My Favorite Day in the Year

The equinox has always been celebrated in various ways (besides putting out a pumpkin collection).  In ancient Britain, the mysterious Megalithic peoples who pre-dated the Celts, Romans and Saxons, created Stonehenge and other stone structures to be so precisely aligned that the exact moment of the equinox could be determined. The early Christian Church replaced the pagan fall festival with Michaelmas, the feast of the Archangel Michael.  Teutonic tribes in Europe called the fall equinox "The Winter Finding."  The Chumash Indians of Southern California celebrated the fall equinox with spiritual thoughts on the importance of unity in the face of winter confinement, death and rebirth. 

In astrology, the day of the fall equinox is when the sun enters the sign of Libra, the constellation of scales and balance, which perhaps gave rise to an old wives' tale tells us that on the day of the equinox, which is a time of balance where the daylight hours and nighttime hours are equal, one can balance an egg on its end without it falling over.

Of course, having the autumn equinox in September is a phenomenon of the Northern Hemisphere.  When I was doing research for The Dreaming, I was in Australia for the summer celebration of Christmas, and when I went back to do more research for the book I am currently writing, Black Opal, I helped my family in Tasmania celebrate Easter in the fall!  It was quite confusing to be "upside down" in the seasons.  

But today is September 22nd, the first day of fall in Riverside, California, and if you will pardon me, I have to bring my elegant pumpkin collection out of storage.