The Autumn Equinox is known as Meán Fómhair, Fall Equinox, Feast of the Ingathering or the mid-harvest festival, the fruit harvest when we honour the changing of the season and give thanks for what we have, the abundance of crops or other blessings. It is a time of plenty, gratitude and share our abundance with those less fortunate.
It is known as a time of equal day and equal night, when nature is in balance. For finishing up old projects and plans and planting the seeds for new enterprises or a change in lifestyle. This is the time to look back not just on the past year, but also your life and plan for the future. In the rhythm of the year, this equinox is a time of rest and celebration, after the hard work of gathering the crops. Warm autumn days are followed by cold nights, as the Old Sun God returns to the embrace of the Goddess.
It is custom to decorate your altar, sacred space or home with the yellows, oranges, browns and golds of the season, apples, grapes, pine cones, chestnuts and hazelnuts.
Meditate on the things you wish to change. Focus on eliminating the bad and strengthening the good around you. Put toxic relationships into the past, where they belong, and welcome new positive relationships into your life. Let your baggage go and take heart in knowing that for every dark night of the soul, there will be a sunrise the next morning.
Make a gratitude list of all the things that you are thankful for to keep and refer to or burn as a blessing.
Smudge your home with dried bundles of the cuttings of your pruned herbs, Rosemary, Lavender or White Sage for strength, protection and to prevent the build-up of stagnant energy.
Many enthusiasts gather early on the day of the Equinox to witness the moment the Sun rises above the Stonehenge monoliths. However, my love of Ireland and my Irish ancestry never fails to amaze me and one place I would dearly love to visit is the megalithic monuments in County Meath for this spiritual event.
The ancient history of Ireland has been passed down over time as legend and myth. It is believed that Ireland was inhabited by a highly astronomically advanced race who had knowledge of esoteric principles, which they incorporated into the design of their megalithic temples and that the Tuatha Dé Danann are the most closely connected to the ancient megalithic sites in Ireland.
Cairn T in Lough Crew, Oldcastle, County Meath is an ancient Neolithic mound known as a passage grave, with an inner chamber that aligns with the equinoxes of Spring and Autumn. This mound is the main and central mound of the site, which originally had forty monuments. It is 35 metres in diameter and was once covered in a thick mantle of quartz. The beams of the rising sun on the Equinox enter the mound, illuminating the back stone of the chamber. This stone, covered in astronomical symbols is known as the Equinox Stone.
How amazing would that be to see?
Have a truly blessed Autumn Equinox 🍁🍂🍃
With Much Love 💖 Claire xxx
