9:54 PM EDT..
Both the Northern and Southern hemispheres experience an equal amount of daylight today.
For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, it marks the beginning of fall, with daylight hours continuing to shorten until the winter solstice in December.
For those south of the equator, it’s the beginning of spring.
Happy season of your choice or location.
For me it’s autumn..
There always seems to be a certain palpable shift today. Just as there feels to be new life within your body come spring, the autumn harnesses in your energy and sort of, just, wrecks it. You become a little more tired at times.. your energy level drops a bit. Your body is ready for the long winter nights.. we are within a season that provides a slower rhythm.
In ancient Ireland, before the arrival of the Celts, prehistoric worshippers erected stone cairns containing chambers that that only let light in on the equinoxes.
In ancient Greece, the Eleusinian mysteries, which marked the transition from summer to fall, were “considered essential to the survival of humanity,” according to historian Mara Lynn Keller. Although the details aren’t known—initiates were forbidden on penalty of death from speaking about the rites—the festivities honored Demeter, the goddess of the harvest, and Persephone, her daughter, whose six-month annual disappearance into the underworld was said to cause the barren winter season.
The ancient Celts would conduct a mock sacrifice on this date, burning a wicker-work figure that represented the spirit of the vegetation.
For pagans, equinoxes are particularly significant events, and the autumnal equinox—also referred to as Mabon by neo-Pagans—is somewhat equivalent to Thanksgiving– this is a time when Pagans give “Thanks” to Mother Earth.
So enjoy this moment.
While all planets have equinoxes, we don’t live there.
We live here on the pale blue dot. And your season is about to either get warm.. or dark and colder as light wanes away..
Just don’t party like it’s 1699.
