An equinox is an astronomical phenomenon marking an equal duration between day and night, at the moment when the sun crosses the Earth’s equatorial plane. The spring (or vernal) equinox in the northern hemisphere marks the beginning of spring.
It was the new year’s day for ancient societies. It is still celebrated as such in Iran (Naw-Ruz festival), Afghanistan and the Kurdish regions, as well as for the Baha’is. This time is considered spiritual spring.
The days become longer than the nights. With light symbolizing spirit and night matter for the ancients, the path of the sun during the year through the equinoxes and solstices represented the cycle of incarnation. The spring equinox was the most spiritually important moment since it symbolized the triumph of day over night, of spirit over matter. The respective lengths of days and nights therefore showed us our own cycles of inner evolution.
After the birth of the natural being at the autumn equinox marking the entry into the astrological house of the sign of Virgo, the birth of the spiritual being occurred at the opposite of the annual solar cycle, i.e. on the threshold of the astrological house of the sign of Pisces. On one side the natural birth by the baptism of water, on the other the spiritual birth by the baptism of fire.
The visible natural body and the invisible spiritual body were represented by these 2 equinoxes according to astrotheology. This passage of the spring equinox therefore marks the triumph of the solar spirit over the night of matter, the victory of light over darkness, the birth of the spiritual over the natural. He invites us to our own inner rebirth, to the growth of our spiritual aspects over our carnal aspects. Because for the spiritual being to be born and grow, the natural being must diminish.