Autumn Equinox 2020

Timing our Autumn Equinox
(Southward) Equinox, Sun enters Libra (Sun at 0° Libra), Maybon (Holy Day)
September 22, 2020, 3:30:33 AM (Hawaii), Sun 0° Libra

Not in Hawai’i? Here’s Equinox timing for some other time zones.
Tuesday, September 22, 2020
UT/GMT 01:30:33 PM
UK 02:30:33 PM
EDT 09:30:33 AM
CDT 08:30:33 AM
MDT 07:30:33 AM
PDT 06:30:33 AM
HST 03:30:33 AM Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time

Image courtesy of filamentlearning dot com.

Twice a year the sun’s rays shine directly over the Earth’s equator and there are nearly equal amounts of day and night throughout the world. The sun rises and sets exactly due east and due west on the equinoxes. Instead of the Earth tilting away from or toward the sun, its axis of rotation becomes perpendicular to the line connecting the centers of the Earth and the sun. From Autumnal Equinox to Winter Solstice (December 22) the nights get longer. This is the first day of Fall (Autumnal Equinox) in the northern hemisphere and the first day of Spring (Vernal Equinox) in the southern hemisphere.

The key to “getting it” is equinox points are places in Earth’s orbit where the Earth's axis is between the stages of pointing toward or away from the Sun. Toward takes us into northern hemisphere summer, away into winter.

The publisher, Llewellyn offers Maybon, a “name for the autumnal equinox, also known as the Second Harvest Festival, Festival of Dionysus, Wine Harvest, Cornucopia, Feast of Avalon, etc. The first Thanksgiving was held on or near this date, and it is from these early harvest festivals that the modern Thanksgiving feasts developed.” - Kristin Madden (Llewellyn Publications)

Image via mytripolog

Similar recognition of the equinox marking the harvest season occurs in Central America. “In Mexico, crowds flock to the pyramid at Chichen Itza on the Yucatan Peninsula. A serpent-headed statue is at the foot of the pyramid and as the sun sets, the sunlight and the shadow show the body of the serpent joining with the head.” 

The Wheel of the Year Turns Toward Darkness.

As some followers of Earth oriented religions express it, after the Fall Equinox, the energies of the dark gods and goddesses begin to increase and gain attention. The balance described by the Taoist symbol of Yin and Yang reflects the Equinoxes but an imbalance begins at the point of this Equinox as night begins to overtake daylight's duration. The processes of inward-turning gain significance. Persephone returns to her throne with Hades in the Underworld.

This is a solar marker of the continual heartbeat of creation, what to some traditions is known as "the Word." While the heartbeat may slowly alter over eons of time, Earth's relationship with the center cycles rhythmically through the centuries. That essential relationship of Earth to Sun establishes the core pattern that is the basis of tropical astrology, astrology based on the seasons.


Reminder: in a few weeks, on November 1, 2020, Daylight Saving Time ends – turn clocks back one hour, 2:00 am becomes 1:00 am.