Autumn Equinox

As I write this, the autumn equinox bursts into life: that brilliant instant when the exact center of our flaming Sun lies directly above the equator. On this day, all across the world our daytimes and nights are almost exactly the same length, as the sun rises and sets at almost exactly the same hour in every place in the world: approximately 7 am and 7 pm. In the north part of the world, our sun seems to move south, and the days grow markedly shorter until ‘shortest-day’, the December solstice.

Equinox is a breathtaking cosmological event that happens twice a year, in spring and fall.

The Nordic calendar did not have the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter. They had two: the season of warmth, and the season of cold. They knew only summer, and winter—which is why we still refer to the winter solstice, approximately December 21st, as ‘midwinter’ even though it is meteorologically the first day of winter…and why the first day of summer, June 21-ish, is also called ‘midsummer’. Those Norse folks still influence so much of our culture!

So what do we celebrate today? The end of summer? The beginning of Nordic winter, the season of cold? The first day of autumn?

For me, it is the latter two: as soon as the temperature drops below 70, I’m cold, and I feel keenly the dwindling of daylight. My apparel shifts to layers, and I fight darkness by lighting candles at dusk. Something deep in my biological clock drives me to tidy up: yes, even the urge to do fall house cleaning may be driven by the daylight!

I invite you to your own awareness of this day and its impact on your year. We are such small beings in the great turnings of the universe, and yet we each matter. We each have infinite connections to one another. May this flash of autumn equinox illuminate your life with breathtaking light.

(originally published 9/22/20)