Here in the northern hemisphere we are celebrating Easter along with the arrival of the Spring Equinox. This date has a very different and important meaning for me this year - besides being my first time experiencing the remarkable change that this season brings in the Northern Lands, my Goddess Godmother of the Year (the one that rules my life in 2018 according to the Oracle of the Goddess) is the Spring Goddess Eostre, a Holy Maiden who brings back life after winter, according to some pagan stories.

More than that: my daughter's birth began during an intense snowfall over Berlin at the exact turn of the Equinox, the zodiacal year, and the crescent moon. These are very, very deep symbols for me.

During birth, which lasted a long time and was quite difficult, I needed the strength of my ancestors and called my maternal grandmother in Brazil. She asked me for courage and reminded me of the ascending Persephone, from the Winter World, the exact image of the Sacred encounter between Mother Demeter and Daughter (and Queen) Persephone. As she comes up, her dark clothes become brighter, her black hair is wreathed with flowers and the atmosphere around her, once icy and heavy, becomes refreshing and light.

Each step gives rise to grass and flowers at her feet, awakening the small animals and birds from their hiding places, warning that the day is rising, the snow is melting and dispersing and now life comes back from every corner. It's safe to go out into the world again! Now life sprouts, opening the Earth and breaking the limits, with every step that Persephone takes to go and meet her Mother. Everything that a seed contains can now flourish: all the fertility, wealth, potential and fulfilment of life and creativity. After so long under the blanket of snow and cold, creatures can open up, dance and meet the sun.

And so my daughter was also coming, little by little, from the darkness of my womb. We worked together in the hard labor that is being born, she slowly coming to meet me and bring the Sun and Dance into our lives. And what a explosion it was to feel her arrival! A lot of pain but also a deep relief, like the seed that finally opens up to the warmth. How much love, how deep, what a celebration! Alice has arrived!

With the arrival of the Divine Spring comes also the Divine Girl inside all women. And so it is: now the bodies can relax, feed lightly, wear colorful clothes, prepare to experience the archetypal moment of the Sacred Maiden. Nature is in celebration! This is the moment of the new, of the heroine's adventure, of creating, of dancing, of leaving, of renewing.

It is Persephone who carries the good news and calls us to act, to perform! She calls us to put our minds, our wombs, our lives and our stories in motion. It is time to open our minds to all possibilities. It's time to see beyond, to laugh, to have fun, to be a Child again. Beginnings.

Everything that has been kept inside our inner psychic cave during the winter, being ruled by our inner Old Crone, can now leave our comfort zone and be released into the form of our Maiden, Girl, Child under the Sun.

May she lead us back to the beginning or the end of a cycle, let her open our paths, and may we, with her Spring Energy, enjoy and fulfil our dreams. Dreams that are like seeds: they can sprout and thrive now. Create, dance, paint, celebrate.

Welcome again, Persephone, beloved spring!
Welcome, my beloved daughter Alice!