Vernal & Autumnal Equinoxes
Greetings gentlefolk, tis time once more to mark the passing of the seasons and the turning of the Great Wheel.The Wheel of the Year continues to turn and we have once again reached one of it's eight spokes, the Vernal Equinox.
So to one and all have a merry Ostara, a festive Alban Eiler and a happy Eostre.
This festival is known by many other names as well, The Spring Equinox, Esther, Ostarun, ôstartag', Eastre, Eoastrae & Oestre to name a few.
This is the time of spring's official return. A time of joy and the seed time, when life bursts forth from the Earth and chains of winter are broken.
Alban Eiler, which means, "Light of the Earth," was the day that night and day stood equal. Crops were typically sown at this time. The equinoxes and solstices were seen, to the Celts, as a time of transition. This rare balance in nature made these days a powerful time for magic to the ancient Druids. It is a time to celebrate the arrival of Spring, the renewal and rebirth of Nature herself, and the coming lushness of Summer. It is at this time when light and darkness are in balance, yet the light is growing stronger by the day.
It is the festival of Spring and the return to the land of life after the dead of Winter. It is a celebration of the return of growth and green things to the land. This festival is usually considered to be a sharing of love between the GOD and GODDESS, a period of equality, a balance between the forces of nature and man and woman.
In the story of the GODDESS and the GOD, the Holly King (the God of the waning year) is born at the Vernal Equinox. Just as life is always around us, we are reminded through the birth of the Holly King that death is also a natural part of things. Death is neither good nor bad, but an integral part of the life/death/rebirth cycle.
At this time the GODDESS blankets the Earth with fertility, bursting forth from Her sleep, as the GOD stretches and grows to maturity. He walks the greening fields and delights in the abundance of Nature. This is a time of beginnings, of action, of planting spells for future gains, and of tending ritual gardens. Eggs are colored and placed on the altar as magical talismans. The familiar Easter Bunny and Easter Eggs are Pagan derivatives, as are baskets of flowers. The Christian religion adopted these emblems for 'Easter', celebrated the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Vernal Equinox.
And to our friends in the Anti-podes have a merry Mabon, a festive Alban Elfed and a happy Harvest Home.
For you today is the Autumnal Equinox, the beginning of Autumn. This is the time of reaping the harvest, of thanks giving and joy, of leave taking, and sorrow. Now the day and night are equal, giving perfect balance. From this point on, darkness will be greater than light.
It is the Second or Continuing Harvest. Now, as at Ostara, the days and nights are equal once again. gardens are in full bloom and heavy with nature's bounty. There is a slight nip in the air already and preparations begin to prepare for the long cold months which are to come.
The Autumnal Equinox is a reminder that the Sun will now start to grow shorter each day from this point on until again at Yule the longest time of darkness will come again. This is again a time of equality between the GOD and GODDESS, the GOD represented by the Sun, the GODDESS by the Moon. Each representing half of one whole that is fulfilled by their joining as one. Fruitfulness of the land being the end result of their shared sovereignty, the bounty of the harvest will be brought in and stored against winter, and the dark times.
In many traditions, this is the day the Sun God, the God of Light, is killed by his rival and dark twin, the God of Darkness -- who was born at Midsummer, reached puberty at Lughnasa, and lives a mirror-image life of the Sun God. From this mid-Autumn day forward, darkness will be greater than light, just as night becomes longer than day. So it is a festival of sacrifice, including that of the Sun God in his aspect of Spirit of the Fields, John Barleycorn for this is the final grain harvest. The Christian religion adopted it as 'Michaelmas', celebrated on the alternative date September 25, the old equinox date (Old Harvest Home).
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Twilight's Historical Ponderings
Scarborough Fair
Celts
Solstice
Samhain/Beltane