Depending on whom you ask, Māra is one of several primary goddesses in Latvian mythology, or the primary goddess, Great Mother. The names and uses have probably shifted over time and in various regions, and I'm starting to lean to Ragana as the most ancient. However, we'll still use the name Māra for now-- she has 4 days through the year ( that alone suggests her importance) and Spring Māras is celebrated near the Spring Equinox. So I decided to make a little impromptu altar/offering in the woods in honor of the Equinox and Great Mother. Whether you'd really call this time of year in this climate spring might depend on your perspective! It just snowed a few times, and more is likely over the coming weeks. Still Saule/Sun is much stronger and there is a lot of melting as well. Catkins are emerging on trees, a few insects are around, birds are singing spring songs... The themes of the altar are the themes of Māra- life, birth, death, regeneration. I laid a base of deep gold leathery poplar leaves from last season- reminders of both growth and death, returning to the soil to feed new life. I also used some sprigs of evergreen forest floor plants along with moss and lichens to suggest the continuity of life. Twigs of Birch, Aspen and Willow with emerging catkins represent the burgeoning new life of Spring. Some golden/orange lichen on bark from a fallen tree echoes the Sun/Saule who is strengthening day by day. Black soil turned up by pocket gophers is the colour of Māra, and suggests the richness, regeneration, germination, nurturing of the earth, which also receives the dead. Snow is sacred water of course, but also the colour of bone, of death and of light. Notice these natural forces and spirits are always dualities, multiplicities even with all the complexity and ambivalence of Life! Never just 'good' or 'evil'. Music excerpt" Majesta by House of the Gipsies from the Youtube Audio Library