Start of Spring is the first of the six stages of spring. Here we will explore the “meaning” of springtime in general and then focus on the "meaning" of the first phase of the season. Then, further below, you will find Practice Guidelines for the Start of Spring Empowerment. 

Over the next three months, springtime will gradually unfold. Day-by-day you may not notice any change, but ninety days from now, looking back, you would notice a dramatic transformation all around. Nature will be green and bursting with vitality. The warming sky will be filled with chirping melodies and the buzz of insects. The “mood” of nature will have shifted by ninety degrees. The difference between wintry starkness and a landscape of animated greenery captures the essence of springtime.

Springtime represents the rebirth of nature which retreated underground over the last three months. The life force is about to burst forth with irrepressible vitality. Spring is an expansive, life-affirming season that gushes with youthful exuberance. The themes embodied by springtime include new possibilities and the excitement they generate. I envision Spring as a boy with large curious eyes eager to explore a mysterious new world. As we enter springtime, nature will support you when you embody the spirit of boundless possibilities.

Now let’s zero in on the meaning of the first phase of Spring, Start of Spring. If springtime is a time of new beginnings, then the first phase of Spring represents the beginning of the beginning. Picture an artist standing before a blank canvass. What will she paint? She doesn't know yet. The possibilities are endless. Her freedom is complete and so is her openness. Facing endless possibilities, she is capable of creating anything. As soon as a vision emerges and she makes her first mark on the canvass, the universe of possibilities will shrink away from infinity, but before her vision emerges, she embodies the "beginning of the beginning" and she is free to imagine anything. 

The theme associated with Start of Spring is perfect freedom. Now is the time to allow yourself not to know. Over the next fifteen days relax the mental muscle that says "yes" to one thing and "no" to another. Drop judgement and opinions. Suspend both belief and disbelief. Welcome enlightened ignorance. Let your mind go for a swim in the sea of infinite possibilities. As springtime matures a new guiding vision will eventually materialize. But before that can happen you must create the space for that vision to emerge. Now is the time to awaken the field of "not knowing."