Autumnal equinox

At 1718 EST tomorrow the autumnal equinox will signal the end of summer and start the progression into fall. The Celts never celebrated equinox but surely they noted the night of equal days and nights as a sign post of the approaching Samhuin.

In 22 nights, the natural world will die to be reborn again with the rising Soltice sun in December. The Celts would be busy harvesting grains, fattening live stock and gathering firewood to prepare for the long winter. They would finalize the commitments that they made the previous Samhuin, making daughters ready for marriage, livestock ready for trade and goods ready for sale. The Celts would also be planning the next round of negotiations that we be bargained and committed to on this Samhuin.

I celebrate the equinox as a time of reckoning. I take stock of the summer's garden, stock firewood and put summer toys in the shed to be stored until Beltaine. Tis my linkage with the old ways when people lived with the land.

The Celtic blood must run deep in my veins, for I have always loved Fall best. The death of foliage on Samhuin is the Old Year's End and Solstice the New Year's Day. Not the contrived calendar based new year's celebrated in modern times.

This Samhuin I will bury fear, unemployment and 2009 and await the bright future that awaits with the Solstice.