Autumnal Equinox this year is ... on September 22nd 00:05 UTC - which makes it still on the 21st at 5 pm Mountain Time!
This is one of two points of balance in Her/our annual journey. For the Southern Hemisphere it is the Spring Equinox – with the balance about to tip into increasing light. For the Northern Hemisphere it is the Autumn Equinox – with the balance about to tip into increasing dark. This balance could be celebrated as representing the delicate balance of the “curvature of space-time” that enables all to come forth, the creative tension of resistance and expansion, the creative edge of grief and joy – they are never separate....
It may also thus be understood and celebrated as the sacred thread of life that has continued through time, and one of the valencies of the ancient image of Demeter handing Persephone the wheat. The Mother passes/hands the thread of knowledge to the Young One, the Daughter, and She carries it on – and emerges with it. This is an ancient knowledge of how the seed is passed through the motherline all the way back in time. In the land known now as Greece, this awesome understanding was celebrated first as the Thesmophoria, then later as the Eleusinian Mysteries ..."
The Autumn Equinox (Northern Hemisphere at this time), often known as Mabon or many other names depending on place, may be celebrated as the loss of the Beloved One, as life declines. In the story of Demeter and Persephone, Persephone descends to the underworld to tend to the dead and for the gaining of knowledge of these realms, which may be understood as Poetry for the power of the Seed, and many other valencies of meaning. This Moment may celebrate a “stepping into the grief and power of loss” which is part of existence, and is often not understood in a culture that has become disconnected from the Earth, and in denial of the cycle of life.
Sacred moments of loss may be ceremonially recognised at this time and connected to larger story – that of Earth Herself and Cosmos. Note that the version of the Persephone story told in a PaGaian cosmology is one wherein Persephone descends of Her own volition (not the abduction version): it is an interpretation of the story that enables Persephone’s integrity as a redemptive quality innate to the Cosmos and present in the Seed. This version is researched and told by Charlene Spretnak in her Lost Goddesses of Early Greece. Another version of it is also told by Carolyn McVickar Edwards in The Storyteller’s Goddess. This story is developed in this article: Female Metaphor, Science and Paganism: a Cosmic Eco-Trinity.
From the above link
Glenys Livingstone on FB gave this:
I note that: "I consider the full annual cycle of Seasonal ceremonies as they may be scripted within a PaGaian cosmology (my particular tradition), to be a “Geotherapy:” that is, healing/wholing within our Mother Earth, our sacred origins.
Such ceremony is therefore a spell for survivors, a spelling of ourselves into a world within which we may Be, ever-new, sensing deep connection to the creative Cosmos, who always has us in mind.
Many of us are not only survivors of sexual abuse, but also and inclusive of surviving a consumer culture[i] that treats All as a ‘collection of objects’ – rather than a ‘communion of subjects.’[ii] With rites/spells of dedication/commitment, we may enter/re-enter a holy communion of being."
NOTES:
[i] Chellis Glendinning described herself as “in recovery from Western Civilisation;” it was part of the title of one of her books.
[ii] Thomas Berry, who described himself as a “geologian”, coined these terms.
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More pottery from the Durango Autumn Arts Festival:
Patina Plume...the scratched surfaces were interesting on these pieces. But I didn't like the busy fabric display hangings. It was a good idea to darken the walls of the tent, but just too much design for my taste!
More pottery tomorrow!
...and we all need some balance in our lives.
ReplyDeleteJust standing on one foot at a time, to step into my shoes this morning, I discovered the joy of momentary balancing!
DeleteChanging seasons is good for all of us, but the tip to more darkness is not my favorite.
ReplyDeleteIt's probably why so many holidays were devised in the next 3 months!
DeleteMabon blessings to you, Barbara!
ReplyDeleteThank you, and may your darkening be one of warmth and ease in the in-gathering.
DeleteAm I weird because even adopting rituals of pagans and other early worshippers feels like cultural appropriation to me? Which is to say...uncomfortable. I can't explain it.
ReplyDeleteYou certainly can invent your own ways of celebrating - vegetables from the earth is one! All the rituals of today are invented by people...nobody knows how anyone way back in our ancestors' times celebrated the changing seasons...so I chose this way!
DeleteThe pottery is fabulous! It was very smart not to take your credit card with you, I know I would not have been able to resist.
ReplyDeleteI've been feeling oddly sad today, maybe the transition to autumn is the reason. Time to hunker down more and cosy up, I think.
ReplyDeleteInteresting emotional reaction to the season. I did some meditating myself, and feel really connected to water for some reason.
DeleteFrom Girl God Books... “In the PaGaian wheel Autumn Equinox is understood as a point of balance of the three qualities of Goddess, of Cosmogenesis: the delicate balance of these qualities that keeps it all spinning. It is not a simple duality. All at once, the three faces of Cosmogenesis are present. As Seed, She is both sovereign of the underworld – Old Wise One fertile with knowledge (the autopoiesis of the Cosmos), and at the same time the irrepressible Urge to Be (unique differentiated being); and She is the Mother, Source of Life (the communion of the Cosmos). As Goddess, She may be named Persephone/Kore, Demeter/Ceres and Hecate – all three in each other in a complex triplicity. This is a blessed Moment of a harmony/balance that streams through the grief and the ecstasy of life. The Seed may represent all Three as they are inseparable, a holy trinity, and the sacred balance.”
ReplyDelete-Glenys Livingstone Ph.D., A Poiesis of the Creative Cosmos: Celebrating Her within PaGaian Sacred Ceremony – Girl God Books
Happy equinox whichever you're experiencing, and whatever time it shows up. This is when I feel like bringing in houseplants and cutting back outdoor fading flowers. I'm probably following the seasonal prompt while thinking it's my idea.
ReplyDeleteExcellent urges all...no matter where they come from! Our own animal natures do make us think of finding an extra blanket easily enough - our equivalent of growing a heavier fur coat for winter!
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