Celebrate the Spring Equinox With These Rituals

The spring equinox marks the moment when day and night are pretty much equal which is the universe's way of telling you balance is achievable. Drag yourself out of bed before dawn, pour a cuppa joe, stand outside in whatever embarrassing pajamas you own and watch the sun come up. This single act will make you feel more spiritually accomplished than anything you’ve done so far this year.

Spring cleaning is an ancient ritual of clearing out stagnant energy…and also those seven takeout containers you've been ignoring. Nearly every culture has their own tradition to mark the new season by scrubbing the house from top to bottom as a symbolic fresh start. Light a candle, put on your favorite playlist and Marie Kondo that junk drawer like you're being filmed for a documentary about people who still own VHS tapes.

Eggs are one of the oldest symbols of spring across virtually every culture on earth, representing rebirth, potential and the fact that chickens are finally back on schedule. Make shakshuka, a frittata or just soft-boil a few and artfully arrange them on a plate like you run a brunch spot. The ritual is in the intention, not the recipe.

In some traditions planting something is an act of co-creation with the season rather than just watching renewal happen from your window. Planting something small and trusting it to grow is one of the oldest metaphors for intention-setting, hope and patience. Even if you live in an apartment, a single herb pot on a windowsill counts as your personal agricultural empire.

Honey and citrus have been used in spring tonics across folk traditions for centuries, originally as a way to shake off the sluggishness of winter and get the body moving again. Warm a cup of water until it's just below boiling, squeeze in half a lemon, stir in a spoonful of raw honey and add a pinch of turmeric (and a splash of bourbon if the equinox finds you in that kind of mood).

Ancient Celtic peoples believed that springs, rivers and wells held particular power at seasonal turning points, which actually makes sense because standing next to moving water is one of the fastest ways to reset a cluttered mind. Find a body of water, even a fountain in a park and just stand there for a few minutes watching it do its thing.

The equinox as a "new beginning" aligns with agricultural cycles where spring literally determined whether your community would eat that year, which is about as high-stakes as intentions get. Write one thing you want to grow in the coming months on a piece of paper, bury it in soil, burn it safely or just stick it on your fridge where you'll actually see it.

Radishes are one of the oldest spring crops on record, showing up on ancient Egyptian and Roman tables as one of the first things out of the ground when winter finally took the hint. Toss a bunch in olive oil, salt and pepper, roast and watch them transform from sharp and aggressive into something soft and almost buttery.