The Autumn Equinox

The Autumn Equinox is one of my favourite celebrations of the wheel of the year, for all the seasonal fruits and colours, the mists and cool air, the need for coats and scarves again and of course, the symbolism. There is always something special about the Full Moon closest to the Equinox, and the recent super-full-moon in Pisces and partial lunar eclipse, felt truly magical. At this time of year we are right on the cusp of change so it is such a liminal time – it’s not quite one season or another. I like author Glennie Kindred’s description of the Autumn Equinox as the ‘doorway to winter’.

The Autumn Equinox is sometimes referred to as ‘Mabon’. This is a title created in the 1970s by an American Wiccan practitioner and is actually the name of a Welsh god with no particular link to the Equinox. In the Druid revival tradition, it is also known by the Welsh title ‘Alban Elfed’.

The Equinox is the celebration of the beginning of Autumn and the second harvest. The first was the grain harvest of Lughnasadh and now the fruits and many vegetables are ripening or finishing. There’s elderberries, nuts, mushrooms, conkers and acorns aplenty, so it’s a time for celebrating the abundance of the Earth and the radiance of the waning sunlight and the golden yellowing of the leaves.

The Equinox carries with it the energy of gathering and being in a stage of near completion. The wheel of the year has nearly completed a full cycle. We’ve moved through the rebirth, the growth, the peaking, the ripening, and now the harvests are nearly over too. The Earth in the northern hemisphere is readying for the completion of the cycle – the waning, the decay and the deep rest in the dark, awaiting the return of the light at the Winter Solstice and rebirth in Spring.

The Autumn Equinox is when day and night, light and dark are equal in length. The scales of the seasonal cycles are balanced for now but are ready to tip into the new season. So this is a time for us to follow nature’s lead and mirror that, to pause and reflect, like hovering in that doorway and threshold of the winter to come. It’s time to gather ourselves for a journey inward.

It’s a time to feel grateful for all we have, as well as to acknowledge the struggles we may have been dealing with and the obstacles we have already overcome, giving ourselves some encouragement and appreciation for our endurance. This embracing the good and bad, the positives and the negatives, both the light and the dark, is part of the energy and symbolism of the Equinox – holding all in balance and in a wider perspective of the continual changes, the constant flux of life, the continual turning of the wheel.

It is a time to rest as well as to celebrate abundance. It’s a good time to cleanse, physically and energetically, yourself and your home, in preparation of the new season. We can celebrate this pause, this liminal, threshold space, even though it can sometimes feel uncomfortable and unsettling when we’re standing on the precipice of a change.

At this time of year we can sometimes experience the shift away from summer as a sense of loss. The waning phase that began at Lughnasadh is now much more pronounced and we can even feel, subconsciously or not, that we’re about to step off familiar ground into a void, which can be experienced as a fear akin to a kind of dying. Some of us can feel the melancholy of the lushness of summer dying into Autumn. I believe for some people, when they’re not aware of why they’re feeling this (as disconnected nature beings), it can feel like depression or can be one of the early triggers of Seasonal Affective Disorder.

But perhaps, if we allow ourselves to relax into this process, reassured by aligning with and embracing the natural ebb and flow of seasonal transformation – knowing that what has bloomed and grown must also die away to bloom again – we can feel more prepared for holding both the joy and sadness of the season, the abundance and the loss, and feel ready to embrace whatever comes next. It might help to remember that the ‘dark’ of winter is actually a safe space. It’s the womb, the embrace of the great ‘Cosmic Mother’, where seeds nestle in incubation, protected by the dark until they are ready to be born and transformed. So we can look to the Earth for guidance, and with that alignment to the energy of the season, thank her for her gifts and anticipate our needs in preparation for winter.

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In pagan traditions, the Autumn Equinox is the time the Holly King takes over the throne from the Oak King (after their battle at Summer Solstice,) and reigns for the dark half of the year, until they battle again at the Winter Solstice, when the Oak King will reclaim the throne for the lighter and fertile half of the year.

In other myth and symbolism, this time of year is mirrored in the stories of Inanna or Persephone’s journey down to the underworld, a descent into the dark, which is also our inner world/our psyche and our ‘shadow self’. The symbolism of the double spiral and the labyrinth are perfect metaphors and tools for working with the energy of this time (and through to Imbolc,) to prepare us for the dark, winter months ahead. The spiral in and out of the path of the labyrinth is showing us both the inner and outer journey – the journey within, of soul searching and resting, as well as mirroring the outer journey, along the timeline of our lives through our many cycles and seasons. It’s also the same journey of the fallen leaves – returning to the Earth to break down as nutrients for the tree, then becoming the buds and blossom in spring.

When we travel the path of a labyrinth we always offer something of ourselves, a small offering or sacrifice, like the falling leaves or in the story of Inanna where she has to shed her finery and garments, losing her outer identity as part of her journey. This offering/releasing/opening can be in the form of offering and letting go of what no longer serves us to hold on to: our conditioning, our troubles, our tension or grief. When we release the burdens we are carrying, we will then have space to receive and accept the gifts of insight that the journey offers. Eventually, we will arrive transformed in some way when we spiral outwards to begin a new cycle.

When we look closely to nature, we notice she has been slowly but surely preparing for and anticipating this seasonal change, drawing in for some time in her usual, perfect way. And over the coming weeks, by letting go of the leaves that no longer serve, the trees begin to bring their attention inward and tend to their roots, resting and storing the strength and energy needed for all the new growth in spring, and we can follow their lead.

Journaling and Craft Ideas

At the Autumn Equinox we can follow nature’s example and journal about some of the things that we want to let go of. What are the old ideas and storylines about ourselves that need to drop away and be composted? What are we grateful for? What will bring us into more balance and harmony? What do we need to gather to see us through the winter? As the outer light begins to fade, what do we need to do to let our inner light glow more brightly? What does tending to our roots look and feel like? Do we need to create more space and prioritise rest? Or do we need to strengthen our connections with others and create a supportive network around us ? What feeds our energy, our joy and lifts our spirit? What drains it?

This phase of the year is the time of the ‘Crone’. In many mythologies it’s a powerful old woman who brings along the winter. So this is the perfect time of year to honour and celebrate your own cronehood and the natural aging process. We could draw or paint and crone or make a spirit doll to honour our inner wisdom as well as outer transformation

To celebrate the season we can create an Autumnal altar, perhaps use symmetry and balance to represent the equal day and night? Choose some sprigs of herbs, some dried, pressed leaves, pine cones, hawthorn and rowan berries, some found conkers and acorns. Perhaps also some pieces of holly to represent the reign of the Holly King. Include an object to represent each of the elements – a stone, a feather, a candle, a small bowl of water. You might like to learn how to draw a labyrinth as a meditation tool (as shown in the image above), and decorate it and follow the path of the labyrinth with your finger or create one large enough to walk. Allow your busy mind to become more calm and to rest. Offer your tension etc to the labyrinth and allow insights to arise. Make notes in a journal of anything important that comes up for you.

These are just some ideas for exploring the energy of the season. What are your plans for the Equinox? I will be using the labyrinth I’ve drawn above for meditating, reflecting and journaling and will meeting with friends for drumming and celebrating with gratitude all that the year has brought in its fullness: the good and bad, light and dark, the yin and yang.