![]() ![]() Some other rituals include collecting harvest fruits and vegetables, meditation, gathering and feasting on apples, sharing food, and counting one's blessings at this time of year.įor most, rituals include digging out the woolly jumper, gloves, scarves and bobble hats (not forgetting the tinned food to take to school), and preparing for the shorter, colder days! It is also a time of preparing for 'Samhain', a larger festival that runs from 31 October to 1 November, and signifies the start of winter. The equinox is a time for Druids, as well as other Pagan groups, to offer their thanks for a fruitful harvest and to prepare for another cold, dark winter. ![]() In the UK people from all over the country head to Stonehenge in Wiltshire to watch the equinox sunrise. It is also considered a time of meditation, and many people also visit their living relatives. Therefore, during the week around the equinox (Ohigan), many Japanese people use this time to visit the graves of their ancestors, to pay their respects and to leave flowers. The Japanese Buddhist belief is that the equinox is considered symbolic of the transitions of life. ![]() ![]() In Japan the equinox is marked with a period known as 'Ohigan'. Traditionally the equinox meant it was time to harvest the crops. The word 'equinox' comes from the Latin words 'aequus' and 'nox', which mean 'equal' and 'night' because the day of the equinox has roughly an equal amount of daytime and night time, and marks the end of summer.Īround the world a number of traditions and celebrations are held to mark the Autumnal Equinox. This year's equinox officially started yesterday in the Northern Hemisphere, at precisely 10.21am (Eastern Daylight Time). However, do you know exactly what the Autumnal Equinox entails? We've looked at the science and culture of this annual event.Įach year the Autumnal Equinox occurs in September, usually around the 22, 23 or 24 of the month. Many of you will have memories of your mum or dad raiding the cupboard at home to find a tin of baked beans to take into school for the Harvest Festival. Preparations would begin for the late October/early November full moon when the Crone held sway and the sacred feast of Samhain kept all manner of nasties away.This week marks an important change in the calendar as the Autumnal Equinox takes effect. For all the celebrating at equinox, it also marked the approach of something much bigger. The cake represented earth and the material world while the ale embodied the spirits of fire, water, and air.Įvery pro-party planner knows to get the next event in quickly and our Pagan predecessors were no different. It was a ritual for health, prosperity, and fertility with the cakes and ale first being blessed. The ritual of cakes and ale was also repeated across many Pagan cultures. It also helped ensure that there would be enough food for the remaining livestock. This was seen as an auspicious time for animals to be slaughtered not only to provide meat and blood sacrifices for the equinox celebrations but to be preserved for winter rations. Read more about: Popular Culture Samhain and the pagan roots of Halloween But there are those such as Arwen, Welsh God of stags, dogs, and hunting or Cernunnos, the horned Celtic God of hunting, fertility and wild things, wwhoseimportance increased at this time, particularly before people had livestock to sustain them through winter. Many British Pagan Gods are linked with growth and sunlight and so play a smaller role in autumnal sabbats. At the autumn equinox when harvests draw to a close, the bountiful Mother aspect prepares to give way to the harsh wisdom of the Crone. The triumvirate of Goddesses reigning through the year is a repeating theme across British Paganism with Maiden, Mother, and Crone aspects welcomed and worshipped in turn. Ireland’s Earth Mother is Banba (Banbha), who ruled with her sisters Fodla and Ériu. Perhaps more relevantly the son of Modron - the name many British Pagans use for this celebration, as she is the Goddess of motherhood often depicted with bread, fruit, and babies. Mabon is the Welsh God of Youth, also hailed as the divine child. American author Aidan Kelly named this sabbat ‘Mabon’ in 1970 and many Pagans globally refer to it as such. There are many players in the Pagan pantheon, and even when only considering those from the UK, it can be hard to know who to give a sacrificial shout-out. Read more about: British History Mabon: The pagan festival that marks the autumn equinox ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |