The Seasonal Moment of Equinox @ EarthGaia, as our Planet may be named[1], will occur at 13:31 UTC September 22nd (that’s “Universal Time” as it is named – measured at Greenwich England). Equinox is a Moment of balance of dark and light for the Planet. From this moment, the Southern Hemisphere will tip into increasing dominance of light after the dominance of dark for six months, and the Northern Hemisphere will tip into increasing dominance of dark after the dominance of light for six months.

At my place in East Coast Australia, it is the Season of the Spring Equinox – the midpoint between Winter and Summer Solstices: and the actual Moment occurs here at 11:31pm on September 22nd. It is the midpoint of the waxing light half of Earth’s annual Journey around Sun (the “Wheel of the Year” as it is commonly named in Pagan tradition). In the Northern Hemisphere it will be Autumn Equinox, the midpoint of the waxing dark half of the cycle. All global times for the actual Moment are here: archaeoastronomy.com

At Equinox – Spring or Autumn – we may celebrate the Sacred Balance which enables all of existence to come forth. I like to think of this Seasonal Moment[2] of balance, as representing the delicate balance of the “curvature of space-time” that enables all to come forth: that is what I see in the ancient image of Demeter handing the wheat to Persephone. It is also a balance of grief and joy. It is a multi-valent balance.

This awesome fine thread of Creativity flowing through space-time is the creative tension of expansion and resistance, the creative edge of grief and joy – they are never separate. This red thread is the gift of life itself, the “wheat” that Demeter as a Mother of all life, hands to Persephone, “Daughter” as any being may be known, in every moment. At the Autumn Equinox ceremony at my Place we tie red threads on each other, to signify our receiving of this gift and the vision of it, and in remembrance of the ancient initiates who wore red threads when they participated in the Eleusinian Mysteries celebrated at Autumn Equinox. The red thread may signify this sacred and delicate balance of life, that continues beneath the visible – in the dark of space-time, in the dark of Earth, in the eclipse of known ways.

The poetry of Autumn Equinox, often known as “Mabon”, may express the loss of the Beloved One, who may have many faces, many valencies: such as the loss of known ways, of “normal”. In the story of Demeter and Persephone, Persephone descends to the underworld to tend to the dead and for the gaining of knowledge … poetic expression for the power of the seed to restore life and beauty. Persephone’s descent is metaphor for the experience of LOSS in our personal and collective stories. Such sacred moments may be ceremonially recognised at this time and connected to Larger Story – that of Earth Herself and Cosmos.

The Spring Equinox, often known as “Eostar” (from which “Easter” takes its name)[3], may be celebrated as the return of the Beloved One from the depths, as in the story of Demeter-Persephone, or in the story of Inanna, or that of Dumuzi: it is Poetry, for the return of the GREEN, which is evident in the life-force surging through plants again, and the many flowers that only appear at this time. It is a Return that we hope for, that we work for, however that may manifest and be understood: it may be small victories and accomplishments that give beauty midst grievous situations, as well as larger emergences from challenging long journeys. Such sacred moments may be celebrated at this time, the remembering and recognizing of them, and connecting them to Earth’s Creativity, to Cosmic Creativity – to the Great Universe Story, in which we, each and all, are.

Note that the version of the Persephone story that I tell in PaGaian Cosmology  is one wherein Persephone descends of Her own volition (not the abduction version) – it is an interpretation of the story that enables Persephone’s integrity as a redemptive quality innate to the Cosmos and present in the Seed. This version is researched and told by Charlene Spretnak in her book Lost Goddesses of Early Greece, and also told by Carolyn McVickar Edwards in The Storyteller’s Goddess. I develop this story in this article: Female Metaphor, Science and Paganism: a Cosmic Eco-Trinity.

 For Spring Equinox/Eostar Poetic video: PaGaian Eostar 2009

For Autumn Equinox/Mabon Poetic video: PaGaian Mabon 2009 

At my place the Spring Equinox ceremony will be held at close to the actual Moment, and I invite others in my hemisphere in this way: 

This is the time of the Spring Equinox,

     Earth is poised in balance of light and dark.

You are invited to celebrate

EOSTAR/SPRING EQUINOX

Warmth and growth are sensed in the Land.

Life bursts forth with new strength.

The Beloved One return from the Depths

with new Wisdom.

We may leave behind the binds of the past …

and step into the Power of Being

with new Wisdom.

She is alive in us, and we in Her!

–oOo–

PaGaian Cosmology blogs for Spring Equinox/Eostar

PaGaian Cosmology blogs for Autumn Equinox/Mabon

You may enjoy the Spring or Autumn Equinox meditations on PaGaian Cosmology Meditations CDs, connecting these Moments and your story to larger story of the unfolding Cosmos. They are available individually and in digital format. They may support and nurture your participation in this Seasonal transition – either just for yourself or for a group.

Some Spring and Autumn Equinox story may be found in Appendix F of PaGaian Cosmology, or if you have a paper version of the book there is an Index for references throughout. These Seasonal Moments in relationship to the whole Wheel of the Year may be found in Chapter 5, and ceremonial scripts are offered in Chapter 7, which may be adapted to personal and regional poetics. The on-line versions are different from those in the paper copy of the book, as they have varied and evolved.

There is a PaGaian Cosmology Facebook group where all members may initiate discussion and/or respond, and also a Pagaian Cosmology Facebook Page … which you are welcome to “Like”.

To be on the invitation list, or for notice of events, please contact me (Glenys Livingstone)

NOTES: 

[1] The name “Earth” is derived from a Nordic Goddess’ name, Erde, and is originally from the Greek ergaze which means to work the ground. Elisabet Sahtouris, Earthdance, p.5-6.

[2] I have coined this term to speak of the “Sabbats”, the eight Earth holy days of the Old European calendar, based onThomas Berry’s naming of Earth-Sun transitions as ”moments of grace”.

[3] Eostre is a Goddess name: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ēostre and may also be associated with Astarte, Ishtar. Christians named their resurrection festival “Easter” in the Middle Ages.