As the Vernal Equinox approaches and the days grow longer and warmer, my entire being brightens up. My thoughts are taken out of the darkness of winter and into the light of Spring. Because a big part of my craft revolves around herbs and my garden I can’t help it if I get a bit giddy this time of year. The sunlight beckons and the bird’s song as they ready their nests echoes the sentiment in my heart. Time to get up, get moving, and get cleaning!
With the return of the sun, I find myself reevaluating my Craft and where I wish to take it during the following year. I break out the notes I made at Yule and do a “spring cleaning” if you will of those plans and ideas that need a bit of a dusting. Are those plans I made in the winter still viable in the new light of the spring? Which ideas need a bit of spit and polish to make them shiny and new again? Which ones are worn beyond measure and truly need to placed in the trash? Are there some that just need a stitch or two here or there to “mend” a shoddy, but still usable concept?
By breaking out the metaphorical soap and water at least once a year, I am able to keep my Craft fresh and moving in a forward direction. Any thing, any idea, that is stagnant, smells off, or seems to have grown a funky green fuzz on it from neglect over the winter gets a very thorough scrubbing. If afterwards it still stinks or just can’t seem to keep my attention, out it goes. I’ve had some really grand plans and seemingly awesome ideas turn to absolute mush over a long winter. I’ve had pieces of my Craft break off or shatter so badly no amount of time or glue could piece it back together. In the winter, in the cold and gray, I’ve tried in vain to save them. But in the light of spring I come to realize they have broken because they no longer serve me. I reexamine everything and purge, purge, purge! Out with the old!
Once the surfaces have been cleaned, the dust bunnies corralled, old candle wax scraped of the shelves, and the broken down and tattered remnants burned away, it’s time to bring in the new. With the smell of fresh beeswax and lemon polish in my nose, I sit and meditate on the plans and ideas that remain. How can I best use them? Will they take my Craft on the path I feel I need this year or do I need to purge further? Is there something I could add to enliven my Craft and my connection to the Gods? What makes my soul sing, my heart happy, and my Craft powerful? Do these concepts, these plans do that?
Once I am satisfied that all is organized, in its place and ready to use, I’m ready to move forward, to put those plans into action. I tuck my Book of Shadows under my arm, careful not to let all those refreshed notes, new spells and polished ideas spill out. I grab my freshly scrubbed cauldron, open a new pack of candles, and place what is left of last years offering of dried herbs in my basket and head to my outdoor altar, eager to begin my work. In the sunlight of a new spring day I feel cleansed and refreshed in both my spirit and my Craft. I’m ready to move eagerly towards the new experiences that await me in this season and the next.
Blessed Be.
