Blessings of Ostara!!!!

[Foinah]

Happy first day of spring! May this Vernal Equinox be warm and filled with light and hope!
Blessings of Ostara to you all!!!!

 

[regdog]

Blessings

 

[Gavin Aendless]

Mabon blessings from the Southern Hemisphere.

This is the second thing that I have seen saying it is the first day of spring. In the USA, does the equinox traditionally mark the transition from winter to spring (or summer to autumn)? If so, is that a formal or informal thing?

The reason I ask is, in Australia we formally define the seasons according to the calendar months - our (official) shift from summer to autumn occurred on March 1, and autumn will last for the months of March, April and May. Arbitrary nonsense of course, but I was under the impression that delineating the seasons formally in this way was pretty standard for England and its one-time colonies.

If the equinox marks the shift from winter to spring over there (and presumably, summer to autumn), what dates mark the shift from spring to summer, and autumn to winter?

 

[Foinah]

In Celtic tradition Beltane (May 1) is the first day of summer and the Summer solstice (June 21) is the midway point of summer.
In the Northern hemisphere the vernal equinox (March 20) is the official first day of spring. The summer solstice is the official first day of summer. The fall equinox -- Mabon (Sept. 20) is the first official day of fall. In the Celtic tradition Samhain (October 31) denotes the New Year, and Yule (Dec. 20) aka the winter solstice is the official first day of winter.

From a dry physics standpoint: (North America) Regarding the apparent diurnal motion of the sun -- Remember that the sun is stationary with the earth in orbit around it. (haha) Diurnal motion refers to the motion of celestial bodies -- therefore I will refer to the sun's movement across the sky as apparent diurnal motion: ADM. At the Winter Solstice (Dec. 21) the Sun is at its lowest path in the sky & after that the sun is on a higher and higher path (ADM) through the sky each day until it's duration for exactly 12 hours -- the Spring Equinox. On this day, the sun rises exactly in the east and the ADM is for 12 hours and sets exactly in the west. On the Equinox this is the motion of the Sun through the sky for everyone on earth. Every place on earth experiences a 12 hours day twice a year on the Spring and Fall Equinox. After the Spring Equinox, the sun still continues to follow a higher and higher path through the sky, with the days growing longer and longer, until it reaches it highest point in the sky on the summer solstice. Summer solstice is the longest day/shortest night. As the days wind towards the fall equinox the days again become exactly 12 hours apart (Sep. 20) marching along the ADM towards the winter Solstice (shortest day/longest night).
Tahdah.

Yes. I am an astrophysicist witch ;-) Cackle™