Spring is rebirth and new beginnings. After the quiet and slow living of winter, it’s time to set springtime intentions. A wonderful way is to literally plant seeds in our garden and other rituals.
When March came, my sister proclaimed “Spring is here!” Now with Spring Equinox just around the corner, it sure feels like Spring is here. The other day I headed to my local gardening shop to peruse my options. Somewhat on a whim, I went unprepared, without my handy list of cat-friendly plants. What I did end up getting, after some research – it’s cat-friendly, was a light pink Camellia plant.
Camellia is early spring or autumn/winter blooming. Called Taylor’s Perfection, mine is an evergreen shrub with large semi-double blooms and dark glossy green leaves. There are many kinds and I opted for a slower growth and smaller plant as mine is living in a container on my patio.
Rebirths & New Beginnings of Spring Equinox – Spring Intentions
After the “slumber” of winter, we are ready to throw off our heavy clothes and emerge from our heavy-duty underworld journey into the void. It’s time for a rebirth and new beginnings. Interestingly, Mercury will also be going direct the week after. As you know, Mercury Retrograde is a wonderful time to go inward and focus on our interior communications. For review, reset, release, re-think, re-write, re-define, reflect, relax… for even clearer intentions for the rebirth and new beginnings that come with the Spring.
Also known as Ostara and Alban Eilir (“Light of the Earth”), Spring Equinox is at 2:58 PM Wednesday March 20 2019 Pacific Time (5.58 AM Thursday March 21 2019 Singapore Time). (For our friends in the southern hemisphere, it is Autumn Equinox or Mabon and Alban Elfed (“Light of the Water”), to slowly move towards winter.)
Spring, as you can imagine, is about fertility. Persephone returns from the Underworld, and with her a return of vitality, life, growth, and celebrations.
Celebrating Spring
In Garden Witch’s Herbal, Ellen Dugan shares that the flowers associated with the Spring Equinox are the Violet, Dandelion, Red Clover, and White Clover. Other spring flowers include Daffodil and Bluebell. Co-authors Lucy Cavendish and Serene Conneeley remind us in The Book of Faery Magic that bluebells, a famously faery flower, has been linked to this realm for a very long time. “It’s said that the faeries ring the bells of these delicate plants to summon their friends to meetings, as well as to make instruments to create their enchanted music.” Want a garden for faeries? They suggest growing plants that provide shelter, nectar, and fruits.
If you think you’ve never used dandelion as medicine, guess again. It’s a prime ingredient in over half of all herb blends on the market, including formulas for weight loss, PMS, detoxification, and rejuvenation, along with liver, digestive, kidney, and skin ailment. Dandelion is such a wondrous source of minerals, vitamins, fibre, micronutrients, lecithin, and biologically active substances that there is probably no existing condition that would not benefit from regularly consuming dandelions.
Joyce A Wardwell, The Herbal Home Remedy Book
According to Harmonic Arts, “Red Leaf Clover has been used traditionally in herbal medicine for thousands of years” and lists as some of its benefits as (quoted from FB post):
? Blood cleansing – excellent blood purifier & helps with heart health.
? Supports women’s health – supports PMS & menopausal symptoms.
? Relieves cough – long used to remedy hacking coughs like croup, whooping cough & bronchitis.
? Calms skin irritations – treat skin conditions such as psoriasis, eczema & rashes.
? Improves soil quality – planting clover in the garden rejuvenates nutrient-poor soils & reduces the need for fertilizers, which saves money & protects waterways from runoff.
This is a wonderful time to plant these flowers. You can do a seed blessing and indoor planting ceremony. I also love this Spring Ritual of planting a red egg for new intentions.
(These appear to be safe for cats and dogs according to this list from ASPCA. Interestingly, most of these are considered “weeds”! Time to re-think the gifts of Nature and what we see as weeds in life.)
Plant Name |
Symbolism |
Medicinal, Magical & Other Uses |
Other Associations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violet (Viola odorata) (blue violet and sweet violet) | sweetness, modesty; white violet – innocent & honesty) | protection, love, lust, including from being faery-led, prosperity magick, edible, leaves are soluble fibre, blood cleanser, lymphatic stimulant, pulmonary remedy, cooling, anti-inflammatory | Sachiel, archangel of Jupiter, Thursday, prosperity, Aphrodite, Venus, love, Water element, feminine |
| Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) (lion’s tooth and wild endive) | oracle of love | divination, wish-granting, psychic skills; spring tonic, flowers into wine, liver tonic | Hecate, Jupiter, Air element, masculine |
| Red Clover (Trifolium pratense) | Four-leaf clover : “you are mine” and “you are lucky”; Three-leaf clover : power of three | prosperity, love, trust, medicinal properties include blood cleansing | Mercury, Air element |
| White Clover (Trifolium repens) | “I will be faithful” | grid in corners of space for protection from entities, hex, and manipulation; edible both raw and baked, blood cleanser, tincture from the leaves for gout, tea infusion for colds and fevers | Mercury, Air element |
* info from Garden Witch’s Herbal by Ellen Dugan, Chestnut Herbs, and Homespun Seasonal Living
If you are looking for some wonderful tea blend ideas using Dandelion root, Violet flowers and leaves, Linden blossoms, and Red Clover flowers, try this booklet Herbal Teas for Lifelong Health by Kathleen Brown. A souvenir from my visit to the Edison and Ford Winter Estates in Florida.
After I gave my new Camellia a wonderful drink of water, I decided to look further into this beautiful plant. Some words that came up via a quick google search – Divine Feminine, receptivity, gratitude, and true prosperity. It resonates with the Master Number 11.
Camellia ranges from white to pinks and red, representing a different intensity. Pink is the colour of hope, playfulness, compassion, care, and love. A Victorian belief is that the faeries will bring the one you miss when you send them a pink Camellia. All of this ties into my own springtime intentions!
As my Camellia is a winter bloom, I’ll have some time yet to explore the significance and beauty of this plant. Nourishing and nurturing it with Springtime intentions for a wintertime harvest.
What are your intentions for the new beginning this Spring?
