Witches fall equinox is a term that refers to the celebration and recognition of the autumn equinox within the witchcraft community. The autumn equinox typically occurs around September 21st and marks the transition from summer to fall. It is a time of balance when the length of daylight and darkness is nearly equal. For witches, the fall equinox is viewed as a time of reflection, gratitude, and harvest. It is a time to honor the changing seasons and the abundance of nature. Many witches may choose to celebrate by performing rituals or ceremonies that involve connecting with the earth, giving thanks for the harvest, and setting intentions for the coming months.
Apples, plums and pears beg to be baked into crumbles with a healthy smothering of custard, while light summery greens and ripe tomatoes are swapped for pumpkin, squash, kale and celeriac.
Non-ritual ways to celebrate plant flowers or garden; take a walk in the Sun and talk to the trees; spring clean your home and donate old clothing to charity. While there are many, many ways to lean into the autumn mindset with cozy sweaters, snuggly slippers, warm beverages, great books, and moments in nature some autumn activities date back hundreds of years.
Many witches may choose to celebrate by performing rituals or ceremonies that involve connecting with the earth, giving thanks for the harvest, and setting intentions for the coming months. During this time, witches may also focus on balancing the energies within themselves and their surroundings. They may seek to find equilibrium between light and dark, day and night, and masculine and feminine energies.
Autumnal Equinox: Witches Share How They Celebrate
September 23 marks the 2019 Autumnal Equinox — a day when the sky is equal parts dark and light. It’s also the date that witches celebrate Mabon, one of the pagan festivals in the Wheel of the Year. The Wheel of the Year is the cyclical calendar of festivals that modern pagans celebrate. The Wheel symbolizes the continuous turning of time and mirrors nature’s cycles of death and rebirth. Named for the God of Welsh mythology, the festival celebrates the harvest and the life and that summer created as we prepare for the long, cold nights of winter.
Most modern witches likely don’t have a literal harvest to feast on and honor like the original celebrants of Mabon did, so the day instead marks a time to reflect on and honor the things we’ve been working on this year and the work that we’ve brought to fruition. “Mabon is the day that corresponds to the last harvest: It is a day to call in, a day to appreciate our many, many blessings and spread those around. It is a day to give thanks and let whatever bad habits or troubles that have been accumulating in our psyche in an unhelpful way go,” Sarah Faith Gottesdiener told Teen Vogue.
Gottesdiener is an artist, designer, tarot reader and witch — you may know her from her popular and often sold-out Many Moons workbooks or from her shop, Modern Women. For Gottesdiener, the season’s magic is especially potent because it combines with her celebration of the Jewish High Holy Days. While she says that the Celtic mythology attached to the Wheel of the year doesn’t resonate with her, its connection to nature and the season’s effects on us personally and collectively makes following it important to her. This includes embracing the return of the darkness that accompanies the Equinox. “The darkness is a beautiful thing, because it is where seeds germinate. The darkness is deeply potent: it is our subconscious and a source of our own power,” Gottesdiener said.
For writer and intuitive tarot reader Swati Khurana, the Autumnal Equinox is a profoundly personal holiday. After Khurana began shifting away from the label of “Hindu” 20 years ago to separate herself from what she called a "tradition that was connected to caste violence," she said she started questioning and opting out of holidays and traditions that felt like they no longer fit into her “post-colonial intersectional feminist perspective.”
“I loved the rituals of being among women in temple, applying mendhi on my hands, creating trays of offerings, and walking into the moonlight,” Khurana told Teen Vogue about her appreciation of certain aspects of some Hindu holidays. “As I started observing the Equinox, I used elements that I still find so beautiful, but recast them in a ritual that centered self-actualization and personal freedom. Observing the Equinox became a way for me to reclaim the season [that] includes my birthday and my two favorite holidays — Diwali and Halloween — from a feminist perspective.”
If it’s your first time celebrating Mabon, Gottesdiener recommends choosing rituals that feel sacred to you and that have intuitive resonance. “Like celebrating the phases of the moon, or the different seasons, make it personal, and make it about celebrating and honoring life in the present moment— that is ultimately, what all great magick does,” she said.
Swati Khurana by Abeer HoqueGottesdiener will be celebrating by hosting a customary potluck feast for loved ones where they’ll eat, read poems, pull tarot cards, reflect, and burn that which they wish to release. She also plans to do some solo celebrating. “For the most part, I am a solitary practitioner, so I'll also be reflecting and working with the energies for myself personally as well. Because of the placement of the [waxing] moon, this year, I'll be focused on what I wish to harvest more of in my life,” told Teen Vogue.
Social justice educator Steph Guthrie offered a ritual facilitated for her birthday by friend Kritty Uranowski that felt particularly meaningful during a difficult year of her life. “We each wrote down on small pieces of paper one thing we were grateful for from the summer that we’d carry with us into the winter, one thing we were ready to leave behind, and one thing we hoped to manifest in the months ahead,” she told Teen Vogue. After a consensual and optional sharing of their reflections, participants burned the things they wanted to leave behind, planted in the ground the things they hoped to manifest, and held onto the things we were grateful for.
Even if you don’t identify as a witch or aren’t up for a planning big ritual, pausing to acknowledge the season’s changing is a valuable practice for reflection and gaining perspective.“Dedication to observing and respecting the natural world is something that anyone can do, whether they are witches or not,” said scientist and college instructor T. Kempton. “Seasonal holidays like Mabon encourage us to be active participants in the turning wheel of time, living intentionally and intensely, instead of just coasting through life. Mabon is a beautiful time, and we are beautiful within it.”
6. Next, take a seat and place your plant in front of you. Imagine the energy of this plant sitting at your heart, her roots extending down through your legs into the Earth. Her vines and leaves are growing out through your arms and through the top of your head, connecting back to the Earth.
It is a time to acknowledge the duality of existence and find harmony within it. Additionally, witches may use the fall equinox as an opportunity to connect with the spirit realm and seek guidance for the upcoming months. They may engage in divination practices such as tarot card readings, scrying, or communicating with ancestors and spirit guides. Overall, witches fall equinox is a time for witches to honor and celebrate the changing of the seasons, show gratitude for nature's gifts, and seek balance within themselves and the world around them. It is a time of reflection, transformation, and preparation for the colder months ahead..
Reviews for "The Witch's Autumn Solstice: Celebrating the Fall Equinox"
1. John Doe - 2/5 - I was really disappointed with "Witches Fall Eauinox". The plot was all over the place and the characters were poorly developed. I had a hard time connecting with any of them and truly understanding their motivations. The pacing was also off, with some parts dragging on forever and others feeling rushed. Overall, I found it to be a confusing and lackluster reading experience.
2. Emily Smith - 1/5 - I have to say that "Witches Fall Eauinox" was a complete waste of time for me. The writing style was extremely dry and monotonous, making it hard to stay engaged. The world-building was also lacking, leaving me with more questions than answers. The story had potential, but it was executed poorly. I would not recommend this book to anyone looking for a captivating and well-written read.
3. Sarah Johnson - 2/5 - "Witches Fall Eauinox" had an interesting premise, but it fell flat for me. The pacing was slow and there were too many unnecessary details that didn't contribute to the overall story. The dialogue was also stilted and unnatural, making it hard to believe in the interactions between the characters. I struggled to finish the book and was left feeling underwhelmed. Unfortunately, it did not live up to my expectations.