The Autumnal Equinox introduces the Autumnal Seasonseries of musical essays.
Autumnal Equinox Day & Night
Neo-pagan Wheel of the Year showing "Mabon"
Neo-pagan Autumnal Equinox or "Mabon"
Autumnal Equinox (Mabon), the gateway to the Autumn or Fall season.
The Autumnal Equinox falls on September 22, 2014 at 7: 29 P.M. PDT. and September 23 at 02:29 UTC
Autumnal Equinox (the Celtic/Wiccan "Mabon") is traditionally an important turning time of the cycle of the year (celebrated with harvest festivals in many cultures), which lasts from three days before to three days after the equinox. Traditionally, the Autumnal Equinox celebration is observed with a harvest feast to celebrate and share the abundance of the past season. It is a time when the plants are setting their seeds; making themselves ready for their new cycle. According to neo-pagan traditions, such as Wicca, the equinoxes are times to balance yourself and your life, setting yourself and your life to be ready for your new cycle of being. Thus, rituals are enacted to assist in creating and maintaining that balance. The Autumnal Equinox is a time to plant the seeds making yourself ready for your new cycle.
Autumnal Equinox & Mabon Thematic Images
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Astronomy of the Equinoxes
Equinox, which means "equal night" refers to a time when the length of day and night (nearly) are equal. As the Sun crosses the celestial equator, the axis of the Earth points neither toward nor away from the Sun resulting in roughly 12 hours of darkness and light over the planet. The Sun enters Libra at the Fall Equinox in the northern hemisphere, Spring Equinox in the southern hemisphere. On the Autumnal (September), Equinox the Sun crosses the celestial equator and moves southward in the northern hemisphere. The location on the earth where the sun is directly overhead at solar noon is known as the subsolar point. The subsolar point occurs on the equator during the September equinox and March equinox. At that time, the earth’s axis of rotation is perpendicular to the line connecting the centers of the earth and the sun.
For a detailed explanation of the astronomical causes of the Seasons,click here
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"Dance of the Seasons"
"The Masque of the Four Seasons"
Allegory of the Four Seasons
The Cadence of Autumn (Morgan 1905)
Autumn harvest goddess
Autumn Harvest Paintings
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"The Autumnal Season:Golden Autumn Days"
And I'm taking in the Indian Summer
And I'm soaking it up in my mind And I'm pretending that it's paradise On a golden autumn day, on a golden autumn day On a golden autumn day, an a golden autumn day --Van Morrison
Thematic Images for Golden Autumn Days
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"The Allegory of Autumn"
The Four Seasons -Autumn
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Artistic Personifications of Autumn
(We think Autumn is a woman, because the seasons have been typically personified as a beautiful woman in European art.)
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Autumn Faeries
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Autumn (Equinox) Trees
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Autumn Moods
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Autumn Melancholy Moods
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AUTUMNAL SONNET
Now Autumn's fire burns slowly along the woods, And day by day the dead leaves fall and melt, And night by night the monitory blast Wails in the key-hold, telling how it pass'd O'er empty fields, or upland solitudes, Or grim wide wave; and now the power is felt Of melancholy, tenderer in its moods Than any joy indulgent summer dealt….
~William Allingham (1828-1889)
The Gypsy Scholar calls his celebration of the Autumnal Season
"The Romance of Autumn"
The Romance of Autumn
Autumn Lovers
Once In A Million Years (lyrics)
The Erotic Imagination of Autumn
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Automne (Penot)
The Autumnal Season & "The Spirit of Place"
"Autumn Faery Path"
"Autumn Mystic Path"
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The Spirit of Place -Autumn
"Falling Autumn Leaves" -van Gogh 1888
"Les Alyscamps" -van Gogh 1888
Thematic Images for Autumn Landscapes -- Romantic Paintings, Modern Paintings, & Photography
To view Romantic Landscape paintings from the 19th century, click image
To view modern Autumn Landscape paintings, click here
To view Autumn Landscape photographs, click here
Romantic Poet John Keats and his Ode 'To Autumn'
"A Day with Keats, Autumn"
A painting done in honor of John Keats' ode, "To Autumn"
TO AUTUMN John Keats
I Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun; Conspiring with him how to load and bless With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run; To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees, And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core; To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells With a sweet kernel; to set budding more, And still more, later flowers for the bees, Until they think warm days will never cease, For Summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells.
II Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store? Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find Thee sitting careless on a granary floor, Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind; Or on a half-reap'd furrow sound asleep, Drows'd with the fume of poppies, while thy hook Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers: And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep Steady thy laden head across a brook; Or by a cyder-press, with patient look, Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours.
III Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they? Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,-- While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day, And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue; Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn Among the river shallows, borne aloft Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies; And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn; Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft The red-breast whistles from a garden-croft; And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.
The evening was approaching sorrowfully. Autumn. Autumn with its enlaced branches unfurling against the sky. Autumn, covering the ground with leaves, and the scent of apples in the rain. Scarlet leaves all over the walls of Cheyne Walk which were overflowing with wild vine. Branches of leaves creeping over the windows, soaring over the roof. On the earth, still warm, fallen leaves, intermingled with the golden brown and wide open fingers of the sycamore leaves, the delicately striped copper of the maple, the chestnuts, the intense and softly seamed yellow of the tiniest oak leaves. All was leaves, all was autumn: it felt so good to tread softly the death of the park, and to watch the death of extinguished beauty slowly approaching. He was walking, as if drunk, his feet lost in melancholy swooshing, his tired gaze drowning in warm, reassuring and desperate light. How good it was, just for one night, to dive into the foliage that grew in darkness with every moment, to drink the autumnal wine of the golden dance of despair. --Philippe Delerm
"Autumn"
The leaves are falling, falling as if from far up, as if orchards were dying high in space. Each leaf falls as if it were motioning "no."
And tonight the heavy earth is falling away from all other stars in the loneliness.
We're all falling. This hand here is falling. And look at the other one. It's in them all.
And yet there is Someone, whose hands infinitely calm, holding up all this falling."
--Rainer Maria Rilke
"Autumn Day"
Lord: it is time. The huge summer has gone by. Now overlap the sundials with your shadows, and on the meadows let the wind go free.
Command the fruits to swell on tree and vine; grant them a few more warm transparent days, urge them on to fulfillment then, and press the final sweetness into the heavy wine.
Whoever has no house now, will never have one. Whoever is alone will stay alone, will sit, read, write long letters through the evening, and wander on the boulevards, up and down, restlessly, while the dry leaves are blowing.
--Rainer Maria Rilke
Avalon Sunset
The sun was setting over Avalon The last time we stood in the west Suffering long time angels enraptured by Blake Burn out the dross innocence captured again.
Standing on the beach at sunset all the boats All the boats keep moving slow In the glory of the flashing light in the evenings glow.
(Van the Man--from song on car cd player 9/22/12)
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This music video was graciously sent to me by my dear friend, Karin, after she heard the last program, "The Autumnal Season & the Spirit of Place," which contains Van Morrison's "Orangefield." It's a wonderful cover of that song by Duke Special.
The following essay comes out of the GS's birthday outing to the Monterey Bay coast. Before he left Saturday morning of Septemebr 22, the Autumnal Equinox, he posted on his FB wall for all his "friends" (who had sent out birthday well-wishes) to read that the GS wasn't going to be doing any FB entries today, because he was off to the coast at his favorite time of year. He thanked them all for their best wishes and informed all concerned that if anyone else wanted to add any birthday messages to please send via the old floating bottle method! The GS needed a break, and he was going to get away for his birthday. Being the GS, he had to make his point by posting underneath a music video--of course, Van-the-Man's "Alan Watts Blues" (as in: "Well I'm taking some time with my quiet friend / Well I'm takin' some time on my own. / Well I'm makin' some plans for my getaway / There'll be blue skies shining up above / When I'm cloud hidden / Cloud hidden / Whereabouts unknown"). Anyway, after a day at the coastal beaches--toped off by a magnificent autumn ocean sunset--, the GS thought that his FB friends might like to know about some musings he had while watching the Autumnal Equinox sunset on a deserted beach. Because of the positive reponse on FB, the GS has decided to share the essay with the wider audience of his listeners. So, to read
"GS Returns with News of His Birthday Getaway: Thoughts Falling on the Autumnal Equinox at an Avalon Sunset"
If you've now read the GS Autumnal Equinox essay, it's not complete without this song from Van-the-Man. (BTW: For those like the GS, who may have an epistemological hyper-sensitivity with the G-word--"God"--used in a popular rock song, my advice is (short of accepting the legacy of the genre of gospel music in rock-in'roll) to take the G-word as generic and metaphorical--say in the way new-agers use the word "Higher Power". It's such a great song, maybe you can just go with Van-the-Man on this one and enjoy it!)
