Autumn Equinox is here

Today, Sept. 22, is the first day of Fall in the U.S. What is called "Autumn Equinox".

Autumn Equinox marks when there is an equal amount of day and night.

-The Earth orbits on its axis at a tilt. "We have an equinox twice a year -- spring and fall -- when the tilt of the Earth's axis and Earth's orbit around the sun combine in such a way that the axis is inclined neither away from nor toward the sun," the Earthsky website says. The result is that the sun shines directly on the equator, creating a nearly equal amount of day and night.

-"Mabon" (autumn equinox) is one of the eight solar holidays or sabbats of American Neopaganism. Also called Harvest Home, this holiday is a ritual of thanksgiving for the fruits of the Earth and a recognition of the need to share them to secure the blessings in the winter. Also referred to as the Second Harvest Festival. A time to give thanks. The symbols, colors and foods of festivities of Mabon are very similar to our Thanksgiving holiday so it was probably part of the root of it. Originally the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday was celebrated on Oct. 3, closer to the autumn equinox or mabon.

-In some ancient spiritual times, the autumn equinox is when the initiate, the person working towards enlightenment, must descend with the aid of their divine mother (the female warrior goddess) into the underworld, chaos, or abyss, to fight the egos and evil within, to emerge with the light and knowledge gained in darkness and later ascend.
("At the autumn equinox the goddess descends with the mystic into the underworld with the initiate to destroy the egos. In the spiritual work, it is this feminine power that has this role."  It is a time to strive for enlightenment and to be more humble instead of having a big ego. It's saying females can help.)