Why are the Equinoxes so important for Spiritual Growth?

Every year, there are two high holidays that we observe in DASH® Astrology: The Spring Equinox and The Fall Equinox. They are always on the day when the Sun crosses the celestial equator, indicating new energy for us to utilize on our path to happiness, liberation from samsara and eventually, enlightenment.

Both of these holidays balance the light of day with the darkness of night. The word equinox comes from the latin phrase "equal night.”

As westerners, we recognize these days because they balance the scales of our positive and negative actions on a collective and personal level. Again, this is reflected in our physical world when on these days, day and night are equal in duration. On the etheric level, the light we have revealed in the world is balanced out with the darkness we have spread, and vice versa.

During this perfect balance a window opens in the heavens and allows for a new energy to present itself like a beam of light blasting down onto earth. This powerful force is one of twenty-two intelligences, which will oversee our entire operation until the next equinox.

The magnificent intelligences of the year are determined by the current year of our western calendar, since this archetype applies to the western world. Anyone who observes Chinese, Jewish, Muslim, or other calendar systems, will use their respective calendar to determine the intelligence of their year. We decipher the archetype of the year by reducing the digits of the year until we get a number between 1 and 22.  

Although the Fall Equinox presents a different archetype, it always is an expansion to the archetype from the spring equinox. Looking into our physical world, we can see how different the Fall Equinox is from the Spring Equinox by observing nature: in Fall the days begin to get shorter than nights, the temperatures begin to decrease and the leaves begin to drop.

This shows us that this immense energy intelligence shines upon the “darker” nature of our lives and helps us to carry through the fall and winter season with more light. One can even say that the archetype of the Fall Equinox is the “shadow side” to the Spring Equinox. This is not to be confused with as “degraded”, the “shadow side” is where everything we are not aware of is stored. Without a “shadow side”, the “bright side” wouldn’t exist and the opposite is as true.

More about the Twenty-Two Energy Forces of our world.

It is said that 2000 years before the creation of our world, twenty-two sublime intelligences existed - each with its own archetypal domain and distinct qualities.

These twenty-two forces presented themselves in front of the primordial Buddha and requested permission to create the universe.

Obviously, the request was granted and these twenty-two indestructible forces create the world. Hence they are universal in the true meaning of the word, and everything we experience through our senses (including our sixth sense) can be assigned to one of the twenty-two.

In other words, these twenty-two energies are the raw material for our world. They are the base of all molecular structure that science has yet to discover, and are expressed in divine and degraded fashions in conjunction with our egos.

One way to use these raw materials is to observe the ruling archetype of the year. We figure out the ruling archetype by simply figuring out the sum to the current Gregorian year date.

On each equinox, the zodiac rotates and a new package of archetypal energy is delivered to us whether we are aware of it or not. The best way to use the contents of this package of energy is to know how to use it and what to use it for. The Spring Equinox reveals the Yang aspects of the ruling archetype of the year, and the Fall Equinox reveals the Yin aspects of the ruling archetype of the year.

Our efforts, impacts and actions will, as always affect every sentient being in the world - incarnate and disincarnate.