The rites of spring: Rebirth is a major religious theme

Spring.

It's a time when the earth awakens from its winter's sleep. Flowers bloom. And the sun is more willing to show its face.

Coincidence or not, it's also a time of celebration and remembrance for the world's largest religions.

Christianity's springtime observations include Lent, the days of Holy Week and Easter.

Judaism has Passover.

Japanese Buddhists celebrate Ohigan and also reflect on the birthday of Buddha.

Pagans and other earth-based denominations celebrate the spring equinox.

While some faiths say their celebrations are clearly rooted in events outside the Earth's cycle of seasons, there are still parallels to the renewal of life that happens during the spring.

The Rev. Canon Mary June Nestler of the Episcopal Diocese of Utah said she believes people who actively participate in observations such as Lent, Holy Week and Easter often do feel a "newness of life" and spiritual renewal.

In her church and others such as Roman Catholic and Lutheran, services are done in such a way as to help a person feel as if they, too, have undergone death and resurrection, according to the Rev. Nestler. People can spiritually follow Christ into the "good news of Easter," she said.

"For us, Easter coming every year is meant to give the Christian what sometimes the secular world finds in, say, the passing of the old year and coming of the new year," said the Rev. Nestler. "They have a sense of a new beginning."

From her perspective, the greatest mark of a Christian is being able to find joy in the salvation of Christ. And each year, rituals and services are repeated so as to help people repent and renew, she said.

"Our entire year is based around a pattern and that recurring pattern is meant to deepen us, both in the life of Christ and the life of the world," said the Rev. Nestler.

Other faiths, including those who follow earth-based religions, find spirituality in the pattern of seasons. For Tara Sudweeks Willgues, a priestess and minister with the Church of the Sacred Circle, the spring equinox is a time to celebrate balance and the regeneration of life.

The equinox this year falls on Friday, March 20, and is a time when the day and night are equal in length. The equinox is also considered the first day of spring.

While there are a variety of ways pagans and other earth-based adherants celebrate the equinox, Willgues, who is also called the Rev. Heron, said she will dye eggs with her kids and do an egg hunt on the morning of the equinox.