This weekend is named for a woman. In the mind of a man who lived and wrote near the Scots border 1500 years ago, and in contemporary minds studying the roots of language … Easter is a woman who dances, a woman shining with the dawn.
I find that comforting right now, in the raw the beginning of spring. Even on cloudy, cold days, this is a time ifor earth and warmth, when an egg and a seed are daily miracles, and so are all the beings who can create one inside themselves.
In the traditions I grew up with, this weekend is meant to be a high time for life and and peace — and an active, healing love. In the stories I learned as a child, someone who sees the humanity, the being, in people, can become strong in their own life, and change and sustain life around them like a tide.
Now I know many people and many stories woven around meetings of life and death, and courage in times of pain, and holding people close. And for people who live in temperate places with changing seasons, this time of year can open to the earliest spring bulbs, birds coming back to the marshes and mergansers in the river.
Stories can weave together and grow. So I’m glad to know that the Venerable Bede, a monk writing about 700 CE, wrote about the old English and Anglo Saxon name for the month and the moon of April:
‘Eosturmonath … was once called after a goddess of theirs named Eostre, in whose honour feasts were celebrated in that month. Now they designate that Paschal season by her name, calling the joys of the new rite by the time-honoured name of the old observance.’
When people come together with family and friends, to share sadness for life ending and love for life growing, I like to think that the spirit we celebrate can take the shapes we need to strengthen us, and one of them can be a woman dancing like sunrise on the water.
An anonymous Berkshire artist, the Guerilla Bunny, paints bright and detailed eggs and hides them as community art projects. Press image courtesy of the artist.
Find a touch of color and savor …
Maple syrup tours and brunch at Ioka Valley Farm or Woodlife Ranch …
Slow Fashion workshops at the Old Stone Mill — March 30 from 10:30 to 4:30
Spring Hoppening at Berkshire Botanical Garden — March 30 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Pittsfield Eggstravaganza — March 30 from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on the Common
Lenox Easter Egg Scramble — March 30 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Lilac Park
nbCC Easter Festival — March 30 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the North Adams Armory
More events coming up …
