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Welcome to the Autumn Equinox Blessing  2014
“BEANNACHTAÍ CÓNACHT FÓMHAIR”

Samhain which occurs over late October/early November and the next seasonal festival in our calendar is in truth a celebration of the Irish indigenous New Year. This makes Cónacht Fómhair /Autumn Equinox extremely special as for us and our Ancestors, it is the final verse of energies that began at Samhain 2013. The green leaves are giving themselves up to browns, bronzes, reds and russets and the branches holding them will not be doing so for long. Any swallows you still might see are lagging behind the departure of most of their kin. For many of us, the shortening evenings bring an early shiver not so much from a cooler  temperature, but more from an anticipation of the darker, colder days of Winter. Yet the festival and rites of Autumn Equinox call us away from such an energy sapping outlook to embrace this time, “the pause between Autumn and Winter”.  So significant is the second Equinox of the year that it is our loss to not enter and celebrate it.

Derryclare Lake, Connemara                                                        Spirit of Balance at Autumn Equinox

The word Equinox derives from the Latin for “equal to night” communicating the exact balance between light and dark on these special days in September. It is naturally a time of balance and equality and letting go. It is also a time of twinship as the Spring and Autumn Equinox are a unique identical pairing in the year, in terms of light and dark balance in a day. Why would Autumn Equinox be regarded a sacred pause between Autumn and Winter? Normally of course, this Equinox occurs in what is regarded as mid-Autumn with Winter beginning at Samhain. The key to entering this sacred pause is experience of the liminal space before the hours and minutes of darkness begin to outdo those of daylight. Synchronising our lives with that brief spell of equanimity is precious. It is a time for review of our lives since Samhain last year and a call to consciously stir intention on how to live the final weeks of a declining year with alignment and reverence, panache and grace. Autumn Equinox begins the beckoning that will increase at Samhain, for us to acknowledge that which is in us as Light and that which is in us as Shadow, knowing that it is human nature to be of both equally, regardless of our perceived elevation on our Spiritual journey. The secret season of Equinox is inclusive of Nature offering a steadiness for us to align with, in our preparation for the advent of Winter/ Samhain/ New Year. The grounding we can attain at Equinox if ignored, is to our detriment. Some scholars of the Irish spiritual tradition claim that our Ancestors did not really create a festival at Equinox times, but that is confounded by the many sacred sites built to be illuminated by the rising sun of Equinox dawns. Outstanding in these is Sliabh Na Caillí (Loughcrew) in north Co. Meath. The unique rock art of the back stone is lit magnificently on the mornings at Equinox. While Autumn Equinox is commonly celebrated on September 21st, the actual date and time of exact equality of darkness and light is on September 23rd, 2.29AM (GMT). There will be just over 45 days between Autumn Equinox and Samhain. See “SUGGESTION FOR SEASONAL CELEBRATION” below for more.

Cairn V with cairn T in the background, Loughcrew                                                   Illuminated backstone, Cairn T (photography by Steve Emerson)

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