Celebrate the Autumnal Equinox – an Invitation

 

One of the more delightful memories I have is of an evening back in Italy when I gathered friends and family to celebrate the Summer Solstice. If I remember correctly it was June 2002, so twelve years ago, or the other day. Because when you close your eyes and bring back a memory, it does not make any difference whether it was last week, five years ago, or a million years: it becomes a set of images in your mind, and feelings in your heart.

 

When I  close my eyes what I see is the soft light of dusk in the garden, surrounded by trees lush and rich with summer vibrancy. People are arriving, one at a time, three at a time, mostly friends and family, and even some friends to be.

What I feel is a quiet peacefulness and the loving friendship of people gathered with the same intention: to align with nature.

 

 

In the space between my favorite pine tree, the one who saved my life by taking a lighting instead of me a year before – and survived, and the beautiful maple trees, I had prepared a circle of stones, crystals, flowers and candles. It was to be our point of focus, and inside everyone could place a personal item as a symbol of their presence and their intention, which they would then take home.

 

As the time of the solstice drew near, we quietly gathered around the circle. At the last minute I was surprised by a friend stepping in next to me to join the circle, as I had no idea he would be interested in this kind of thing. Everyone was welcome.

We held hands and closed our eyes as I said a few words. Some of us stated our intentions out loud, some of us did it quietly. The minutes passed and the entrance of the solstice energy was complete. We finished with a circle of light for the planet.

Afterwards, we celebrated with food I had prepared and that others had also brought with them, and toasted to the new season.

 

 

Over the years, thinking back to that moment always sparked the desire to organize a little celebration like that again, maybe at every change of season. With one thing and another, it never happened, and I would find myself on the other side of the due date wishing I had not forgotten. Well, I am not forgetting this time.

 

I have shared this story because I would like to invite you all to celebrate the autumnal equinox with me and welcome in the new cycle. The Autumn Equinox is the time in which day and night are again of equal duration. Dark and light, inner and outer, yin and yang are in balance. This is a powerful time for setting new intentions for you life, for what you wish to accomplish in the coming year, the time of incubation before the seeds quietly germinate under the winter snow. The more specific you are, the stronger your focus and the energy that will flow into it.

 

 

You can make the celebration as elaborate or as simple as you like. You can follow the guidelines of what I did, or you can change it completely and create your own. You can gather many people out in nature, or it can be just you in your home. Though a circle of stones, leaves, flowers and lights to act as focus point is lovely, it is your intention that will create the magic.

 

You can also write said intention on a piece of paper and place it under a crystal inside the circle, or on an altar in your home, and then keep it on your night table. Another good idea would be to follow up with a vision board, whether on a piece of poster board that you will hang on your wall, or as a screen saver for your computer if that is where you spend a lot of time.

A little tip, if you are celebrating outside and you live in a fire hazard area, use LED candles instead of flame ones.

 

And if you are in the Southern Hemisphere, then by all means celebrate the arrival of Spring and of rebirth.

Most of all, let us make this light and joyful.

 

AUTUMNAL EQUINOX 2014 – Monday, September 22 – 7:29 pm PDT (Pacific Daylight Time – Los Angeles time)

Honolulu: Monday, September 22 – 4:29 pm

NY and East Coast: Monday, September 22 – 10:29 pm EDT

London: Tuesday, September 23 – 3:29 am

Rome and Central Europe: Tuesday, September 23 – 4:29 am

Tokyo: Tuesday, September 23 – 11:29 am

 

AUTUMNAL EQUINOX 2015 – Wednesday, September 23 – 1:22 am PDT (Pacific Daylight Time – Los Angeles time)

Honolulu: Tuesday, September 22 – 10:22 pm

NY and East Coast: Wednesday, September 23 – 4:22 am EDT

London: Wednesday, September 23 – 9:33 am

Rome and Central Europe: Wednesday, September 23 – 10:33 am

Tokyo: Wednesday, September 23 – 5:22 pm

 

VERNAL (SPRING) EQUINOX 2014 for the Southern Hemisphere

Sydney – Tuesday, September 23 – 12:29 pm

 

VERNAL (SPRING) EQUINOX 2015 for the Southern Hemisphere

Sydney – Wednesday, September 23 – 6:22 pm

 

FIRST NEW MOON OF FALL 2014: September 23

FIRST NEW MOON OF FALL 2015: October 12 – though September 12 is also very close

you can see the calendar of the moon phases here.

 

The above are just a few dates and times for the locations where I have friends and family. You can can calculate your time zone from those, or you can find it at this link.

 

 

In any case, the shift in energy does not happen all in that one exact minute, that is when it completes itself. Here in California, I have already been feeling the change in the air, and seeing it in the light. So if the equinox exact time is in the middle of the night or very early in the morning for you, celebrate the night before and then fall asleep holding your intention in your heart.

 

When you are done, I would love it if you could share it with me and everyone through social media. You can post one or more images with a brief story of what you did on Facebook, or Instagram or Twitter and use the hashtag #LoobAutumnEquinox14 or #LoobAutumnEquinox14, and tag me. If you are a blogger you can create your own post and add the link to it.

And if you would like to leave me a message below to let me know you intend to participate, that would be wonderful, as it will start giving me an idea at how many will be in this extended circle.

 

 

Then, come December, we will celebrate the return to the light with the Winter Solstice.

 

Feel free to share this with anyone who you think might enjoy it and would like to participate, and let’s see how many people from around the world we can gather.
I wish you wishes fulfilled.