In Australia, we’ve just had a long Easter weekend. Maybe that’s true for where you live too. While I’m not religious, I am interested in the symbology of Easter. It has something potent to teach us. Wherever you sit on the Easter spectrum, let’s hop to it. (Get it? ?)
While the meanings of Easter have changed over millennia, they are all based in the change from the dark of winter to the light of spring. Easter was named after a pre-Christian goddess in England called Eostre, who was celebrated at beginning of spring. (So even though in my country we are moving out of summer and toward winter, the deeper symbolism of Easter can still be very useful.)
One of the central ideas from all Easter stories is that for us to move forward into something new, something has to die.
To grow, we have to let go of something. It might be something we’re doing (maybe a job), something we are feeling (maybe feelings of not-enough, or feeling like an imposter), something we’re believing (maybe ‘I don’t have it in me/I can’t do this’), a community or friend that no longer supports who you are now, or something else (where you’re living, what your priorities are… many things).
Whatever it is, we can’t stay the same and change. We can’t move onto the new without cutting the ties of something that we’re holding on to now. That’s the way it is. And this is ok, and a fact of life. We see this in nature. In the seasons. It’s within us as well.
This time of the year gives us a prompt to not be anchored to a past – even if it was completely amazing – in lieu of the authentic future that beckons. What served you then may not be what will serve the you you are evolving into.
When we truly die to an old way of believing/doing/thinking – we can be resurrected into something incredible. Into the next arc of our life.
Don’t be afraid if you find yourself at this juncture. If you’re on that precipice, maybe the symbolism of Easter can help you fly.
