Happy first day of Spring! Time to stretch, stretch, stretch, and shake off the lingering chill of winter. It’s Springtime and that makes it the perfect time to share Flora’s story. It may be cold where you are but Flora is about to awaken from her slumber. She might be reaching for the snooze button right now.

HerStory.

Flora is the Roman Goddess of flowers and Spring and, as usually goes along with things like the birds and the bees, she’s also associated with fertility and new beginnings. Her festival, the Floralia, is held at the beginning of May and involves flowers, dancing, and drinking.

I picture her waking up from her grassy bed and stretching as the sun’s rays alight behind her. She is all that is good and sweet about Spring. I can imagine her smelling like clean rain and fresh flowers and I see her dancing around a field of flowers, happy to be uninhibited by winter snows and cold winds.

Have you ever just shrugged off your mantle of adulthood and laid down on the grass looking up at the sky?

Yeah, she’s that feeling.

Flora is the one that playfully coaxes the blossoms to appear on the trees and the flowers to timidly shoot out of the ground. I can see her dancing through the countryside and gardens, singing and encouraging the seeds to awaken. Laughter follows her wherever she goes.

She has the happiness of a child and takes innocent, pure, joy at her freedom to play outside and enjoy the sun on her face. Can we do that today? Forget that we’re mature, respectable, adults and just enjoy it all?

What she teaches us.

Flora teaches us to find the energy to wake up. Not just wake up, but wake up those dormant parts of ourselves. The passion, the joy, the childlike wonder for the things that we used to enjoy. What’s something that you haven’t done in a long time and you miss doing? It is time to wake it up and do it. Pull out your paintbrushes or start a new short story, sit outside in the morning with a cup of tea or coffee and enjoy the awakening of the earth around you.

Flora is also a Goddess of fertility. She gave the Goddess Juno special herbs to help her conceive the God Mars. This is a great time to start something of your own. Think about the projects and the plans that are waiting to blossom for you.

Connect with Flora

You can connect with Flora in many ways. Go outside and bask in the early spring Sunshine. Start your own garden or buy new house plants. Sit outside, close your eyes, and listen to what is going on around you. Buy cut flowers and sit them in a place you can see them. Make a garland out of flowers. Listen to the song Flora’s Secret. Open the window and enjoy the fresh air. Rekindle the childish joy inside of you. Have a picnic outside. Nurture yourself and encourage yourself to grow.

Journaling Prompts

What inside of you needs renewal?
What do you want to start again or get back into?
How can you give yourself a new beginning?
What is your favorite childhood memory?

“I want to do with you what spring does with the cherry trees.” — Pablo Neruda