The wheel keeps turning and its time once again for another High Day essay. Today I’m discussing the Fall Equinox. This is one of the several High Days for which we have very little, if any, evidence of how or even whether the ancients celebrated it. Yet, it seems unlikely that such a liminal day which, for many ancients, hinged the year between its dark and light halves would go unmarked.
The absence of evidence of ancient celebrations has generally been filled within Neo-Paganism with various fabrications. These include the celebration of the Welsh ‘divine child’ Mabon ap Modron, the feast of the second harvest, corn king sacrifices, and Alban Elfred in the Druid Revivalist movements. Regardless of how one wishes to celebrate this High Day certainly there are plenty of seasonal traditions that one can work with including the gathering of nuts (especially acorns) and Fall fruits (especially apples) and mead making.
For myself, the Fall Equinox marks one of my favourite times of the year. The heat and pests of summer are gone, the leaves turn red and gold, the morning air is crisp and welcoming. There is always much to be done; firewood to be brought in, the last of the garden to be harvested, chimneys to be swept; but the time between the Equinox and Samhain is a moment to be cherished before the winter arrives.
