63. Oak, for the equinox

Today is the autumn equinox, the moment when we leave the light half of the year and move into the darker half.

On the equinoxes the whole world is momentarily in balance as we all experience equal night and day. They are the only days when the sun actually rises in the East and sets in the West, and as a result the tip of the shadow on the calendar sundial moves along a straight line. From now until mid-winter the shadow will lengthen a little every day and its path will curve as the sun rises ever further south. (The sundial has a clock for each month, allowing the viewer to estimate the date from the length of the shadow.)

I placed a sprig of green oak on the summer side of the equinox clock-line, and some brown, fallen leaves on the winter side. Working with the Celtic cycle has helped me to embrace the darkness rather than run away from it, but
today I feel reluctant to make the transition to the darker months. I am grateful for every gleam of warm sunshine that prolongs the sense of summer, not wanting to let go of that season.


The solution, as always, is to stay in touch with the changes in nature and sit with the wisdom of the cycle, as the wheel of the year turns once more.