Mabon : Autumn Equinox

And so the wheel turns once more, this eve at 3.15am Wollombi time when the sun storms into the firebrand go-getter energy of Aries. Crossing the equator as he goes, the sun king delivering our equinox tipping point when day and night are of equal length. Our Northern friends begin to rise and stretch into Spring as here in the South we begin the descent towards the dark cauldron days of Winter.For centuries Mabon celebrations have given thanks for the harvest of the high season now passed, in every sense. It is a time to reflect on what you planted in Spring that grew and flourished throughout the warm, active months of Summer. Traditionally this referred to crops, which by now were stored for the long cold days ahead. But beyond that, the rituals of Mabon ask us to consider what has grown in our lives and in our hearts over this period. What will we continue to nurture and what will we let fall dormant?For traditional astrologers, the Aries ingress is another new year as we recommence the sun's journey through the zodiac. Aries energy is resolute, fearless and pioneering. With a cosmos in transition, the equinox is a liminal space to find a moment of balance, no matter how brief. Finding this fulcrum necessarily shows us where and how we may be tipping too far and invites us to right ourselves. Anything that has been knocking us off centre can be left on this side of the equinox as we bend to the change of season.This night is a time to give thanks for bounties bestowed, new friends and faces and places that have joined you on your path. Honour too what once was, now left behind to create space for new blessings to come into your life. Your gratitude signals to the multiverse that you're up for more of the same.Traditionally the first fire is lit this night to greet the new season. Here in the Hunter we have traded scorching fire bans and swirling winds for flood warnings and cooler nights, the shift palpable and potent. Candlelit altars are the order of the day. May yours burn brightly through the new season now upon us.Art via Pinterest (uncredited)Words c. Kerrie Basha, 2018