Autumnal Equinox Rituals

The Fall Equinox is a time of balance, harvest, thanksgiving, and clearing space as we prepare for winter. Due to an unfortunate confluence of events, I am unable to host the Fall Equinox picnic as planned, so I wanted to give y’all some ways to welcome in fall on your own or with your people.

Balance and cleansing - Fall Cleaning!

Our homes and lives can get messy or overloaded and we get out of balance. While no amount of de-cluttering will make my life less messy this year, it will help me feel less chaotic if my space is gets more balance.

Get rid of what you no longer need to make space for the downtime of the winter and growth of the spring. Around the house this can mean cleaning out your closet and/or pantry, giving your house a deep clean, using an herbal wash, simmer, or spray to get rid of any energy hanging around that you want to get rid of. An old tradition I love is to blow cinnamon in your doors for prosperity.

For your body, make a bath or drink a tea that will help clear out energy you no longer want and bring in energy you do.

Possible ingredients for a wash, bath or tea include: rosemary, yarrow, patchouli (not for the tea), cedar, cinnamon (be very sparse with this in a bath!), ginger, clove (also sparse for a bath), rose or rosehips.

To make a wash, bath, or simmer, take the herbs you wish to use, give thanks for them, and ask they clear away what needs to be cleared (if you’ve got specifics, name them) and bless your home in the months to come. Put them in a pot full of water (this is using herbs, not essential oils) and put them on a simmer. As a simmer alone, the smell will fill your house and clear away what needs to be cleared away. Filter out the herbs and add the water to a bucket for cleaning or your tub for a bath. A bit of magic in the bath, I was taught that you shouldn’t watch the water drain away or you might call back to you the things you wish to let go of.

Harvest

In cooler parts of the northern hemisphere, fall is when we harvest the last of our produce to either eat or store for the winter. Taken literally, we can feast on the last fruits and vegetables of summer (more on feasting below), spend time pickling, preserving and drying, or make delicious fermented beverages.

If we think about harvesting in a metaphorical sense, we can set time aside to look over the past year to harvest what has grown in our lives, examining life for what we would like to keep, what we might want to sit with over the winter season, what we might want to plant in the spring, and what is no longer benefiting us. Make lists of these things, take the list of what is no longer benefiting you,and put it in a equinox fire to let it go (you can throw in some cleansing herbs like cedar to clear it away). Save the other lists for thanksgiving and/or work in winter or spring.

Thanksgiving

This is a perfect time of year to have a harvest meal of thanks, especially if you're someone who no longer does Thanksgiving in November but you miss that time set aside for a fall meal that celebrates the fall harvest and family and gratitude. But you don't have to go all out and make a five-course meal if you don't have the time or resources. Grab an apple or a pumpkin spice latte, spend time with those you love, and give thanks for all this year has brought you.

I wish you a delightful, thankful, clearing Fall Equinox and I hope you get the chance to burn some shit.