Fall \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Harvest Moon (I changed this name when I discovered the Harvest Moon was the closest full moon to the Fall Equinox)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Autumn
\nby T. E. Hulme<\/p>\n
A touch of cold in the Autumn night
\nI walked abroad,
\nAnd saw the ruddy moon lean over a hedge
\nLike a red-faced farmer.
\nI did not stop to speak, but nodded;
\nAnd round about were the wistful stars
\nWith white faces like town children.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
My thoughts<\/strong><\/p>\n This Equinox I’m offering some resources from around the web that speak to this, the second harvest holiday. \u00a0This is the liturgical fall, as I said yesterday, as opposed to the meteorological fall which occurs September 1st.<\/p>\n The crone aspect of this holiday strikes me especially this year. \u00a0Why? \u00a0Because it honors the triple goddess [maid-mother-crone] in her final form of three. The final form, that is, until the new year begins. She begins the year as the maid, shifts with the beginning of the growing season into the mother and then, with the coming of fall enters the crone.<\/p>\n I don’t go further with the triple goddess idea (from Robert Graves) than its emphasis on the seasons recapitulating \u00a0the main phases of human life. \u00a0In this way the fall turn of the goddess into the crone, the wise woman\/healer, marks the seasonal reminder of the Third Phase.<\/p>\n My own version of the three is: \u00a0Student, Family (householder in the Hindu tradition), Third Phase (retirement in the Hindu tradition, but in a different sense than our own, about which there is no cultural consensus. \u00a0Hence, for me, the third phase). \u00a0The crone encourages an inflection in the third phase that I like i.e., a sense of fulfillment, of gathered wisdom, of grace gained from an expected and welcomed transition.<\/p>\n This is also the season of age passing onto death. \u00a0Death marks the end of the third phase and since it does, preparation for dying is an essential aspect of the third phase. \u00a0An essential, perhaps the only essential, realization here is that death is and that it comes for us all. \u00a0Though essential, this is a truth difficult to grasp in its deeply personal sense and once grasped, to accept. \u00a0It requires wisdom, patience and gentle resignation, all characteristic of the crone as I have come to understand her.<\/p>\n She could just as well be he. \u00a0A wise old man, the one on the block that others come to.<\/p>\n This is the season of harvest. \u00a0Enjoy the fruits of your labors.<\/p>\n The triple Goddess – worshipped by the Ancient Britons, is now in her aspect of the aging Goddess and passes from Mother to Crone, until she is reborn as a youthful virgin as the wheel of nature turns. Apples<\/strong> The Wicker man<\/strong> ‘The reaping is over and the harvest is in, To close: \u00a0a prayer, written by Kathleen Jenks of the wonderful website Myth*ing Links<\/a>:<\/p>\n Kathleen was a professor at Pacifica and is now a private consultant.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Fall \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Harvest Moon (I changed this name when I discovered … Continue reading Mabon and the Fall Equinox<\/span> Mabon<\/a><\/h2>\n
Aging Goddess<\/h2>\n
\nAt the Autumn equinox the goddess offers wisdom, healing and rest.<\/p>\n
\nTo honour the dead, it was also traditional at Mabon to place apples on burial cairns, as symbolism of rebirth and thanks. This also symbolizes the wish for the living to one day be reunited with their loved ones.
\nMabon is also known as the Feast of Avalon, deriving from the meaning of Avalon being, ‘the land of the apples’.<\/p>\nMabon Traditions<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\nThere was a Celtic ritual of dressing the last sheaf of corn to be harvested in fine clothes, or weaving it into a wicker-like man or woman. It was believed the sun or the corn spirit was trapped in the corn and needed to be set free. This effigy was usually burned in celebration of the harvest and the ashes would be spread on the fields.<\/p>\n
\nSummer is finished, another cycle begins’
\n<\/em>
\nIn some areas of the country the last sheaf was kept inside until the following spring, when it would be ploughed back into the land. In Scotland, the last sheaf of harvest is called ‘the Maiden’, and must be cut by the youngest female in attendance.<\/p>\n
\nand day and night are briefly,<\/strong>
\nbut perfectly,<\/strong>
\nbalanced at the equinox,<\/strong>
\nmay we remember anew how fragile life is —-<\/strong>
\nhuman life, surely,<\/strong>
\nbut also the lives of all other creatures,<\/strong>
\ntrees and plants,<\/strong>
\nwaters and winds.<\/strong>May we make wise choices in how and what we harvest,<\/strong>
\nmay earth’s weather turn kinder,<\/strong>
\nmay there be enough food for all creatures,<\/strong>
\nmay the diminishing light in our daytime skies<\/strong>
\nbe met by an increasing compassion and tolerance<\/strong>
\nin our hearts.<\/strong><\/center> <\/p><\/blockquote>\n