Equinox Rites?

[herlander_refugee]

A sort of "herding cats" entry here, lol. Everyone isn't Wiccan, or even Wiccanesque, so I can't say "Merry Mabon" and expect to get everyone, can I?

I thought a discussion of what various traditions do at the Autumnal Equinox might be enlightening and engaging, so let me plunge in and then I hope others will share as well!

Neither Equinox is celebrated by our family as a big fire-in-the-pit affair. Both are what we call "working sabbats" and are largely concerned with seasonal turn preparations. At fall, I am finishing any seasonal jam making of the year, and sometimes fruit canning. And I am putting the various gardens to rights for the winter all through September and into October.

On the day itself, the only ritual event is the "Feeding of the Stones." My property is marked by a circle of stones, each named for a family deity. The feedings occur at both vernal and autumnal equinox, but one is a more brief peremptory affair---a splash of libation and handful of grain.

The other, most often the fall sabbat is more involved. On Thursday, I will not go round the circle in a simple circuit, but will instead break it up by pantheons. Some are Nordic, some Welsh, some Hellenic and a couple are Amerindian. Each grouping will get individual food and drink selected by culture. I will sit by the stones in turn, meditating at each for 5 to 10 minutes---the idea being to "hear" a critique of my ending year and advice for the year that begins (for me) at Samhain.

The family will have a simple supper in the evening...a bit more than ordinary, but not the full scale blow-out of Samhain or Yule.

And finally, at either Autumnal Equinox or Samhain (the choice is weather based) a Harvest Lady is posted on the porch as guardian through the dark of the year, she will be endowed with hand-made ornaments on the Equinox Eve.

Our herbal lady this year is over 6 feet tall, she is made of lavender, St. John's wort, oregano, lemon balm, hops, wormwood, mugwort, and bracken. Here she is:



And here are her ornaments, ready for Wednesday evening:



So tell me, those of you who are not restrained by oaths, what are your plans for taking note of the Equinox?

Comments

[senmut]

With a lot of grumpiness, I shall be at work; I'm already reverberating with energies in conflict that I was hoping to coax out, but...work.

[herlander_refugee]

Sorry you will be at work. Perhaps you can find a wee bit of time after work, or on the eve on Wednesday night to coax out some grumpy and get closer to some energy resolution.

[senmut]

I'm currently working on overnights, which is why I fear getting time. I'm a night child, so I prefer to meditate and celebrate in the darkness. The plus side; no one at work will really infringe on me during my break or lunch when I take time to actively be off by myself to make my thanksgivings for the past year's bounties.

[birgitriddle]

I don't really follow the wheel of the year for some reason, I'm eclectic and I just don't feel called to it. The only ones I really observe (or desire to observe - plans often fall through or I get distracted) are Samhain, Yule and Walpurgisnacht. Why Walpurgisnacht and not May Day, I'm not quite sure, but probably because the 30th of April is more analogous to Samhain than the 1st of May and they're pretty much on the opposite sides of the wheel.

So, no plans for Mabon, but I did do something with a local group last year and helped lead the ritual. We did ritual (a general kind since we're of all different beliefs), a dinner and oh and had people bring food to donate to people who collect such things. Community outreach of sorts.

[herlander_refugee]

We don't actually follow the precise Wiccan Wheel either. Our family sabbats are as follows:

Mid-February: Feast of the Wolf (a rather Nordic flavored neo-Lupercalia)

Walpurgis/Beltane: We used to do Beltane, not on May 1st, but when the apple trees blossomed. As I age (I am 57), I feel less interested in fertility and more in things more appropriate for a Walpurgis night observance.

Summer Solstice: the Rose fire. Yes, we dress the fire with roses from the bounteous hedge with a nod to Hekate, whose hedge it is.

Samhain: celebrated not on Oct 31, but the first full moon in the sunsign of Scorpio...this year on my birthday of oCT 23RD. Biggest fire of year, rites built around the Labyrinth. Official 'new year'...but "fallows" time till Yule.

Yule: from 20 December thru 1 January, much merriment, eating, drinking home made mead.

The Equinoxes are, as I said, simple observances built into work of the season...the Harvest Lady, for instance, is made when I cut back the herb beds.

[birgitriddle]

My patroness prefers Walpurgisnacht (I write it in German because...I don't know, I think that's how I first heard the holiday being called, so it sounds weird otherwise). My interpretation of Yule is similar to yours, though I can't really practice it as fully pagan because I'm still stuck going to my grandmother's for Christmas, so I've defined it as "family time" where people are close together because it's dark and cold outside (at least where we live).

[herlander_refugee]

I do like the German spelling, I simply have to get used to thinking of that instead of Beltane---which we celebrated from 1994 thru 2005. The last two years stuttered a bit; I know it likely is telling to admit, but George Bush and his "Mission Accomplished" speech on May 1, 2003 just about ruined the holiday for me. Even tho' my celebrations were rarely on the day itself, it began petering out right then. I am only recently trying to reclaim the holiday and re-structuring it as Walpurgisnacht.

As for Grandmothers and Christmas, I know a good many pagans, some almost as old as me, who still celebrate both holidays. They think of Christmas as the largely secular American winter-fest and family event; but celebrate the pagan season somewhat more quietly and with spiritual impact.

For us? My children were raised Catholic by me until around age 13 (for the eldest). I had been privately pagan for almost ten years before, but had taken them to Mass because the social issues faced by the small Jesuit parish we attended kept me engaged on a political and societal basis. When I finally did tell them, they were only too happy to work on reaching out to various ancestral deities; but I do believe truth and holiness does not reside in any "just one" place---I actively seek almost everywhere and can find holiness even in a houseful of Christians more often than not. I attribute years of the Catholic joys of Christmas with Yuletide still being our brightest and most joyous holy day.

My eldest son, now 32, follows a mostly Nordic path with Welsh stand-bys (lol, so to speak), my youngest son has an interest in shamanistic leanings (since that was my own pagan intro), and while my personal practice merges a few things, it has more Hellenic trappings than not. But the duty of Samhain owes to our Celtic past as well, and is a very important holiday here. That is likely why autumn equinox is simply a bit of the preparation phase for it!

[birgitriddle]

The History Channel almost ruined Walpurgisnacht for me, but I don't go into that because that would just let them and their shoddy theories win. Needless to say, I don't watch their shows anymore after seeing them butcher Norse Mythology.

My grandmother is strongly Christian, but she's also okay with my paganism so she's a good woman. It's just that she has her own beliefs and I have mine. But I can find the commonness between what we think the season should mean family wise: getting together and such and...it's just that kind of comfort and warmth.

I grew up with no religious background other than my love of mythology due to my dad being an atheist and my mom kinda being timid around him when it came to religion. o.o So a polytheistic view point is something that's always been around for me rather than a monotheistic one. I always feel like a bit of an odd one out amongst pagans, of many who have a past with Christianity in some form. Not all pagans do, but still.

[herlander_refugee]

Ah, the History Channel. Sometimes they wouldn't know a piece of history if it bit them on the butt.

My mother was atheist, my father dabbled in whatever he thought would get someone to tell him he was important---like Mormonism. I was not at all reared Christian. I converted to Catholicism at age 18 and still think of it as my first step onto a very individual spiritual path. Like you, I adored mythology of all sorts, and history and philosophy. I came to paganism very much alone, with no idea of a renaissance happening in England or the US at the same time---I came through the back door of myths and philosophy and with the fire of shamanistic dreams beneath my pillow.

All pagans have a story, and most of us, if pushed, would likely admit we feel the "odd one" in some way or other. That just might be the only thing many of us have in common!

[freysmuppet]

First, I'd like to say thank you for sharing your own planned observance with us. It sounds like it will be beautiful, and I love your herbal lady, she's gorgeous. :D

We're actually going to be celebrating on Friday because of scheduling issues, but are planning on honouring Nerthus (Mother Earth), thanking Her for Her bounty, sharing a special meal with Her, and taking an inventory of the past year, and listening for advice in the new. :)

[herlander_refugee]

You are welcome, I think one wealth of the pagan community is the sharing of ideas so people can find something that works in their individual circumstances. I actually found myself thinking of Nerthus as I made my lady this year. A few years ago I made a unfired clay figure about 15 inches tall, of Nerthus...it was taken in early spring, to the garden and left there surrounded with early flowers and candles. When it had rain-melted back into the earth, it was time to sow the garden!

[freysmuppet]

That's awesome! :D

[herlander_refugee]

Sorry, that should have said on the eve on Tuesday night. This is what I get for being decaffeinated when posting! I don't know why I was mentally conflating the Equinox and the Full Moon....but I was.

[bodlon]

I'm still working out how the solstices and equinoxes fit into my overall system of practice and belief, but I tend to regard them as days generally good for reflection and spiritual practice, and which are strongly seasonal rather than the harbingers of the coming season.

My general plan is to find some time on Thursday to visit the park/lake where I do a lot of my practice connecting with the land, make an offering in the water (usually flowers or a bit of food), and commune with the gods, spirits, and ancestors.

[herlander_refugee]

My plan was for Thursday, too, lol...then I belatedly realized I was looking at my star for 'full moon' on the calendar instead of the smaller 'A.E.' for Autumnal Equinox on Wednesday!