Autumn Equinox

The term “equinox” is derived from the Latin words “aequus” (meaning equal) and “nox” (meaning “night”) because when an equinox occurs, the length of the day and night becomes almost equal.

The sun crosses the celestial equator and moves southward in the northern hemisphere during the September equinox. The location on the earth where the sun is directly overhead at solar noon is known as the subsolar point. The subsolar point occurs on the equator during the September equinox and March equinox. At that time, the earth’s axis of rotation is perpendicular to the line connecting the centers of the earth and the sun.

Harvest Festivals

The Fall Equinox has been known by many other names over the centuries. Cultures from around the world call it: Alban Elfed, Autumn Equinox, Autumnal Equinox, Cornucopia, Higan or koreisai, Feast of Avilon, Festival of Dionysus, Harvest Home, Harvest Tide, Mabon, Night of the Hunter, Second Harvest Festival, Wine Harvest, Witch’s Thanksgiving, and of course the first day of autumn.

The idea of a harvest festival is nothing new. In fact, people have celebrated it for millennia, all around the world. In ancient Greece, Oschophoria was a festival held in the fall to celebrate the harvesting of grapes for wine. In the 1700's, the Bavarians came up with Oktoberfest, which actually begins in the last week of September, and it was a time of great feasting and merriment, still in existence today. China's Mid-Autumn festival is celebrated on the night of the Harvest Moon, and is a festival of honoring family unity.

Common themes found worldwide are balance, harvesting and abundance, remembrance of the dead and life’s fragility and the return of weather that favors slowing down, introspection, conservation, and reflection on the meaning of life. We also begin noticing the shortening of the days as we head towards the Winter Solstice.

The celebration of the seasons is thought of mostly as an ancient practice, but more people are beginning to honor the equinox and solstice days. Equinox celebrations or Harvest Parties are popping up everywhere, regardless of religion, belief, or location in the world. The seasons change for everyone, so everyone can celebrate them!

Magic and Mythology

Nearly all of the myths and legends popular at this time of the year focus on the themes of life, death, and rebirth. Not much of a surprise, when you consider that this is the time at which the earth begins to die before winter sets in!

Demeter and Her Daughter - Perhaps the best known of all the harvest mythologies is the story of Demeter and Persephone. Demeter was a goddess of grain and of the harvest in ancient Greece. Her daughter, Persephone, caught the eye of Hades, god of the underworld. When Hades abducted Persephone and took her back to the underworld, Demeter's grief caused the crops on earth to die and go dormant. By the time she finally recovered her daughter, Persephone had eaten six pomegranate seeds, and so was doomed to spend six months of the year in the underworld. These six months are the time when the earth dies, beginning at the time of the autumn equinox.

Inanna Takes on the Underworld - The Sumerian goddess Inanna is the incarnation of fertility and abundance. Inanna descended into the underworld where her sister, Ereshkigal, ruled. Erishkigal decreed that Inanna could only enter her world in the traditional ways -- stripping herself of her clothing and earthly posessions. By the time Inanna got there, Erishkigal had unleashed a series of plagues upon her sister, killing Inanna. While Inanna was visiting the underworld, the earth ceased to grow and produce. A vizier restored Inanna to life, and sent her back to earth. As she journeyed home, the earth was restored to its former glory.

Modern Celebrations

For contemporary Druids, this is the celebration of Alban Elfed, which is a time of balance between the light and the dark. Many Asatru groups honor the fall equinox as Winter Nights, a festival sacred to Freyr.

For most Wiccans and NeoPagans, this is a time of community and kinship. It's not uncommon to find a Pagan Pride Day celebration tied in with Mabon. Often, PPD organizers include a food drive as part of the festivities, to celebrate the bounty of the harvest and to share with the less fortunate.

http://www.365halloween.com/autumn-equinox-fall-celebration

http://paganwiccan.about.com/od/holidaysandcelebrations/p/Mabon_History.htm

Summer Solstice

What exactly is the summer solstice?  The summer solstice, or the first day of summer, is a significant celestial event.  It is the longest day and the shortest night of the year.  The term “solstice” is comprised of two Latin words:  “sun” (sol) and “stice” (to stand still).  As the days lengthen and the sun rises high in the sky, it appears to stand still.  People living in the Northern Hemisphere experience it around June 21 and those living in the Southern Hemisphere observe it around December 21.  

Summer Solstice Traditions & Celebrations

Weddings – The Druids celebrated this day as the “wedding of Heaven and Earth” which is why in these current times that June is a “lucky” month for a wedding.  


Another reason June is viewed as auspicious for weddings is because May is considered to be when the wedding of the Goddess and God took place, and out of respect for their deities, wedding were delayed until June.

Only one full moon happens in June and it’s called the Honey Moon because this is believed to be the best time to harvest honey from the bee hives.   Because of this, newlyweds were fed dishes and beverages with honey during their first month of marriage to encourage love and fertility.  As we know it in modern times, the holiday taken after a couple’s wedding is called the “honeymoon,” which is a continuation of the traditional celebration from ancient times.   

Pagans – Pagan festivals consist of groups gathering to light a sacred fire while staying up through the night to welcome the dawn.  The Pagans also celebrated the “Honey Moon” and used the mead from fermented honey during their wedding rituals at the summer solstice (midsummer).  They celebrated this special day with bonfires and couples would jump through the flames and hope their crops would grow as high as they jumped.  Dancing and bonfires were also thought to help increase the sun’s energy.

Pagans also believed that midsummer was a time of magic and that evil spirits would appear.  Adorning themselves with herbs and flowers was believed to keep the evil spirits away. 

Aboriginals – Understanding the change in the day’s length, the Aboriginal people celebrated the growing season, harvesting early herbs for medicinal and other uses, and planting crops to be harvested by the autumn equinox, when they knew the days were getting shorter and therefore so was their growing season.


China - The Chinese observe the day by worshiping Li, the Chinese Goddess of Light.  They celebrated the solstice by honoring the earth, the feminine, and the yin energies, which balance the winter solstice’s celebration of the heavens, masculinity and yang energies.


Ancient Gaul (France) – The “Feast of Epona” was the midsummer celebration in ancient Gaul.  It is named after the Goddess who personified fertility, sovereignty and agriculture and she was portrayed as a woman riding a mare.


Ancient Rome – The ancient Rome “Festival of Vestalia” was held from June 7 through June 15.  It was held in honor of the Roman Goddess of the hearth, Vesta.  It was then that married women were permitted to enter the shrine of Vesta.  During the rest of the year, only the vestal virgins were allowed inside.

Ancient Sweden – The ancient Swedes set up a midsummer tree and decorated it in every town with the villagers dancing around it in celebration.  Customarily, the women and girls bathed in the local river.  This magical ritual was meant to bring rain to their crops.

Christian Countries – When Europe had converted to Christianity, John the Baptist’s celebratory feast day was set on June 24, which is allegedly his date of birth.  It is considered one of the oldest feasts that honored a saint.  Being considered a forerunner to Jesus, his feast is celebrated a few days after the summer solstice, just as Jesus’ is celebrated a few days after the winter solstice (December 21).


Essenes – Believed to be sun worshipers, the Essenes was the only Jewish religious group out of the 24 groups in Palestine during the 1^st century which used a solar calendar.  Archaeologists have discovered a sun temple at the ruins at Qumrun, which is the location of the Dead Sea Scrolls.  It was considered a dining room by early investigators even though there were two altars at its eastern end.  The room is laid out with exactly the same angles as the Egyptian shrines dedicated to the sun.

The summer solstice is still celebrated around the world, though most notably in England.  Thousands still come to gather at Stonehenge and Avebury to welcome the summer solstice sunrise.



By Kristen Lee Curtis

http://www.chiff.com/a/summer-solstice.htm

http://www.religioustolerance.org/summer_solstice.htm