Fall Equinox / Mabon
+ Let Our Souls Grow Deep +FALL EQUINOX READING
“Now we descend into the dark half of the year. now the power of the invisible world is waking to balance that of the visible which is on the wane. we harvest, we prune, we gather into storerooms. we withdraw our commitment to the external world in order to release energy for growth underground, to let our souls grow deep in the hidden dimension.”
From The Feminine of History is Mystery, facing page 68
ASTRONOMY
Day and night are equal. Days start to be shorter than nights, days shorten rapidly.
FALL EQUINOX
We celebrate balance, and the entry into the dark. This is the time when the days become shorter than the nights, energy begins to withdraw back into the earth for its winter sleep, Kore returns to the underworld. Another image for this time is the descent into the labyrinth. This is the time when the days become shorter than the nights, energy begins to withdraw back into the earth for its winter sleep, Kore returns to the underworld. Another image for this time is the descent into the labyrinth.
AUTUMN VERSE FROM THE FOUR SEASONS
Blackberry, hazelnut, elderberry hang
Heavy and ripe in the shortening days
Bright as a banner the autumn leaves burn
Red in the old sun’s dying rays.
The dance goes on and it’s never ending
The circle turns and returns again
The year burns on but the woods in autumn
Gathers itself for the winter’s pain.
DANCES WE DO AT THIS TIME
FOUR SEASONS – traditional dance from the Faeroes
CHIAROSCURO – a dance that celebrates the balance of light and dark Woodsmoke & Oranges – song and dance from Ontario, celebrating the end of summer
SHALOM ALEICHEM – Traditional Jewish Dance to celebrate sunset on Friday night, which is the beginning of Shabbas. Sunset is associated with the fall equinox.
TSAKONIKOS – traditional Greek “crane dance” symbolizing the entry into the Labyrinth
KORE – a dance choreographed from pictures on a Greek vase to music by Mikis Theodorakis. This dance was originally choreographed as a women’s initiation dance, symbolizing the story of Demeter and Persephone. At the fall equinox, Kore/Persephone goes down into the underworld.
OD LO AHATVI DAI – Israeli Harvest dance
NIGHTWALKING – Marina Bear’s dance of walking in the desert at night.
