Hello Spring Equinox - Celebrating Belonging Across Faiths and Cultures
Forever fascinated by how events and rituals converge, I wrote a post on 17th February about the New Year. Today, the 20th March, I want to write about what is happening during the Spring Equinox. As the Northern Hemisphere tilts once more toward the sun, we are abundant with festivals that honour renewal, resilience and the courage of beginnings. This season brings us the beautiful convergences of Eid al-Fitr, Naw-Rúz, Easter, Navratri and the Spring Equinox, each distinct and each rooted in deep spiritual meaning, carrying the shared invitation of hope. For me, using this lens to look at the world helps us understand better how we belong and what we might belong to.
For Muslims around the world, Eid al-Fitr marks the end of Ramadan, a month of fasting, reflection and devotion. It is a festival of joy and is also full of tenderness. There will be gatherings filled with gratitude, acts of charity and the coming together after a period of discipline and spiritual focus. Eid reminds us that renewal often follows endurance and that community is a source of nourishment as vital as food.
Naw-Rúz is celebrated by Bahá’ís, Persians and communities across Central Asia. Bahá’ís is a religion that I have been introduced to by my lovely friend Arzhia. Naw-Rúz arrives with the Spring Equinox itself. For Bahá’ís, it concludes 19 days of fasting, a time of spiritual clearing and preparation. Naw-Rúz is a New Year that honours balance, light and dark in perfect harmony with Winter giving way to Spring with the inner life aligning with the outer world. It is a reminder that beginnings are not abrupt; they emerge gently, like the first green shoots through thawing soil. I love that idea of slow and gentle emergence.
In Hindu tradition, Navratri is a vibrant festival honouring the goddess Durga in her many forms. It is a celebration of divine strength, protection and the triumph of light over darkness. Across nine nights, communities gather in dance, devotion and colour embodying joy itself as an act of resilience. Navratri teaches us that beginnings often require courage and that the feminine that is creative, fierce and nurturing, holds immense power in shaping new worlds.
And then there is the Spring Equinox, the cosmic hinge on which all these celebrations gently swing. Day and night stand in balance. The earth stretches awake. Spring is arriving with a steady, generous unfolding. It is nature’s way of saying that you can begin again too. It’s the most beautiful season that mirrors newness and awakening to us.
Though these festivals arise from different histories, geographies and spiritual lineages, they share the thread that renewal is possible, that community matters and that light always returns which is why I think this is an important lens through which we can think about belonging. In a world that often feels fractured, this convergence offers a quiet, powerful reminder that we are more connected than we imagine and that we can find a sense of belonging in nature.
May this season bring you gatherings filled with warmth, moments of peace, courage for the path ahead and the soft, steady hope that comes with spring. You belong and you matter and whether you’re enjoying gatherings or standing in a field alone that gifts us nothing more than the fields ahead to gaze at (my favourite place), remember that you belong here and you matter.
