Above is an example of the ceremony performed by a group in Canada.
Anubis attending the initiate who lies symbolically dead, to resurrect them.
Any solstice or equinox can be celebrated by simply being present for the rising or setting sun. There are many ways to celebrate the spring equinox. I’ve created a ceremony here based upon how an ancient one may have looked; I’ve used research and my own experience of having gone through the actual initiation it symbolizes while out of my body, and using the oldest known evidence for the celebration of the event that’s recorded today. Creating your own ceremony at home or with friends can connect you to the ancients and make you feel part of the spiritual cosmic order of the universe.
The Meaning of the Ceremony
The journey of the process of awakening is told in the heavens if you know how to read its signs. Central to that awakening is death and resurrection; these are primary events in the return of consciousness to its origin. The return is at ascension represented in the summer solstice. Sunrise on the spring equinox signifies the resurrection, following the darkness that preceded it. From this time onwards until the summer solstice, the Sun increases in its time in the sky.
It symbolizes the initiate’s triumph over darkness and absorption into the Father. Before the resurrection the initiate dies symbolically and spends three days in the tomb (see the article The Spiritual Meaning of the Spring Equinox).
The figure of Anubis is central to this and he presides over the process from death to resurrection. In an initiation of the inner death I went through out of the body, and before resurrection, I lay in a tomb in an open granite coffin with straight sides. It was dark inside the tomb, but I looked to my side and Anubis was standing at the doorway, silhouetted by the light behind him, and with the wings of Mercury on his head. Years later, looking at these ancient relics, I find references to Anubis (and his equivalent in other cultures) depicted in the exact event I went through. So many of the symbols I’m discovering now I also discovered while going through the initiation. The hieroglyphs of ancient Egypt are not speaking of a process of actual death, nor do they represent just cosmic events, but they describe the hidden initiations of the inner worlds.
The spring equinox can be celebrated in many ways, not just with a ceremony like the one I’m about to describe, but simply by being present at the rising sun, without any ceremony, or by chanting a mantra or by simply improvising something. It’s especially difficult to be in a suitable place to see the sunrise in a city, so it can be celebrated at home or wherever you think best. The more complex ceremony is better suited to a retreat situation where all the facilities are already in place for it.
The Ceremony
This ceremony is a simple one. It could have been made much more complex, but this captures the essence of the celebration.
It combines esoteric symbols with some of the oldest records of this event, most notably the Great Sphinx at Giza, the Pyramid Texts, and the Mahamrityunjaya mantra from the Rig Veda. The Pyramid Texts and the Rig Veda are the oldest known sacred texts in the world.
This can be done as a stand-alone ceremony, but it is really part of a three day event, which begins with the symbolic death on the first day. On the second is the time spent in the tomb, and on the third day is resurrection.
This is a ceremony for the day of the spring equinox. It’s about the resurrection and shouldn’t be mixed with the other days in a single ceremony. At least one item of white, such as a shirt or a blouse, should be worn.
The Set Up of the Ceremony
Its best if the bonfire is inside a stone or wooden circle as that can symbolize the tomb for this ceremony. The ceremony begins with Anubis inside the entrance of the circle, with his back to the passageway, as though he is standing at a doorway of a tomb and looking in, with a lit torch nearby. He wears the feathers of Mercury in his headdress (symbolizing rising) – they are vertical, and fan out slightly. He is silent throughout the ceremony and faces the coffin until the sun rises; then he faces the sun. Next to him is a copper cauldron (symbolic of the womb, the mixing of the sexual energies) or equivalent bowl containing water (symbolizing the sexual waters of creation). On the outside of the cauldron are nine markings from the bottom to the top, signifying nine layers of the earth, and the ninth sphere, sex. The top marking is at the level of the water, indicating the descent and re-ascent the initiate must make before resurrection.
Also present is a symbolic open coffin (the symbolic three day time of death in the tomb) without a lid, having straight sides so it is rectangular in shape like the sarcophagus in the Great Pyramid of Egypt, or a simple flat wooden platform on the ground. It doesn’t have to be life-size; it can be a very small representation. It should be situated between the bonfire and the inner entrance to the circle.
The Participants
Those present stand facing the bonfire, outside the circle, before the entrance to the circle begins – they are dressed in white, but can have yellow or gold trim, and each carry unlit candles.
The Performance of the Ritual
The ceremony begins before sunrise. Everything is in its place around the bonfire and Anubis walks to the edge of the circle, standing at the entrance of the circle, as though standing at a doorway and looking into a tomb. As he stands he faces the coffin, which is in front of the bonfire, and all are aligned to the rising sun. Anubis faces the sun throughout, except when he has to move to light the fire, and should be a tall person if possible, as Anubis looks physically imposing.
The participants light their candles themselves and begin quietly chanting the mantra OM continuously and in an unbroken form.
Just as the sun is about to rise a number of the participants chant the Mahamrityunjaya mantra (they can read it if they can’t remember the words). The rest of the participants continue quietly with the mantra OM.
As the sun appears at the horizon it represents the Son rising up out of the underworld (symbolized in the ceremony by the earth it rises up over). No one plays the part of Horus or an initiate in this ceremony as it is the sun itself that is the central figure.
As the sun rises Anubis takes the torch and lights the bonfire (symbolizing the Son, or Christ). When the sun has fully risen, Anubis leaves the circle and the Mahamrityunjaya mantra ends.
The participants continue with the mantra for a short time and the ceremony ends. After the end of the ceremony you could chant any mantras you feel are relevant to the occasion.
Mantras
The Mahamrityunjaya mantra
The Mahamrityunjaya mantra is also known as the Great Death-Conquering mantra, and is found in the most ancient Hindu text the Rig Veda, in the most ancient core texts of it.
The text the Siva Purana (in the Sati Khanda section) tells a story about Sukracharya, who was the teacher of demons. As penance, Indra set Sukracharya the task of hanging upside down from a tree above a fire with smoke billowing into him for twenty years. After Sukracharya succeeded in getting through this challenge, he was taught this life-restoring mantra so he could recover from his long period of austerity. It was later taught by Sukracharya to Rishi Dadhicha so he could recover after his body was cut into pieces (an interesting parallel with the restoring of Osiris’ body which was cut into pieces as part of his passion in Egypt). It is dedicated to Rudra, the ancient Hindu god of death, and appears in a passage in which Soma, the nectar of immorality is consumed.
Here are the words to the Mahamrityunjaya mantra and their translation.
Om Tryambakam Yajamahe
Sugandhim Pushtivardhanam
Urvarukamiva Bandhanan
Mrityor Mukshiya Maamritat
We Meditate on the Three-eyed reality
Which permeates and nourishes all like a fragrance.
May we be liberated from death for the sake of immortality,
Even as the cucumber is severed from bondage to the creeper.
The cucumber is significant, because a cucumber does not fall or separate from the vine like other fruits; it will grow, ripen, and then wither and die on the vine, producing the seeds for the next generation of plant without ever leaving the vine. This is symbolic of the cycles of birth, death, and rebirth. To leave the vine it must be picked, which is to be freed from this cycle.
Below is a video with a suitable pronunciation of the Mahamrityunjaya mantra – don’t lower the tone at the end as it does in the video though when you pronounce it.
Here are some suggestions for mantras for after the ceremony:
Oṃ āmaraṇi dziwanteye svāhā
Tibetan mantra of the Buddha Amitāyus, whose name means infinite life, who dwells in the Pure Land beyond the bounds of this world, and who is mostly depicted sitting and holding in his hands a vessel containing the nectar of immortality.
and
Om namo bhagavate vasudevaya
~ from the Bhavaghata Purana
Meaning:
O my Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, son of Vasudeva, O all-pervading personality of Godhead, I offer my respectful obeisance unto You.
It is said in India, that prostration and salutation is an external symbol of an internal union, and that by chanting mantras to aspects and forces of God, an atmosphere is created within for the contemplation of God and the sensing of His presence.
Visualization
For an inspirational visualization of the ceremony try looking at the picture of the Sphinx as Anubis in The Spiritual Meaning of the Spring Equinox article on this site, play the Mahamrityunjaya mantra above, and visualize a ceremony at the spring equinox with everyone dressed in white as the sun rose in Ancient Atlantean times.
~ Belsebuub
More on the Spring Equinox
The Spiritual Meaning of the Spring Equinox
Ancient Sacred Sites Aligned to the Spring Equinox
