![]() ![]() In the British Isles and parts of Western Europe, it was said that the harvest had to be completed by Michaelmas, and was the time when servants would be paid their wages, new servants would be hired, land was exchanged, and debts paid. It’s thought that, like many other Christian holidays, the feast was set near the autumnal equinox to draw people away from pagan celebrations. The Catholic feast day to celebrate Archangel Michael, Michaelmas traditionally involved gathering and eating nuts, blackberries, and feasting on a fattened goose. It’s essentially the “Day of the Dead” for the Japanese. So this holiday is a time to visit the graves of ancestors, clean them up, offer flowers, light incense, and leave them traditional Japanese food. Higan means the “other shore” of the river which separates this life from the afterlife, and in Japanese Buddhist belief, the equinoxes are symbolic of life’s transitions. HiganĪ national holiday in Japan, Higan is celebrated during both the spring and autumnal equinoxes. So from that time forward at the autumn equinox, Persephone would go down into the underworld, during which time Demeter stopped giving life to all the plants. Zeus tried to intervene, but Hades tricked Persephone into eating six pomegranate seeds, obliging her to spend six months of the year in the underworld. Demeter became so distraught that she refused to use her powers to make plants grow, causing crops to die and people to starve. Hades, god of the underworld, got smitten with and abducted Persephone, taking her down to his realm to be his queen. One of the most famous myths regarding this time of year is the ancient Greek legend of Persephone, the daughter of Demeter - the Greek goddess of agriculture and the harvest. It foreshadows the coming of shorter days and longer nights, and since time immemorial, this celestial turning point has played an important role in human culture around the world. ![]() Whereas the spring equinox brings with it the joyful anticipation of flowers and warmer weather, the autumnal equinox brings with it thoughts of death and the dormancy of crops and plants. ![]() It’s a time of agricultural harvest, sharing food, giving thanks for the abundance of summer, preparing for winter a time of balance, and of honoring both the light as well as the darkness. In fact, the word equinox comes from the Latin words meaning “equal night.” On this day, on or around September 23 rd in the Northern hemisphere, the sun rises directly in the east and sets exactly in the west, and the length of daylight is equal to that of night. The autumnal equinox is the day that marks the end of summer and the beginning of fall. ![]()
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