALITY: There are countless stone structures created by Natives in the past and still standing in North America. One was called Calendar One by its modern-day finder. It is in a natural amphitheatre of about 20 acres in size in Vermont. From a stone enclosure in the center of the bowl, one can see a number of vertical rocks and other markers around the edge of the bowl "At the winter solstice, the sun rose at the southern peak of the east ridge and set at a notch at the southern end of the west ridge." The summer solstice and both equinoxes were similarly marked. ₄
  
  "America's Stonehenge" is a 4,000 year old megalithic  site located on Mystery Hill in Salem NH. Carbon dating has estimated the age of some charcoal remnants at 3,000 and 4,000 years ago. Researchers have concluded that the site was erected either by Native Americans or an unknown migrant European population. ₁₅ The site contains five standing stones and one fallen stone in a linear alignment which point to both the sunrise and sunset at the spring and fall equinoxes. 
• NEOPAGANISM: This is a group of religions which are attempted re-creations of ancient Pagan religions. Of these, Wicca is the most common; it is loosely based on ancient Celtic beliefs, symbols and practices, with the addition of some more recent Masonic and ceremonial magic rituals.
  
  Monotheistic religions, like Judaism, Christianity and Islam, tend to view time as linear. It started with creation; the world as we know it will end at some time in the future. Aboriginal and Neopagan religions see time as circular and repetitive, with lunar (monthly) and solar (yearly) cycles. Their "...rituals guarantee the continuity of nature's cycles, which traditional human societies depend on for their sustenance." ₃
  
  Wiccans recognize eight seasonal days of celebration. Four are minor sabbats and occur at the two solstices and the two equinoxes. The other are major sabbats which happen approximately halfway between an equinox and solstice. Wiccans may celebrate Lady Day on the evening before, or at sunrise on the morning of the solstice/equinox, or at the exact time of vernal equinox.
  
  Near the Mediterranean, this is a time of sprouting of the summer's crop; farther north, it is the time for seeding. ₈ Their rituals at the Spring Equinox are related primarily to the fertility of the crops and to the balance of the day and night times. Where Wiccans can safely celebrate the Sabbat out of doors without threat of religious persecution, they often incorporate a bonfire into their rituals, jumping over the dying embers to assure fertility of people and crops. It is experienced as a time of balance.

The date and time of the spring equinox:

The exact date and time of the vernal equinox, when the sun moves into the astrological sign of Aries, varies from year to year. Each year, the date/time moves progressively later in March until the year before leap-year is reached. On leap-year, it returns to an earlier date/time. The four-year cycle is then repeated. 

Between the years 1503 CE and 2496 CE, the earliest spring equinox will be on 2496-MAR-19 at 12:28 UT. The latest was on 1503-MAR-21 at 8:42 UT.

The above dates and times were derived from the astronomical calculations on The Dome of the Sky web site. ₇ Times are in UT (Universal Time). This used to be called Greenwich Mean Time or GMT. In North America, you can find your local time by subtracting:

• 3 hours 30 minutes for Newfoundland time
• 4 hours for ATL
• 5 hours for EST 
• 6 hours for CST
• 7 hours for MST
• 8 hours for PST
• 9 hours for ALA
• 10 hours for HAW

Egg-balancing belief:

There is a rumor that surfaces twice a year at the time of the spring and fall equinoxes.  Many people believe that since the equinox is a time of balance where the daylight hours and nighttime hours are equal, that -- by some mystical force -- one can balance eggs on their end on these days. Some believe that one can only balance an egg within a few hours before or after the exact time of the equinox. ₁₇

Philip Plait (a.k.a. the Bad Astronomer) writes: "Usually you cannot stand a raw egg because the inside of an egg is a very viscous (thick) liquid, and the yolk sits in this liquid. The yolk is usually a bit off-center and rides high in the egg, making it very difficult to balance. The egg falls over. However, with patience, you can usually make an egg stand up. It may take a lot of patience!" He has a photo on his web site that shows himself and three eggs standing on their end. ₁₈

Being able to stand an egg on its end is clearly determined by the internal structure of the egg, gravity, condition of the surface of the egg at its end, the condition of the surface that the egg is being balanced on, how level the surface is, etc. None of these factors have anything to do with the passage of the seasons. So, a person probably has as much luck standing an egg on its end on the equinox as on any other day of the year.

Plait reports that only a small percentage of eggs can be balanced. He believes that the successfully balanced eggs have small irregularities that act as miniature legs and prop up the egg.

Needless to say, balancing an egg on it stubby end is a lot easier than on its pointed end.

Related essays on this web site:

• Easter
• Summer solstice
• Fall equinox
• Winter solstice

References:

1. J.G. Walshe, et al., "Dates and meanings of religious and other festivals," Foulsham, (1997).
2. B.G. Walker, "The Woman's Encylopedia of Myths and Secrets," Harper & Row, San Francisco CA, (1983), Pages 77 to 79.
3. Yisrayl Hawkins,"Ancient Pagan Religious Expression," at:  http://yahweh.com/pages/pw3_96/1_396pg1.shtml
4. J.W. Mavor & B.E. Dix, "Manitou: The sacred landscape of New England's Native Civilization." Inner Traditions (1989).
5. "Of Gods and Men: The A-Z of mythology and legend: Dionysos." at: http://www.clubi.ie/lestat/ofgodsd.html 
6. A.M. Greely, "The greatest mysteries; an essential catechism," at: http://www.usao.edu/~facshaferi/greeley/mysteries7.htm
7. "Find the equinoxes and solstices for a particular year," at  http://einstein.stcloudstate.edu/Dome/equiSol.html  
8. Janet & Stewart Farrar, "Eight Sabbats for Witches," Phoenix Publishing, (1981), Page 14; Pages 72 to 79.
9. "Gwyl Alban Eilir Ritual (Performed 1990) A Celtic-Wiccan Ritual" at: http://www.goodnet.com/~merlyn/ALBANEL.htm 
10. "Lady Day: March 19-20 (The Vernal Equinox)," at: http://ladyhedgehog.hedgie.com/ladyday.html 
11. "About.com guide to alternative religions: The call of spring: Rites for the Equinox," at: http://altreligion.about.com/culture/altreligion/library 
12. "Vernal Equinox: Dates and times of day each year from 1096 years , 1452 - 2547," at: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/3116/eqindex.html 
13. "Gwyl Canol Gwenwynol (Spring Eqinox) page," at: http://www.tylwythteg.com/Spring.html 
14. "Mayan spring equinox sacred sites tor and cruise: The return of the sun serpent," at: http://www.solunatours.com/st-mayan.htm 
15. "America's Stonehenge" is at: http://www.stonehengeusa.com/ 
16. "Iranian New Year: No Ruz," at: http://tehran.stanford.edu/Culture/nowruz.html
17. Von Del Chamberlain, "Equinox Means Balanced Light, Not Balanced Eggs," at: http://www.clarkfoundation.org/astro-utah/
18. Philip Plait, "Standing an egg on end on the Spring Equinox," at: http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/ 
19. "Loughcrew Megalithic Cairns," Knowth.com at: http://www.knowth.com/loughcrew.htm
20. "Equinox - Loughcrew Cairn T," Knowth.com, 2002-MAR-23, at: http://www.knowth.com/loughcrew-equinox.htm