September Equinox

 

 

 

Happy first day of astronomical fall! 

This year, September 22 marks the autumn equinox in the Northern Hemisphere, or the spring equinox in the Southern Hemisphere.  Because of  our tilted planet, the equinox marks the point at which the sun appears directly overhead at the equator. Day and night are about equal length. You can read more about equinoxes, here.

Pictured above is the Celtic wheel of the year, divided into solstices and equinoxes, and cross-quarter days, the changing cycle of the year.  

The season is changing.  The trees know. The shorter days  signal the changing colors of the leaves. The milkweeds and the butterflies know. The lines of geese flying south know. 

Our ancestors paid attention to these things.  Fall was to them a season of ripening, and harvest.  Many pagans still celebrate the autumn equinox, and the Mabon harvest festival, today. 

In Chicago at this time of year, the sun sets along the east-west alignment of the streets, between the tall buildings, much like the stones of Stonehenge. You can read a post I wrote about Chicagohenge here. 

The dog day cicadas are singing  more urgently now.  The other day, I found a cicada on the sidewalk. They are large and clumsy bugs, not built for flying. This one was not done flying, yet. It buzzed at me and flew away,  among the autumn grasses and bee balm. 

Crossing into fall, now,  jackets and sweaters, today.

 

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