Fall Equinox Ceremony

Fall Equinox, also known as Mabon, is a time of equal light and dark. The light filled summer nights start to get shorter. It is a time where the crop is winding down, and second harvest is complete and ready for winter. In this seasonal transition, it’s an opportunity, like the leaves, to shed and let go of the things that no longer serve, and practice gratitude for the bounty we all possess.

This is a season of opposition and balance. The leaves turn so that they can hibernate, decay in winter, and regrow in the Spring. Because of this natural cycle in life, we honor the Earth’s natural rhythm around us and within us. We celebrate our shadows as much as we celebrate our light. It’s masculine and feminine, yin and yang, lunar and solar.

Here are a few ways to celebrate Fall Equinox.

1. Create an Altar

   1. Honor this transition to Fall with an altar that represents the shifts happening in and around you. Place flowers, food, pictures, statues, bowls, crystals, foliage to connect you with Earth and your intentions. Write your intentions and place it on your altar as a reminder.

2. Feast with your community

   1. As it begins to cool and get drier, balance out the energy of Fall with warming and spicy foods. Create a harvest to enjoy in circle with your community, host a women’s circle, and find blessing for your crop as you connect with Earth’s bounty of nourishing foods.

3. Gratitude Practice

   1. Count your blessings! Reflect on everything that is working in your life right now. What abundance has this year brought? What are you truly thankful for? When you shift your vibration to gratitude, your energy shifts toward love. As the Earth provides us its crops and gifts, we can acknowledge the gifts that we have. Journal your thoughts or meditate on gratitude. If you are hosting a circle, celebrate by sharing your bounty together.

4. Honor your shadows

   1. As more darkness enters into our environment, we can notice many shadows bubble up to the surface. As the leaves turn to prepare their journey to decay, we can shed the layers of our being that no longer serve. We can learn to also sit with the shadows that have been suppressed or hiding. In our shadows lie our greatest teachers. If they go unnoticed and unaddressed, they will often resurface in the Spring. Take time to reflect on the shadow aspects of yourself and what they are teaching you in your growth.

5. Reflect

   1. Take a look back on the year and the goals and visions that you set for yourself in January. What has come to life? What is lingering? Where did you take inspired action? What needs to change or shift? It is never too late to reflect and pivot with your intentions. This is a time where you can set new intentions for the rest of the year, this new season, and set yourself up to thrive.

6. Journal

   1. What harvest am I celebrating? What have I accomplished this year? What am I proud of?

   2. What bounty am I grateful for this year?

   3. What shadows are expressing themselves? Where are they held in my body? What are these shadows teaching me? How can I learn from them?

   4. What do I need to let go of? What layers need shedding?

   5. I come back to my light by….

7. Get Grounded

   1. Take a yin class to balance out the Vata (ayurvedic dosha that represents space and air) energy. Yoga nidra, hot baths, warm foods, go outside and connect with nature, commit to regular sleep, take naps, meditate, and slow down!