Sunday, September 22, we entered the Fall Equinox when the days of sunlight begin to “pale” in relation to the hours of darkness. The northern hemisphere begins moving towards the winter solstice when we have the fewest hours of sunlight.
The equinox and solstices have special human significance in their relation to the sun. Since ancient times, the sun has been the symbol of spiritual enlightenment in cultures worldwide.
The journey of the soul toward its awakening requires that the soul must do battle with its lower nature which is sometimes described succinctly as anger, greed, and lust. In the Greek legend of the Minotaur (the creature who had the body of a man and the head of a bull), the Minotaur symbolizes our lower nature and appropriately resides deep in the earth in a giant labyrinth from which escape is all but impossible. The warrior Theseus conspires to kill the Minotaur and the King’s daughter, Ariadne offers to help him. As Theseus enters the labyrinth he unwinds a string given to him by Ariadne so that, should he slay the beast, he will be able to find his way back.
Slaying the Minotaur is to slay our lower nature. Ariadne is the Divine feminine and the string she gives represents the warrior’s devotion to God and to the soul’s duty to overcome delusion.
So too does the Fall Equinox symbolize the soul’s entry into the labyrinth of the mind, into the subconscious to confront its karmic delusions. By the time of the Winter Solstice the light of the soul, sometimes referred to as the Christ consciousness, is born and then begins its ascent toward the Spring Equinox where it can now be seen. From there it ascends to the Summer Solstice representing enlightenment.
Concepts of spiritual rebirth have many symbolic expressions throughout the world’s cultures but the equinoxes and solstices are ready-made and universally observable symbols for the soul’s journey from delusion to enlightenment.
Each year I notice that the fun-loving and active energies of summer begin to wane in the second half of August and many people seem ready to begin to be more serious about what lies ahead. No coincidence that the school year begins in September. Yet Fall does tend to linger and there can exist tension between Summer and Fall as people scramble to either extend their summer adventures or to get their affairs in order. I call the Fall madness the “Fall Follies.”
Fall has only barely begun. We see the colors of the leaves turning; the morning or evening air now has a sharply cool edge; the heat of the summer sun is beginning to weaken. In some climates a mini-summer (called “Indian summer”) can rebound bringing a blend of the best of Summer and the best of Fall: glorious summer weather tempered by the cooler air of Fall. After all, we are still some distance from the darker, wetter, colder days of Fall-proper. So we still enjoy glimpses of summer but in the transition we encounter moods of nostalgia as Fall’s notable inclination towards inwardness asserts itself.
Fall is for hunkering down and getting serious about making the changes we feel we should. For us here in the Ananda Community near Seattle, WA, there’s a resurgence in the commitment to attend more group meditations. Attendance at Community meals and other gatherings increases.
Similar to Spring, Fall can induce a spasm of cleaning up the summer projects at work or home. It’s time to move aside the summer clothes and poke around the closet to find those sweaters and warmer clothes. At my apartment in the Ananda Community, I’ve stacked the firewood, cleaned the woodstove, and stockpiled the kindling. Anticipating the dark days when jogging is just, well, too…too, I’ve cleaned and oiled my exercise bike.
In addition to harvesting and completing the summer activities it is also time for looking around and caring for one another. This culminates energetically at Christmas when in the deepest darkness we come together to sing, feast, and pray. In a spiritual community, this comes naturally.
On the first day of Fall, our Community celebrates a wedding at the Heart Song Hermitage out in the countryside. A wedding is an appropriate expression of Fall’s invitation to make commitments and to celebrate together the spiritual blessings of true friendship and community.
So let us put the hand to the plow of our ideals and intentions as summer begins to slowly fade and the darkness invites us to focus our eyes on the inner light.