September Equinox - a - Long

In the spirit of the Solstice-a-Longs, I present a three-night (or day) devotional for the coming Equinox. As with the Solstices, I am presenting information for both the Northern and Southern hemisphere.  Once again, I am inspired by rites that were included in the Troth’s Book of Blots. The two rites are designed for larger groups; I have edited them for the candle-lighting theme that I used with the Solstice-a-longs.  As there is no tradition for multi-day celebrations for the equinoxes as there is with Yule (at least that I can find), that simplifies things greatly. 

The first step is, obviously, to find what day the equinox is in your hemisphere. Keep in mind time zones may move the date, if the actual time of solstice falls near midnight.  This year, in my time zone, the Equinox is Monday, September 23, 2019 at 3:50 am EDT.  Thus, the devotional begins on Sunday, September 22, and ends on Tuesday, September 24.  A good site is http://www.timeanddate.com. 

Again, given both the source and also my own leanings, I usually follow a Norse theme, however, this year I may experiment with "something else."  Stay tuned.  As always, everyone is encouraged to be creative and apply their specific ideas to this, and I again invite folks to share it with me. 

In general, at both Equinoxes we will be honoring the transition of seasons.  The equinox itself is a time of balance between day and night. One can think of it is also balancing of other energies as well as one works through the three days.   

On the left, I have the "summer altar." The center is the transition or liminal space, and the right is the "winter altar." I don't have room for three separate ones but I think I might like that better. The winter altar is, for now, covered with black netting, which will be removed on Day 3.  Or when the cats find it.  Whichever.

A general framework of the devotional follows.

Day 1:  Thanking the energies/gods/spirits of the previous season. In the north this would be of summer, and in the south, those of winter.

Day 2:  Thanking and honoring spirits of protection.

Day 3:  Asking for blessings for the season to come.

May the blessings of the Ever Changing Sun be yours.