Vernal equinox

From SourceryForge

Pagan Festivals

February 2nd	Imbolc
March 20th	Vernal equinox / Ostara
May 1st	Beltane
June 21st	Summer solstice / Litha
August 1st	Lughnasadh / Lammas
September 22nd	Autumnal equinox / Mabon
October 31st	Samhain
December 21st	Winter solstice / Yule
The exact date each year can vary slightly. The dates are different in the southern hemisphere.

The Vernal Equinox is the date halfway between the Winter solstice and the Summer solstice,as the days grow longer and the nights shorter.It is considered the first day of spring. The early Pagans had a holiday to mark the Spring Equinox, callled Ostara,celebrated around March 21st.

Part of the Ostara mythology involved the return of various deities from the underworld (symbolic of the end of winter). So it is not surprising that this holiday got enmeshed with the Christian story of the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ and his rise from the dead into Heaven...the holiday being subsumed into the Christian calendar under the etymologically linked name of Easter.

The historical evidence for a pagan festival of Ostara as such is not overwhelming but there is no doubt that the equinoxes were celebrated.