![]() The feast day is September 29, which is celebrated as the beginning of fall in some places. Some traditions use this feast day to celebrate other archangels: Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, and Raphael as the Feast of the Angels. Michaelmas is the Catholic feast of the Archangel Michael. A similar holiday in Korea is called Chuseok. ![]() In the southern U.S., Moon Pies are often used in place of moon cakes. It is celebrated with the usual festival activities, plus gazing at the moon and eating moon cakes. On a lunar calendar, that is the 15th day of the eighth lunar month. Some Wiccan rituals for Mabon include building an altar with harvest fruits and vegetables, meditating on balance, gathering and feasting on apples, offering apples to the goddess, sharing food, and counting one’s blessings.Ĭhina and Vietnam celebrate the Moon Festival, or Mid-Autumn Festival, which is on the full moon nearest to the equinox. It is also a time of preparing for Samhain (October 31–November 1), the bigger pagan festival that begins winter. It is a time to give thanks for the summer and to pay tribute to the coming darkness. In pagan mythology, the equinox is called Mabon, or Second Harvest. A Woman Visiting the Graves of Loved Ones during Ohigan It is also a time of meditation and to visit living relatives. The week around each equinox is Ohigan, a time to visit the graves of one’s ancestors, to spruce up the gravesites, and to leave flowers. The equinoxes are also symbolic of the transitions of life. The Japanese Buddhist belief is that the land of the afterlife is due west, and during the equinoxes, the sun sets directly west. Japan marks the equinoxes-both of them-with a period called Ohigan (sometimes spelled O-higan). But it is the time in the Jewish faith that we give thanks for life, reflect on the year, and participate in the ritual of Tashlich, the symbolic throwing of your sins into moving water. The date of Passover is set to begin the night of the full moon after the vernal equinox, so Rosh Hashanah has only a tangential relationship with the equinox. During the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year holiday is 163 days after the first day of Passover. Many cultures also celebrate a new year at this time. Autumnal festivals play a prominent role in Native American culture, Iranian tradition, and beyond. Thousands of people stand in awe at sacred sites around the world-from the pyramids at Chichen Itza in Yucatán to Machu Picchu in Peru. This is a wonder and a marvel.For some, the Equinoxes are a time for celebration and ritual. This is the Holy Word that is written in no less than the Earth and the Sky and in all things that are made. This is our knowledge and our affirmation. This is the lesson of the Lord and the Lady. ![]() Let us step forward into the darkening days holding before us the divine promise of new Light at the end of the Dark Days, from year to year and life to life. This is the time of the turning of the Light into Darkness. This is a time of wonder and gratitude for the gifts the Lady showers down upon her people. ![]() This is the Reckoning of the Year, for Harvest is now complete and the portions are set to feed folk and animals through the cold dark days that lie ahead. This is the fulfilled promise of the days of Spring and Summer. Here is the reward of labour and reverence of the Land. This is a time of farewell and gratitude for the Summer that has been.Īt this time, our ancestors saw the Lady who is the Spirit of the Land stand before her people with the full bounty of her Harvest. Today he holds the Darkness in in equal measure to the Light, but he is struck in his season with the wound of Time and from day to day the darkness will grow as the Lord of Light sinks into his Age, for the wound is grievous and will not heal. Although he still shines with strength, his strength grows weaker as the days grow shorter. Our ancestors called it by names long forgotten, and our children will call it by names as yet unconceived.Īt this time, our ancestors saw the Sun, for the first time in half a year, be unable to outshine the Dark. It has been celebrated as Alban Elfed and Harvest. This Feast is known by many names to many people, for the Truth is reflected from many mirrors. The Light of the Sun in the Wheel of the Year stands in the West, in the Place of balance between the Light and the Darkness. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |