Hi Andie,

They way I found it easier to get my head around pagan calendars is this:
get your hands dirty in the garden!

Think of the holy-days as being markers, times that remind you of the season you are in or are approaching.

Traditionally these markers also coincide with astronomical events, especially concerning the position of the Sun, as the differentiation of seasons is based largely (but not completely) on what position your path of the Earth is in in relation to the Sun.

SO for example, here in the southern Hemisphere, we are approaching the Vernal/Spring Equinox (this year is sept 23), which is the point where day and night are of equal length, and from this point on the days actually get longer (the opposite to what our Northern cousins will be experiencing).

One way to help get the kids into celebrating this holiday would be to think about what does spring-time mean to you and your family? What significance does the lengthening of daylight mean to you? What kind of thing is going on in your neck of the woods at this time of year?

For us, its easy, as my daughter's b'earthday is on the 17th, and my dad's is on the 22nd - so for my family its very much about celebrating these lives (especially daughter, as she is the first 'grand-daughter'). DW is wanting to enter tertiary study for next year, and at this time she is doing the groundwork for applying to various Uni courses, so she is very much preparing the soil and planting seeds which she hopes will fruit over the summer, giving her a place in the course she wants! My mum has her business on the market, and is hoping it sells so she can get on with the next phase of her life's journey. My dad has just received the permission to go ahead with an investment opportunity. I'm in the home-stretch for my penultimate year in my course, but also new work opportunities have opened up in the last few weeks, which means I am very much on a 'new' journey...

So for us, there are a lot 'new beginnings' that are.... well, beginning.... so an appropriate way to celebrate this Equinox would be to really 'plant those seeds' and nurture these new beginnings like we would plants. In these early days, we need to protect the seedlings from the fierce winds, from snails/slugs, we need to give them constant attention and fertilisation. So too the other things in our lives.

So perhaps you could think about ways of honouring the energy of this time with your kids and your family - it doesn't have to involve beating drums and dancing around a bonfire (although that is a lot of fun!!! ). Remember that at the core of it, pagan holidays were a chance for family/tribe/village to gather in a festive manner and celebrate what they had at that time - the rest is just culturally-specific window-dressing. Have a BBQ with your nearest and dearest and make a point of actively and consciously enjoying what you have in your life now, and what you plan to have in the coming seasons....

Hope this has been of some help....