autumnal equinox traditions and customs

How do you celebrate the autumnal equinox?

11 Ways to Celebrate Autumn Equinox

Make a Gratitude List. ...
Restore Balance in the Home. ...
Make Fall Crafts and Create Fall Art. ...
Begin Something New to Prepare for an Abundant (Inner & Outer) Harvest. ...
Visit a Local Farm or Go to a Harvest Festival. ...
Eat a Fall Harvest Meal. ...
Add Fall Decor to Your Home. ...
Have or Attend a Bonfire.

What is Mabon ritual?

Mabon celebrates the autumnal equinox. In the northern hemisphere, this September 23^rd will be the autumnal equinox. However, the southern hemisphere already celebrated Mabon on March 20, when the Northern hemisphere celebrated Ostara. It also celebrates the mid-harvest festival (also known as the second harvest).

What does the autumnal equinox mean spiritually?

The Autumn Equinox is a meaningful time of year to honor the harvest. ... Spiritually speaking, fall represents the Harvest time of year, a time to acknowledge growth and expansion as a natural evolution of being. Our lives go through cycles of growth, harvest, death, and rebirth just as we see in nature.

What happens at the autumnal equinox?

Autumnal equinox, two moments in the year when the Sun is exactly above the Equator and day and night are of equal length; also, either of the two points in the sky where the ecliptic (the Sun's annual pathway) and the celestial equator intersect.

What happens during an equinox?

The celestial equator is an imaginary line wrapping the sky directly above Earth's equator. At the equinox, the sun crosses the celestial equator to enter the sky's Northern Hemisphere. ... At the equinox, Earth's two hemispheres are receiving the sun's rays equally. Night and day are often said to be equal in length.

What religion celebrates the equinox?

Today, Pagans continue to celebrate the coming of Spring. They attribute the changes that are going on in the world to an increase in the powers of their God and Goddess (the personifications of the great force that is at work in the world).

What are the four pagan festivals?

Almost all Pagans celebrate a cycle of eight festivals, which are spaced every six or seven weeks through the year and divide the wheel into eight segments. Four of the festivals have Celtic origins and are known by their Celtic names, Imbolc, Beltane, Lughnasadh and Samhain.

What do Pagans do?

Religious practices

Most pagans worship the old pre-Christian gods and goddesses through seasonal festivals and other ceremonies. Observance of these festivals is very important to pagans, and those in hospital will generally wish to celebrate them in some form.

What does Happy Beltane mean?

Beltane is a Celtic word which means 'fires of Bel' (Bel was a Celtic deity). It is a fire festival that celebrates of the coming of summer and the fertility of the coming year. ... These rituals would often lead to matches and marriages, either immediately in the coming summer or autumn.

What does the September equinox mean?

The September equinox (or southward equinox) is the moment when the Sun appears to cross the celestial equator, heading southward. ... The Autumnal and Spring equinoxes mark the point in the calendar at which the length of night and the length of day are almost exactly equal.

What is the importance of Equinox?

Twice a year, the sun crosses the celestial equator, moving from the Northern Hemisphere to the Southern Hemisphere, or vice versa. These two crossings are very important for the inhabitants of Earth, because they mark the change in the direction the sun's rays fall on Earth.

Why is the autumnal equinox important?

...in the Northern Hemisphere. Astronomically, the September equinox is the autumnal, or fall, equinox marking the end of summer and the beginning of fall (autumn). The fall season ends on December Solstice, when astronomical winter begins.

What are the 4 equinoxes?

So, in the Northern Hemisphere you have:

Vernal equinox(about March 21): day and night of equal length, marking the start of spring.
Summer solstice (June 20 or 21): longest day of the year, marking the start of summer.
Autumnal equinox(about September 23): day and night of equal length, marking the start of autumn.

How long does the equinox last?

Therefore, on the equinox and for several days before and after the equinox, the length of day will range from about 12 hours and six and one-half minutes at the equator, to 12 hours and 8 minutes at 30 degrees latitude, to 12 hours and 16 minutes at 60 degrees latitude.

Is Equinox the same everywhere?

Everywhere from the North Pole to the South Pole gets the same number of hours of sunlight, just for those two days a year. ... So, you get slightly longer than the 12 hours of sunlight." If the earth didn't tilt, every day would be an equinox, as the sun would always be closest to the equator.

Does the Equinox change?

The dates of the equinoxes change progressively during the leap-year cycle, because the Gregorian calendar year is not commensurate with the period of the Earth's revolution about the Sun. It is only after a complete Gregorian leap-year cycle of 400 years that the seasons commence at approximately the same time.

Which planet has an equinox every 42 years?

The equinox time on the giant planets The equinox occurs on the giant planets as on Earth, when the Sun crosses the equatorial plane i.e. every 6 years for Jupiter, 14 years for Saturn, 42 years for Uranus and 82 years for Neptune.

What happens during the winter solstice?

When the winter solstice happens in the Northern Hemisphere, the North Pole is tilted about 23.4° (23°27′) away from the Sun. Because the Sun's rays are shifted southward from the Equator by the same amount, the vertical noon rays are directly overhead at the Tropic of Capricorn (23°27′ S).

What are the pagan holidays?

Holidays with pagan origins:

Christmas.
New Year's Day.
Easter.
The Roman version of Halloween.
May 1st - Labor Day.
Epiphany or Three Kings Day.
Saint John's Eve.

Who celebrates spring equinox?

The Iranian New Year (Nowruz, No-Ruz, No-Rooz, or No Ruz) occurs on the March equinox, in accordance with the Persian calendar. It has been celebrated for over 3000 years and is rooted in the traditions of Zoroastrianism. No-Ruz celebrations last for about 12 days.

Is Beltane the spring equinox?

Beltane - The Fire Festival

The Celtic Festival of Beltane (Beltain, Beltainne, Beltaine, Bealtaine, Beltany) which marks the beginning of summer in the ancient Celtic calendar is a Cross Quarter Day, half way between the Spring Equinox and the Summer Solstice.