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This marks the start of the fall season and a point in the sky where the day and night are equal in length.
Also known as Mabon, Fall Equinox is a special time in the year where we meet balance once again. Mabon marks the official time where summer ends and fall begins.
Sometimes known as the witches thanksgiving, it is celebrated with bounty from the harvests planted near Lammas or before.
This time marks a great shift in our seasonal cycle. A shift towards the shutting down of the Earth. Blossoms once colorful and rich in Summer, wilt away and trees prepare to shed their leaves for the coming cold.
We start preparing for winter, animals collect food and warmth in anticipation of darkness. We start to turn inward, and practice gratitude for what the harvest has brought us.
Solstices are the extreme points as Earth’s axis tilts toward or away from the sun—when days and nights are longest or shortest. On equinoxes, days and nights are equal in all parts of the world. Four cross-quarter days roughly mark the midpoints in between solstices and equinoxes.
We commemorate these natural turning points in the Earth’s cycle. Seasonal celebrations of most cultures cluster around these same natural turning points.
September 22: Equinox/Fall: gather and store, ripeness—Mabon (Euro-American), Goddess Festivals: Tari Pennu (Bengali), Old Woman Who Never Dies (Mandan), Chicomcoatl (Aztec), Black Bean Mother (Taino), Epona (Roman), Demeter (Greek).
The Gatherer © Chantel Camille 2018
May we assemble again in the spirit of harmony and ripeness. Let your eyes gently scan and your thoughts wander as you take in the fullness of these beautiful choices that we have nurtured from seed to bud to fruit to harvest. May we embrace the spirit of fulfillment and find comfort in our sovereignty. Take a moment to remember what you conjured. The same way we connected with folks who breathed life into our hopes, we must continue to lean into community for the sake of our collective thriving. How do we dance with balance, reconciliation and opposition, together? Together let us have a seat at the table and take a collective cleansing breath. Through the lens of analysis and with a softer gaze, let’s exchange creative imaginings and invoke the energy of change and beauty. Our webs of relationships matter so deeply at this moment. Center practices that fortify the inner alchemy and relationships that prioritize reciprocity and deep care.
by Karen L. Culpepper (DC, Maryland, Virginia tri-state area) who is a momma, creative, dreamer, herbalist and practitioner. She loves depth in her relationships, sunshine, being in saltwater, and laughter. Let's connect!
© Mother Tongue Ink 2023
Fox ¤ Robin Lea Quinlivan 216
There is change in the air. It is traced by the wandering path of silent nighthawks migrating across grey-clouded skies. The seas seethe and ripple with change, the earth heaves and rumbles, the trees bend low offering up their leaves, plants are turning their faces to seed.
Standing here, we can feel the world spin, can feel change whisper, shriek, and howl. There are hurricanes, there are nighthawks, there is a great pulse running through it all.
As we slip into the liminal space of the Equinox, we may find ourselves wavering between action and stillness. We hear the cries of our sisters, from times long past and times yet to come.
Molly Remer © Mother Tongue Ink 2022
from We'Moon 2023 pg 134
Similar to Spring Cleaning, Fall Equinox is a great time to prepare your house for winter. Beyond the normal shutting of hoses, and checking all your windows for leaks, refreshing your altar is just as important!
Collect items of importance for you first and foremost! What do you want to gift yourself this season?
Leaves, pinecones, branches are great additions to a Fall Equinox altar. Remember balance is key, mandalas or symmetrical shapes help accentuate this time. Also, remember to ethically collect any natural items and that no harm is done when gathering your altar supplies.
Colors of fall. Candles, crystals or altar cloths of deep browns, rich reds, and bright oranges along with the fading pinks and blues of summer now passed.
If you would like to know more about creating an Altar, visit our blog: about altar building!
Sit in a special place, at your altar or under your favorite tree. Take a few deep breaths. Cast a circle if you wish to do so, more importantly is to set aside space and time for yourself.
Write a list of physical things in your life you are grateful for. What kind of joy do they add to your life? How have they helped you grow or make you feel happy or secure.
Write another list of people you are grateful for? How have they enhanced your life? Maybe write gratitude notes and send them to loved ones in the mail!
Last list, write the things that cannot be touched or grabbed. Is this a feeling, an activity, a moment you witnesses?
Reflect on the abundance in your life, be it small or large and honor it's gifts and challenges it brings.
Point of Balance © Melissa Harris 2007
During the day of equal day and light, why not let the season's help shift your life back to balance.
Ask yourself what might need more balance in your life and how you might achieve them.
Are you all work and no play?
Need more time with family?
Does your diet need adjusting?
Does your space not serve your needs anymore or is to cluttered.
For me personally, I like to use this time to create action plans on one aspect of my life I would like to have more balanced. In past years, I created a meal plan, or I have reorganized my work space for the type of work I was doing at that time. I've also reorganized my schedule, if need be, I would schedule fun time or time with a loved one. This is highly meditative for me, though it may not work for everyone!
For something a little more witchy or ritualistic, try this practice below.
Light a candle, I like to choose secondary colors, like purple being a balance of Reds and blues
Cast a circle within your mind and around your space. Imagine a circle of white light protecting you. Breathe into your circle, breathe out within your boundaries.
Picture in your mind something that feels out of balance, let your mind and emotions focus on the shadow aspects for a time. Where is the darkness, why doesn't this feel go? What needs to change? It's ok to let yourself get emotional. Cry if you need to, scream! These imbalances can be incredibly frustrating. The shadow emotions we have hold great power. Let your circle be a safe place to express them. Just know that with every shadow there is also light.
Turn around in your circle, and dive into the lighter side of the situation. What would you not change? What do you love about the situation as it stands now. How has it challenged you to grow? In this space, start imaging how your perfect situation would be like, how would it feel and look if it was in perfect balance?
Hold these thoughts of rebalance in your mind, let the words or wishes fall out of your lips and into the air. Open the circle in your mind and imagine the words traveling out of your circle and being received by the world in love.
Let your circle open to receive it's blessings and give yourself a big hug. Wrap your arms around yourself and give thanks for the time you spent here.
Get into the spirit of Fall Equinox and create a feast with local foods! Visiting a farm or farmers market to see what is in season and explore new recipes. Feasting is an old tradition for Fall Equinox, let the season's bounty fill your home with wonderful smells and your home filled with good food and even better friends.
Modern Witch © Aralia Diana Rose 2013
Persephone (Greek): Fall Equinox mythically marks the time when Persephone returns to the underworld. She is the daughter of the harvest goddess Demeter and was kidnapped by Hades to become his wife. Peresphone is allowed back to visit her mother and visit the Earth for only half the year. Similar goddesses have also traveled back and forth between realms to mark the season like Innana.
Mabon (Euro-American): Mabon celebrates the second harvest and end of the summer season. Many wiccans like to celebrate this time with fruit harvests and large meals! A cross quarter day within the natural cycle of the sun in it's orbit around Earth.
Ohigan (Japan): Japan celebrates both Equinoxes, taking the time to visit the graves of their loved ones gone from this Earth and care for their sites. It is traditional a time to spend with family and other relatives.
Rosh Hashanah (Jewish): A jewish new year holiday. After fasting from Yom Kippur and reflecting on last year's mistakes. Rosh Hashanah is a celebratory time to welcome in the new year. Apples and Honey are a traditional food and one of the first things eaten at dinner.
Connection © Paula Franco 2018
A Hag's Guide to Spring Cleaning
sending witchen kin greetings to our sister hags celebrating Spring in the southern hemisphere
Scrub your skin with the dirt from a hollow hill. Brush your body with raven feathers and the blessings of a million hags gone before who have never given a shit about what looks "nice" to others.
Take all the pots and pans out of your kitchen, clean them with black salt, and bring them outside with your spoons and knives. Make a racket to wake up the earth and let the neighbors know that their local hag has awoken from the winter slumber.
Water your gardens with the tears shed by those suffering from fragile masculinity to help them grow towards their heart instead of their fear.
Stitch up your worn out cloths with red thread of intersectionality and luck. Scare the life back into your heart by grinning so loudly in the mirror that you can see every tooth, fang, and monster song gurgling forth from the back of your throat.
Go to a crossroads, turn to the east, and spit three times so that you never forget how to find your way back. Stain your lips and fingers with the blood of berries. Braid thorns into your hair and rub rose dust into your eyebrows.
Never say you're sorry for making it to another spring. Cackle instead and celebrate the ugly bits that have kept you alive.
Lace up your boots with the stories of your ancestors raging against powers they were told were unbreakable but have long turned to dust.
Greet your witchen kin with right hands grasped, left hand over the heart of the other, foreheads touching. Breath in, breath out. Say, "I fucking love you." Remember that hags like you grow like weeds and springtime will never be the same.
—© L. Sixfingers 2019
Originally published in We'Moon 2021: The World, available here!
May I be open to magic
in all its wild, mysterious,
and beautiful forms.
May I have no fear of my own power
and may I walk through my other fears
with courage.
—excerpt © Molly Remer 2018
Originally published in We'Moon 2021: The World, available here!
Leah Marie Dorion (Prince Albert, SK) is an indigenous artist from Prince Albert, Saskatewan, Canada. leahdorion.ca
Maeanna Welti (Portland, OR—unceded Chinook Land) is a writer, astrologer and witch. She is the author of the Healing Witch Samhain to Samhain workbook. Maeanna offers readings, coaching, support for ancestral and personal healing, and teaches astrology and the fundamentals of witchcraft.
Peggy Sue McRae (San Juan Island, WA) Dancing the dharma of the Goddess in my little patch of woods on San Juan Island. Manymoonsart.biz
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