Autumn Equinox and the End of Summer

Succulent hedgerow blackberries

Summer officially ended yesterday. The reality of autumn is all around. I'm just back from a walk along Wick Hollow, down to Paddington Farm, past Gog and Magog and back via Paradise Lane, a favourite route.

I notice firstly the calmness, the earth's quiet mood. Then the hedgerow harvest: blackberries now super ripe in unrelenting abundance, random apples decaying and fermenting on the ground. Shiny brown horse chestnuts bounce along the lanes, newly ejected from their spiky jackets.

The trees are tipped red, yellow and bronze and as the wind picks up, a graceful cascade of dry leaves tumbles into my path.

I am in wistful mood, basking in a bittersweet melancholy that I can almost taste. Memories of spring and summer are still fresh and vivid. I am still wearing my summer clothes, with some additional layering. No need  for gloves and scarves; yet that is where we are headed.  The seductive imaginings of a country winter: rosy cheeks and mittened hands, booted feet crunching the frosted earth. Of bare silhouettes of trees and stark skies. Woodsmoke. The pale and elusive winter sun.

Balance point of dark and light

This is the time of the autumn equinox, a brief interlude in the wheel of the year, a balance point with days and nights in equilibrium after which we turn away from the light and progress steadily and certainly towards the dark.

As a yoga practioner,  I find a parallel with the breath. In certain pranayam techniques one cultivates an equal length of inhalation and exhalation, rechaka and puraka. Kumbhaka, retention, is the cessation of breath and body activity, the supreme moment.

The cycle of the breath is repeated many times within a minute, the cycle of the earth's revolution of the sun occupies a full calendar year, yet the principle is the same; expansion, pause, contraction.

I use equinox as a moment out of time, an opportunity to look back at what has been and ahead, towards what is to come.

It has been a curious summer, of witnessing with confusion the falling away of many structures and circumstances that supported me. The releasing of a longterm relationship. Of markedly less activity in work and in my social life. Of making do with less, materially and financially.

The flipside of which has been the deepening into what remains. Primarily my relationship with myself, discovering the jewel in the lotus, the sacred centre within. 

Understanding the gift and the prerogative of presence. Redefining abundance. Strengthening key friendships, gaining greater fulfilment from quieter times. Hearing the voices of the natural world speaking louder and singing in my heart.

As far as looking ahead, well this is a wonderful time to be in Glastonbury. A time of sharing and nurture, coming together and slowing down after the scattered exuberance of summer. To spend the autumn and winter here is truly to know the heart of Avalon. My plans however are leading me elsewhere... In this moment I am here and I celebrate!

Recommended Autumn Equinox events in Glastonbury:


Thursday 22nd September 8pm -
Community Celebration, Assembly Rooms, High St
www.assemblyrooms.org.uk

Friday 23rd September 12pm -
Chalice Well Wheel of the Year Festival and Meditation
www.chalicewell.org.uk

Pagan Gathering Under the Stars
Cinnamon Lane 7pm
Contact Morgan: 01458 835518

Enjoy this time of balance and pause

Equinox blessings

Jennifer