Rites of SpringWe shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
Through the unknown, remembered gate
When the last of earth left to discover
Is that which was the beginning.
from The Four Quartets
by TS Eliot
The 2nd of February has long been
celebrated as the beginning of Spring,
falling midway between the Winter Solstice
and the Spring Equinox. Agrarian societies
saw this as the time when the Earth starts
to reawaken again after the winter months
and the days grow longer. The dawning of
the year is a time of renewal, purification
and new beginnings.