Around 22 or 23 September, in the northern hemisphere, day and night return to almost the same length. This is the autumn equinox, twin of the spring equinox but facing the opposite way: from here on darkness prevails over light and will keep growing until the winter solstice. If spring is the scale tipping towards manifest life, autumn is the scale tipping towards inwardness, recollection, the descent into the earth.
The sign of Libra
In the tropical zodiac the autumn equinox coincides with the Sun's entry into the sign of Libra, the Scales. It is the only zodiac sign represented by an object rather than a living being, and its image suits the astronomical moment perfectly: two pans at the same height, an instant of balance before one outweighs the other.
The symbol of the scales carries ideas of justice, measure, evaluation. It is no accident that autumn is the time when the farming year is "added up": how much has been harvested, how much must be stored, how much must be returned to the earth as seed for the next season.
Saint Michael and the weighing of souls
In the Christian calendar, a few days after the equinox, on 29 September, the feast of Saint Michael the Archangel is celebrated. In medieval iconography Michael is often shown with a sword and a pair of scales in his hand, in the act of weighing souls. The image has ancient roots: already in the Egyptian Book of the Dead the heart of the deceased is placed on a scale and weighed against the feather of Maat, truth and cosmic order.
The closeness between the equinox, the sign of Libra and the feast of the weighing archangel should not be forced into a theory, but it suggests a constant of the imagination: autumn is the time of judgement, understood as discernment rather than condemnation.
In the Italian countryside Saint Michael's day was also a practical date: in some areas it marked deadlines for contracts, payments and the moving of livestock. In the traditional calendar the symbolic and the concrete always walk together.
The harvest and gratitude
The autumn equinox falls in the heart of the harvest season. In this period the last fruit is picked, the grape harvest is completed in many regions, and walnuts, chestnuts, apples and pomegranates are gathered. Harvest festivals, found in a great many cultures, share some basic gestures:
- offering a portion of the first or last fruits;
- sharing food in community;
- storing carefully what will be needed during the winter;
- giving thanks, acknowledging that the harvest does not depend on human labour alone.
Symbolically, the harvest is the test of what has been sown. Not everything that was planted has grown, and not everything that grew was foreseen. The autumn equinox invites us to look at both with honesty.
A note on the name Mabon
In contemporary neopagan calendars the autumn equinox is often called Mabon. It is worth knowing that this is a modern name, chosen in the twentieth century and borrowed from a figure of medieval Welsh tradition, with no ancient festival of that name tied to the equinox. This does not diminish the value of current usage, but it helps to distinguish historical tradition from its recent reworking.
The descent: Persephone and the seed
Many symbolic readings of autumn turn to the myth of Persephone, who descends into the underworld and spends part of the year there, while her mother Demeter leaves the earth bare. Beyond the myth, the message for inner work is clear: the descent is not a final loss. It is the movement of the seed that must enter the dark in order to be reborn.
An autumn reckoning practice
Studio Esoterico Cornelio suggests living the autumn equinox as a moment of honest reckoning:
- Prepare two bowls or two sheets of paper: one for what you have harvested this year, one for what has not ripened.
- Write without judging, like someone counting grain who does not argue with the soil.
- Choose what to keep: the experiences, relationships and skills you will carry with you into winter.
- Choose what to give back: what must be allowed to fall like leaves, to nourish the soil.
- Give thanks, even with a single thought, for what you have received.
In short
- The autumn equinox is a balance that opens the season of growing darkness.
- It coincides with the Sun's entry into Libra, a symbol of measure and discernment.
- Saint Michael, celebrated on 29 September, is often depicted weighing souls.
- The harvest invites gratitude, sharing and storing.
- Mabon is a modern name: useful, but not a documented ancient festival.
