If you’re interested in connecting to ancient spiritual practices, you should include celebrating the equinoxes on your yearly festival calendar. The spring and fall equinoxes are already marked on the calendar you probably have sitting near your desk, but you might not have paid them any mind before now. Your ancestors celebrated the equinoxes every year for hundreds, if not thousands, of years in times long past. Just because the people who celebrated these events are not around anymore doesn’t mean you can’t pick up where they left off. Keep reading to find out how you can begin celebrating the equinoxes in the Pagan way.
Connecting With Mother Nature’s Cycles
Your Pagan ancestors celebrated the spring and fall equinoxes as a way to connect with and honor Mother Nature and her yearly cycles. The equinoxes and solstices are events that mark the movement of the sun in the sky, which means they are also connected to the changing seasons. Whereas the summer and winter solstice pinpoint the longest and shortest days of the year, respectively, the equinoxes identify the two days of the year when day and night are equal. This usually happens around the end of September and the middle or end of March every year.
Different cultures and communities across the world have unique ways of observing the spring and autumn equinoxes. If you’re trying to reconnect with your Pagan roots, you can develop specific rituals and practices of your own to celebrate these two special holidays.
Partying With Seasonal Food and Drink
Like with most religions, you can begin celebrating the equinoxes during spring and autumn by organizing a party, but make sure to use appropriate seasonal food and drink. Since the equinoxes are all about the movements of the sun and the changing seasons, it’s best to honor the Earth and all the ways she nurtures and provides for you.
While preparing for your spring and autumn equinox celebration, plan your menu around what is available during that time of year in your specific location. You might also want to focus on dishes and drinks that symbolize the changing seasons. For example, to welcome the spring, you can consume the first harvest of young spring greens while for autumn, you can enjoy nature’s bounty in the form of late-summer berries, gourds, and all kinds of vegetables.
Reflecting on Your Intentions and Goals
The spring and fall equinoxes offer you an opportunity to reflect on your intentions and goals for the upcoming season. Ancient Pagans understood that it was important to set aside time for self-care and reflection, and you can honor them by slowing down and intentionally celebrating the equinoxes.
In today’s busy world, you might not have time to do anything more than make one or two special dishes on the occasion of the equinox, but that doesn’t mean you can’t observe the movements of the sun in a meaningful way. On the day of the equinox, make sure to get off work on time and dedicate a few hours to preparing food, eating, relaxing, lighting candles or incense, and taking a walk around your neighborhood to notice the changes you see in the world around you.
Developing Your own way to Begin Celebrating the Equinoxes
- Building an ancestral shrine with seasonal vegetation and flowers
- Planting fruit and vegetable seeds or taking care of a community garden
- Honoring the season with images and statues of animals
- Setting up an altar with autumn fruits and vegetables
- Performing a ritual with candles and crystals to rebalance light and dark energy
Once you begin to embrace Mother Nature’s cycles by celebrating the equinoxes you’ll discover that your internal clock is much more aligned with nature than you ever knew possible.