Fertility Holidays and Just Welcoming Spring

[Rain Fordyce]

My husband and I laugh as we think about Easter. We love watching the boys have so much fun on the treasure hunt, but the truth is there is something strange about the bunny and egg thing.

Let's face it, we all know a bunny delivering eggs is about fertility symbols and fertility happens in the spring with our gardens beginning to take seed and grow.

But bunnies and eggs are so much more literal with such a adult theme, it feels strange to have your children get so excited to gather them filled with toys, money and candy... What are we really telling our children?

We celebrated the Spring Equinox by building and planting a garden at our still somewhat new home. That felt good and the boys were so excited to help create the space. We built two raised beds, 2'x 12' long, with 2' in between to walk and a deer fence around them both. Then we went to a farm to buy 2 yards of "Magic Soil" that is pretty famous around here and filled our beds to the top.

We planted tons of lettuce, kale, beets, spinach and carrots and later will grow cucumbers, watermelon (though the melon may not grow much!)

This was so much fun for all of us and it was beautiful to have the children be excited about the whole process of spring, rebirth and real food.

Some how candy, bunnies and eggs is so far from any reality that makes sense to our family, however we did the treasure hunt (eggs filled with money), made homemade treats and joined a neighbor for another hunt and a beautiful get-together later in the day.

So many times we act out on tradition without really thinking about what it means to us personally. Unless you are excited about the real meaning of bunnies and eggs for your children, isn't it time we let the fertility tradition go (that was sooo Paleolithic times!) and allow spring to shine as we plant our yearly garden joyously with our children?

If Easter means more to you because of your Christian beliefs, how can you celebrate and honor those beliefs without the pagan symbols? Getting closer to what you truly embrace creates an opportunity for sacred times instead of sugar-induced, meaningless commercial events.

It's a journey, but something worth thinking about.

smiles and joy,
Rain