Hello, love. And happy April!
Welcome to the month of buds and blossoms and blooms. Spring is really, finally here - even if there is a crapload of snow in my Scandinavian forecast. Still, there is no denying that the seasons have changed. The sun is shining today, the wind is whipping, and the air is fresh and clean. My window is cracked open and I hear birds chirping and people moving about below me in the city. The time has changed to summer time and the days are lengthening. The sun feels different now, warmer and more powerful, when it peeks from behind the big, puffy cumulous clouds that water the earth off and on all month long. There is magic and life and energy in the air.
The origin of the name of the month of April comes from the Latin word Aprilis, which simply means “opening”. It has long been a month associated with agricultural and rural festivals celebrating the “opening” of the earth and the return of the season of gardening and growth. In April, flowers, trees, animals, and the waters all “come alive” again. Butterflies emerge from their cocoons and begin to flit about. Birds return to build nests and birdsong becomes my soundtrack on my walk to work. There are signs of new life and new beginnings everywhere.
And, while April is a month of rising, life-giving energy, it feels like a month that is meant to be simply experienced and celebrated. It’s counterpart, October, - also a magical month meant to be enjoyed and soaked in - invites us to drop into the waning energy of the year and fully experience the magic of autumn. Both of these months seem to be especially simple, I believe, each of them leading up to a very important, season-shifting, fire festival on their last day. Beltane, or Valborg in Scandinavia, in the end of April signals the beginning of summer energy; and All Hallow’s Eve, or Samhain, in the end of October shifts us into winter-mode.
With that said, my focus this month is literally to just soak in all of the sun and rain and beautiful blossoms of April.
You see, the energy of this month is fragile and fleeting. It is a very earthy, dreamy, soft month. It’s the month of butterflies and baby birds. And of paper-thin, pastel pink cherry blossoms.
I don’t think I have ever thought of this before, but the cherry blossom is the perfect natural archetype, or symbol, for April. Many of us wait with bated breath for those glorious, magical pink blossoms. And, when they do break forth from their buds, it is as if Mother Nature whispers to us an ancient secret of life. But, the soft, pink flowers drift down to the earth as quickly as they bloom. Most are in full bloom only 5 days - 2 weeks. If, however, we are so lucky as to time it just right so that we see a cherry tree in bloom, then we can definitely count ourselves blessed.
The secret of the cherry blossom? April is fragile and fleeting. Like those soft, gentle, pink, blossoms. And like life.
And so, as April, the beautiful month of openings and life unfolds, my deepest intention is to just soak up all of the opening and unfolding. I want to look for the tiniest, smallest moments of my everyday life that take my breath away like a cherry tree in bloom. I want to observe and be aware of nature’s rebirth. I don’t want to miss the morning birdsong on my walk to work in the morning. I want to turn my face to the sun whenever it’s high in the sky, warming the earth. I want to let the pitter patter of the rain on my window nourish and calm my soul as it nourishes and waters the flowers just starting to bud and bloom. I want to let the dark, fertile soil under my feet ground me and keep me steady. And I want to dance, laugh, eat, drink, and fill my life with beautiful things all month long. Nothing fancy or complicated. Just simple, love-filled, colorful, fragile, fleeting moments of life.
This April, everything is reborn. You. Me. The earth and the seas. The moon guides our nights, and the sun warms and rules over our ever-lengthening spring days. The days of April, like the moments of our lives, are fleeting and fragile. They come and go so quickly. Like the cherry blossoms. So, this month all I want to do is to simply be present through it all. And to find one soft, gentle beautiful moment in every single day.
Perhaps, since we are all reborn with the season of spring, since everything is renewed and reawakened, we will see April - and each of the rest of our days on earth - with fresh, new eyes attuned to seek out the beauty and hope in everything that exists. I am certain the passing of my dad just 6 months ago has given me these fresh, new eyes with which to see the world. And, who knows? Maybe he is even in the wind blowing through the cherry trees this spring, whispering the ancient, earthly, cosmic message that life is fragile and fleeting. So, let’s lean into it, drop into it, and live it up before it’s too late. There is too much beauty all around, so let’s grab onto all that we can see and feel and experience.
Here’s to remembering how fragile and fleeting life is - and to committing to a month of soaking it all in, moment by moment. April is here to inspire us to open up, to remember that hope always remains, and that there is beauty to be found in every little thing. April is here to remind us to live.
xoxo. liz.
April happenings
☀️ April sunrise/sunset times in Norrköping, Sweden (Mondays)
01 April - 6:21 / 19:37 (day length 13 hours, 16 min)
08 April - 6:01 / 19:53
15 April - 5:41 / 20:09
22 April - 5:22/ 20:26
29 April - 5:04 / 20:42 (day length 15 hours, 37 min!!)
🌙 Moon phases (Europe dates)
08 April - Super New Moon
24 April - Full Pink Moon
✨ Sacred Days + Folk Festivals
08 April- Total solar eclipse (seen in parts of North America only)
30 April - Valborg (Walpurgis night - The origins of the holiday date back to pagan celebrations of fertility rites and marking the victory of spring over winter)
Other spiritual, springy holidays in March - Ramadan ends, Eid al Fitr (break the fast), Jewish Passover
🎵 The playlist
The fragile, fleeting energy of April 🌸