The Day of Joy - A Traditional Pagan Spring Equinox Celebration

Cybele and the Seasons, by Hendrick van Balen. Oil on panel, 1618.

The Spring Equinox seems to be a weird subject for modern pagans and polytheists. Wiccans and other neopagans usually celebrate this solar event as one of the "quarter days" or lesser Sabbats, though there is precious little tradition to be found behind it. As Ostara, there are a few tenuous threads connecting the celebration with potentially ancient Northern European traditions centered on the goddess Eostre, who may or may not actually have existed. Even if there was a historical spring/dawn goddess by that name connected to better attested divinities like Eos, the idea that modern Easter symbolism (rabbits, eggs, etc.) specifically derive from her worship is just not true. Nor are the ridiculous memes that seem to still circulate every year claiming that Easter has something to do with the ancient worship of Ishtar. Still, these apocryphal connections feel "right" to some modern pagans, most of whom grew up Christian and, frankly, seem to like the excuse to simply continue celebrating Easter, minus its obvious central theme: the death and resurrection of Christ.

It is truly ironic, then, that the closest parallel to Easter to be found in the surviving records of the ancient pagan world, both in theme and date, is not a spring festival about rabbits and eggs, but rather a feast mourning the death and celebrating the resurrection of a god. This is the Hellenic festival of Hilaria, the "Day of Joy". In Hellenism or Hellenic polytheism, it is a 9-day festival celebrating the coming of spring and the rebirth of Lord Attis after His death, and the mourning of the Great Mother Goddess. You can read a full theological explanation for the meaning of the holiday and the myth of Attis by the Divine Julian here.

I am unable to find many popular sources or pagan blogs discussing this holiday, so I thought I would break down my own celebration of it in this post. This is informed by the few surviving historical sources we have, including writings from Valerius Maximus, Herodian of Antioch, and most importantly, Sallustius and Julian the Philosopher, who discussed its theology. The Day of Joy was celebrated by the Greeks as the feast of the Ascent, which was preceded by a day of mourning known as the Catabasis or Descent. By the Roman Imperial period at least, this took the form of a 9-day period of celebration and fasting culminating in the Day of Joy itself - originally the day after the Vernal Equinox, but later the fixed date of March 25th. As it is easier for most modern pagans to use the Gregorian calendar, I have given those dates below.

Statue of Attis located at His shrine in the Temple complex of the Great Mother in Ostia. CC BY-SA 2.0

The following outlines my personal celebration of the Hilaria adapted for a modern context. Of course, you are encouraged to do your own research and adapt this as you will. Just be sure to share your own ideas and practices in the comments!

Beginning of the Festival: Sunset on March 14th - Sunset on March 23rd

The first day commemorates the birth of Attis and His exposure in the reeds on the banks of the river Sangarius, where He was saved by the Great Goddess. Traditionally, a procession bearing reeds would be held on this day. The template for this day can be extended during the rest of the festival leading up to the day of mourning.

Decoration/altar prep: I use the first day of the festival to remove any previous decorations and make my home relatively bare of seasonal decor. Any decorations that remain should be plain sticks or reeds, with the color white for alter cloths etc. a good choice for symbolizing a period of purification.

Fast: Beginning the evening of the festival's start (evening of March 14th), You should abstain from certain foods until the day of the Hilaria proper. Traditionally, the foods to avoid during these 9 days are: pork, fish, grains, pomegranates, apples, wine, root vegetables, and any other types of food that grow underground. Remember, the feast is a celebration of the resurrection of Attis and His ascension from the cave of the nymph (the Earth or material world) to the embrace of the Great Goddess in the Heavens. For this reason, foods associated with the ground or the underworld are to be avoided.

Offerings: Begin each day and end each night before bed with extra offerings, libations, and hymns to the Mother of the Gods and to Attis. Offering to the Great Goddess should include a mixture of different incenses. The Orphic Hymn to the Mother of the Gods and/or the Ceralian Mother are appropriate here, as is the Divine Julian's hymn, adapted below (Julian closes his hymn with a personal prayer that I have slightly generalized).

Hymn to the Mother of the Gods

From Oration V of Julian the Philosopher (362 C.E.)
Adapted by J. Verdant

O Mother of gods and men, thou that art the assessor of Jove and sharest his throne, 
O source of the intellectual gods, that pursuest thy course with the stainless substance of the intelligible gods; 
That dost receive from them all the common cause of things and dost thyself bestow it on the intellectual gods; 
O life-giving goddess that art the counsel and the providence and the creator of our souls; 
O thou that lovest great Bacchus, and didst save Attis when exposed at birth, and didst lead him back when he had descended into the cave of the nymph; 
O thou that givest all good things to the intellectual gods and fillest with all things this sensible world, and with all the rest givest us all things good! 
Do thou grant to all men happiness, and that highest happiness of all, the knowledge of the gods; 
And grant to the people that they may cleanse themselves of the stain of impiety; 
Grant them a blessed lot;
And for myself, grant me as fruit of my worship of thee that I may have true knowledge in the doctrines about the gods. 
Make me perfect in theurgy and in all that I undertake.
Grant me virtue and good fortune, and that the close of my life may be painless and glorious, in the good hope that it is to you, the gods, that I journey!

Entrance of the Tree: Spring Equinox (date varies)

One of the most unique aspect of indoor decoration is the tradition of the Attis tree, a pine tree which is cut at the height of the equinox. The tree traditionally was set up in the temple, then decked in fleeces of wool and wreaths of flowers. As all temples of the Great Goddess were destroyed and vandalized in antiquity and, to my knowledge, no new ones have yet been set up, you might choose to forgo this step or, if you have a designated sacred space in your home, set up an Attis tree there.

Day of Blood: Sunset on March 23rd - Sunset on March 24th

The 10th day of the festival is the day of mourning for the death of Attis. Priests of Attis would traditionally beat themselves, wail, scourge themselves, etc. on this day, lending it its name. However, since the Mysteries and the Priesthood were destroyed in late Antiquity, we regular folk can continue to simply observe the day of fasting. I typically refrain from all food from sunset to sunset on this day, with the exception of milk, which is permitted as it symbolizes the nourishment of the Great Mother.

Day of Joy: Sunset on March 24th - Sunset on March 25th

The 11th day of the festival is the Hilaria proper, a joyous day of celebrations when the fast is broken. Celebrations include playing pranks, dressing in costume, games, and other assorted revelry.