Autumn Equinox Reflections
Sunday was the autumn equinox, one of two days in the year on which we have equal hours of daylight and darkness.
The autumn equinox is our official turn toward winter, signalling us that we are entering the half of the year in which life in the natural world, of which we human mammals are part, begins to slow down and draw in its resources, preparing for a period of renewal and to survive the winter months.
On Sunday I offered my first free workshop, which I will do four times each year at the equinoxes and solstices. Fifty-five women signed up – which was astonishing to me, beyond anything I had imagined. Thirty-three were able to attend. I had expected drop-offs - it was always going to be risky on a Sunday, and we all know that plans change.
Thirty-three women attended, from across the UK, from Europe, the USA and even a woman in India who attended and stayed with us from 10:30pm-midnight her time! Women between the ages of 26-69, several of whom, like me, now live in a country that is not the one they grew up in. To hold space for an international, inter-generational group of women like this was my dream for Women’s Work already coming true. I was in awe, humbled, overwhelmed with gratitude and a healthy dose of anxiety.
From the ‘pre-event’ email that I sent, letting women know what to expect and reminding them that we would be co-producing the event, we did. We formed a temporary community of women, each doing her own work, together – being hosted, facilitated, by me. Experiencing ourselves, reflecting deeply but also being connected with a fantastic range of women. Experiencing both ‘I’, and ‘we’. It was amazing.
As so many women who wanted to be there couldn’t attend, and because I know that these are useful reflections for anyone at this time of year, I am putting a ‘sketch’ of the workshop into this blog.
My hope is that readers who didn’t attend on Sunday might find an hour for themselves to cosy up and reflect on life or take the questions on a walk in the beauty that Mother Nature offers in the autumn. Or even talk them through with a friend or family member. I have had feedback from a couple women who attended on Sunday that they ‘kept thinking of things’ to add to their thoughts gathered during the workshop. It might be useful not to consider your reflections ‘finished’ for a couple days after you sit with the questions.
I hope that each of us can slow down enough to take stock of our abundant harvest.
To reap, sort and store what we need for the coming year.
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The season of harvesting is celebrated in most cultures and in many traditions. The word harvest is from the Anglo-Saxon haerfest – season of rejoicing.
The Celtic Druidic festival of Mabon is held at the autumn equinox, the second of the harvest festivals that begin with Lughnasa in early August and finish with Samhain on 1 November.
The Hindu goddess Annapurna, goddess of the harvest and nourishment.
The story of Demeter and her daughter Persephone, taken by Hades to the underworld after eating the seeds of a pomegranate that he offered her, that many of us will have learned in school if we studied Greek mythology.
The Jewish festival of Sukkot, held over several days in October.
The Christian festival of St Michaelmas, an autumn celebration of the harvest.
American and Canadian days of Thanksgiving.
If you grew up outside of the USA, you might not know that many of the original English ‘settlers’ didn’t survive the first winter due to so many of their crops failing in the new soil and conditions. The Native Americans taught them to grow corn, squash, blueberries and other crops that then thrived for them. The story of the first ‘Thanksgiving’ was the settlers wish to offer a banquet of thanks to the native peoples who had ensured their survival.
I share this story to remind us that a ‘poor’ or ‘failed’ harvest isn’t necessarily a final harvest – but a temporary place on the path of life, an opportunity to learn and grow from. While 2024’s unusually cold and rainy growing season in the UK meant wheat and oilseed rape harvests were poor, asparagus and all the berry crops were increased. A bumper crop of flavourful apples is predicted in the UK, in these final months of harvesting.
As you recall your year, be sure to note the ‘soil and conditions’ that nourished your best crops and learn what you can about why some may have failed.
As we gather our 2024 harvest, we are likely to be recalling some events during the year that we would not have chosen for ourselves. 2024 has been a particularly tough year for many. I invite you to remember that your harvest also includes the people, activities, songs, sights, writings and creatures that sustained you while you moved through those events. Be sure to remember that they are within your harvest.
Once the harvest is in, the sorting and storing begins.
In many parts of the world, there will have been – or still be – a ritual of creating a ‘corn dolly’ or ‘harvest dolly’. While you can read more about these traditions online, in essence they were rituals of protecting the ‘spirit’ of the crop so that it could be ploughed back into the spring fields the following year. A symbol of gratitude for the harvest, and hope for an abundant one in the year to follow.
As a final step, having surveyed your harvest and considered what you want to preserve for ploughing back into your field of life in 2025, remember that autumn is also a season for letting go.
As deciduous trees prepare for winter, they draw their nutritious sap down toward their roots for the winter, causing their leaves to fall away. Dropping their leaves also means the tree is at less risk of damage in winter winds and storms. These fallen leaves will break down and decay, becoming compost to nourish new growth in its season.
The wheel of the year reminds us, nature reminds us, that nothing living stays the same. In, or around us. May your autumn be a rich season of gathering, preserving and casting off. A season of gratitude, slowing down, and preparing for the winter season of rest and renewal.
What are you harvesting from 2024?
Reflecting across the year – recall people, events, experiences, hopes, lessons and insights.
What are the strands of your 2024 harvest that you want to weave into your ‘harvest dolly’…to preserve, to return to your ‘field of life’ as you till the soil in 2025?
What is it time to release, to let go of, be freed from…so that you are more able to draw on, and preserve, your own resources?
Consider how you spend your time and energy, other people, your own thoughts…what is it time to ‘compost’, that it might fertilise new growth in 2025?
