The spring equinox (also known as the vernal equinox) is the time in the earth’s annual cycle around the sun in which day and night are equal in length, before the days finally start to get longer after the dominance of darkness during winter, and life springs forth from death. The spring equinox is a special time of connecting with the divine, which is just as important as ever today.
Update on our articles about the spiritual meaning of the solstices and equinoxes
As of 17 March 2018, this article has been removed from our website because it was being so extensively plagiarized by people using it to write their own articles on the meaning of the solstice and equinox without crediting or referencing our work. Usually these people write an article about the meaning of the solstice or equinox on their website as an SEO and marketing gimmick to boost their site’s ranking, or in order to promote and market their “spiritual” products and retreats, and were using our articles as a basis to do so. In some cases they have copied and pasted the entire contents of our article as if it’s their own. There are at least hundreds of instances where people have plagiarized our articles on the spiritual meanings of the solstices and equinoxes across the internet (and on the ancient megalithic sites aligned to them) – all of them after our originals were first published between 2011 and 2012.
As of March 2018, our article had 7,000 shares.
The full text of our article that explains the spiritual meaning of the spring equinox was first published on this website in March 2012, and was later published in our free eBook The Path of the Spiritual Sun, which also had to be withdrawn because of extensive plagiarism. The entire article is now chapter 4 of the paperback edition of The Path of the Spiritual Sun: Celebrating the Solstices and Equinoxes, which is available for purchase. We do not make any royalties from the sale of this book, as we work on the principle of providing spiritual knowledge without profit.
I’ve written an article on how plagiarism is such a problem rife in “new age” and “modern” spirituality today, and also on why we have the principle of providing our work for free and without profit.
It’s deeply unfortunate that we’ve had to withdraw our articles, which we had provided completely freely for many years in the hope of benefiting people, but as non-profit and independent authors we simply cannot maintain them against the scale of plagiarism our work faces.
About the Author
Belsebuub is the author of a number of books on out-of-body experiences, dreams, self-discovery, and esoteric knowledge. An early edition of his book The Astral Codex became a bestseller in its genre, and Gazing into the Eternal was a finalist in the Best Book Awards 2009 in Spirituality. He has appeared on radio and television programs internationally, and writes from decades of spiritual and mystical experience.
It’s such a shame that very little can be done, hopefully resources will improve in the future to tackle this problem efficiently.
Thankfully, for now there is The Path Of The Spiritual Sun.
Thank you for this update Lara. How sad is it then for anyone that comes to this wonderful resource website tol not be able to read this article, freely, as you and Mark have always intended.
It is truly shocking to think that some of the people that consider themselves to be spiritual can actually think that this kind of behaviour
is actually in line with spiritual principles and values and acceptable. Deceiving others for profit is abhorent and I wonder whether these people do in fact understand the damage that they are causing with these actions?
It’s a very sad indictment on the world that it has to come to this yet again.
Probably at this stage it’s plagarisers plagarising plagarisers and the true source has been well and truly lost and none of them have a clue as to the spiritual principle they are breaking.
I hope more people can find their way to the true source because it certainly seems the content is popular.
I also feel sad that you had to resort to this measure of removing these articles but on the other hand, I can see that this is a necessary step in order to reduce the instances of plagiarism of your work. I guess people who do that don’t even realise the impact this has on other people who are really searching for the esoteric guidance in their own lives. It seems this is related to the general state of the world and the lack of understanding.
I hope things can and will improve at some point.
It’s so sad to see this happening… bits of Light being dimmed here and there.
No wonder it’s said these are dark times.
This is a very sad situation indeed. I was wondering though, that even if the articles on the solstices and equinoxes are removed from this site, the plagiarists already have them and they are also still accessible on other websites (many of which reference to this site), so the plagiarising will most likely continue. These articles are apparently extremely popular, and it looks like the people who organise different events use them by default. At least I have seen the same organisers copying and pasting the parts of these articles for each of their events every year without any change.
So I was just wondering, if removing these articles maybe is a part of a different process, like aligning this website with spiritual principles by not providing this work easily for those who misuse it.
This is just something I have been pondering on recently, similarly to what Nathan mentioned below, about adhering to spiritual principles in our daily life and what it exactly entails. It does look like as a society (and individuals therefore), we are so far removed from honoring, applying, and even understanding these principles, that we have a very hard time to even realise something is not right and the deeper implications of it.
I wish everyone a reflective equinox time and hope that people who sincerely search for this spiritual knowledge can still find it and recognize it in these dark times we live in.
I think you made some good points there Lucia about how people need to first comprehend spiritual principles in order to uphold them. I can recall an instance of being caught out for plagiarism at school and feeling indignant after the teacher initially refused to grade the essay. At the time, I believed I hadn’t done anything wrong, as I thought that plagiarism only applied when a section of text was copied and pasted verbatim, but if I paraphrased it by changing the odd word here and there, then it was OK. I only really learnt about how to properly attribute sources once I started university, so I can understand to an extent that some people may genuinely feel that what they’re doing is OK.
But I have also seen numerous cases of direct copying and pasting from this and other articles, where multiple paragraphs have been appropriated. The people plagiarising such large amounts of content must surely have realised that verbatim copying was not OK, particularly as there has been a notice about plagiarism featured in a prominent location alongside each of the articles on the site for a number of years, which also links to a very informative article, explaining the threat to genuine spirituality that occurs when the signposts pointing towards it are removed or relocated, according to people’s whim.
So on the whole, I think the issue comes down to people feeling that it’s their right to take whatever they want, to use for their own purposes, which is part of the “torrent” internet culture, where people feel that it’s fine to just download and distribute whatever content they want, as no-one follows copyright laws these days anyway. It seems a case of “If everyone else is doing it, why shouldn’t I?” But those who seek to abide by spiritual principles would know that acting badly just because other people are doing the same is not a sound basis for true spiritual growth.
It really is terribly sad that the articles have had to be removed, however I agree as well with the decision to do so in order to stop the cases of plagiarism. I’ve been reflecting lately on the lack of spiritual principles currently (mainly in myself) and it really does leave the world in a sorry condition. It’s a pity seeing as the solstices and equinoxes are times of aligning to spiritual principles. Hopefully the situation can be changed one day, but I feel it will take a lot of work aligning to what the world is missing to do so.
I am also saddened to hear that this article has needed to be removed, due to the ongoing issue with plagiarism. It’s a tragic situation, as this information is so unique and can benefit so many. Yet it’s an understandable measure that needs to be taken, in order to not mislead those who are hungrily searching for authentic spiritual knowledge and protect its integrity.
I’ve recently found more instances of plagiarism of this article, in order to promote events related to the spring equinox, so the current state of affairs is unfortunately inevitable, due to the current drive for commercial spirituality, which feeds on and yet engulfs true spirituality, which is given freely for the benefit of humanity.
The articles detailing the issues of plagiarism have been on the site for a few years now, along with updates alongside the printed books, but it’s a pity that so many still feel it’s OK to take someone else’s work and present it as their own.
We can only hope that as the content becomes less accessible, at least some of those who are using it for financial or personal gain may begin to reflect upon their actions and act in a way that truly supports the forces of light in the world.
In the meantime, I feel it’s important for those who have grasped the preciousness of this type of spiritual knowledge to unite in a way that allows it to continue in the world, by preserving and protecting it.
I recently looked at Belsebuub’s biography and the following quote in The Fulfilment of a Personal Quest section stood out to me:
‘Western so-called “spirituality” has reached an all-time low, and people are no longer able to tell the difference between those who follow standards and those who don’t, as the mass of people in the West aren’t aware of and don’t value those standards themselves.’
Very true.
Thanks for your input Michael, it’s greatly appreciated.
Thanks for your input in addressing this issue too Martin. It’s also much appreciated.
It’s a shame you had to remove the articles. They were amazing in introducing people to the meaning of creation and the journey of the sun.
I wish there was more common sense from people than just copying someone else’s work. It seems plagiarism has become a way of doing things in the internet these days. Originality is scarce and many people just copy others.
Having articles published that are exact copycats of other articles already published is unethical and, in my opinion, a not a very intelligent way of promoting one’s brand and have long-term profits. A brand is about being an authority in something. If people eventually find out that someone’s content is plagiarized then there goes the businessman’s “hard work”; the brand looses credibility. That’s embarrassing.
I guess it can become even more embarrassing if people try to save face by defending their “right” to plagiarize.
The standards of creativity seem to have reached new lows.
I sometimes wonder if some of these plagiarises are even aware of the harm they are causing.
This is terrible news.
Although I’m terribly saddened by this news, I completely support the decision to remove the content from this article due to rampant acts of plagarism that unbelievably still continues to take place today.
I implore those people who are knowingly plagiarizing the authors Belsebuub and Lara’s work to please reconsider your harmful actions, read the many articles written about it and stop doing it. The years of research and hard work that went into providing the content and articles posted on this website (which most of us appreciate and greatly benefit from) should be credited to its rightful authors and shouldn’t be tampered with either. The authors shouldn’t have to continue to be forced to remove it again and again in order to protect its integrity.
I agree it’s great to know that this information is still available on paperback but for how long? It might deterred them temporarily but it certainly won’t stop plagarizers from hijacking information in print and if we let things continue at this rate, we might lose that too.
Sorry to hear that…
This book is giving so match when giving a reference/ credit to the source is so simple and the minimum someone could do to thank you at least for the material. It’s a same to be used like this and now the source to be empty of this particular one.
Lately, I crossed by a gadget which can scan and turn paper printed text into digital one, and I was thinking about this cases of plagiarism, how difficult it is to stand on and defend your principals from one hand and on the other helping humanity that lack of them. It’s a desperate situation as I feel it which leads where? This material to become hidden again or encrypted? I’m just wondering
I hope/wish there are solutions left to be used before is too late.
Even that, I wish people who are really interested to look and find the source since the deeper benefit is not material and is especially for those who are looking for such.
Thank you for this update. It’s incredibly sad to see the far-reaching consequences of plagiarism and the effects it will have for seekers today. Thankfully, there is a wonderful paperback copy available, rich with research and hard-earned knowledge : )
It has been amazing reading this.
Even though most of the things mentioned are very advanced, a lot can be learned from trying to understand these principles. There’s so much to take in from it.
Seeing the pieces put together in this way, with an esoteric explanation, all in such a clear way, thanks for this.
I hope these things will one day be more widely known.
I agree Layla, it is an incredible article, especially considering it is written from direct experience.
One thing I have been wondering since reading it last night is how does this process of struggle between the forces of light and darkness work in an advanced enlightened society? Sadly this is not very relevant to our situation on earth I know but presumably things would still work in the same way on Venus or other awakened planets.
I am inspired too after reading the article to push harder with the inner work, thank you for the article.
This is such an incredible article with so many amazing insights beyond my imagination.
I know I will read this again and again. It really gave me an inner push to work harder to be able to realise as much as possible these wonders within myself.
Thank you for this article and all the hard work that has gone into it.