Hello my loves,

I’m popping in again to wish you a very happy autumn equinox! The autumn equinox occurs at the exact mid-point between the summer solstice (longest day) and the winter solstice (shortest day), and that’s tomorrow, March 21! It’s one of only two days in the year where the day and the night are of equal length (‘equi’ = equal). The other occurs in exactly six months’ time, in spring. Basically, the days have been getting shorter since the summer solstice, and tomorrow the day and night will be pretty much equal for one special day. From then on, the nights will grow longer than the days, allllllll the way down to the winter solstice, when the night will be the longest of all.

We make a big song and dance in our culture about seasons starting on the ‘firsts’ (summer = December 1st, autumn = March 1st, and so on). But for me, I always feel like the shift occurs more in line with the respective solstices and equinoxes - that’s when you really feel the weather start to turn, and that’s when the harvest really starts to shift. So for me, tomorrow is a celebration of the coming of autumn.

Right now, we’re at a point of equilibrium in the year, and the earth is calling you to balance, harvest and reflect. In traditional agrarian communities, this was a time to reap and store the harvest, salting, bottling, brining and pickling everything that could be gathered, and generally tucking away absolutely as much nourishment as possible to sustain the community through the winter that was fast approaching.

In our modern world, it means that autumn produce will soon be flooding in (🙌🙌🙌). Pumpkins, apples, pears, olives and quinces are all on their way, and in my book that’s cause for celebration indeed! My own back-yard pumpkin is fruiting right now and I can’t wait to start tucking into her generous offerings in a few weeks’ time. She may in fact be the world's cleverest pumpkin: she sprouted herself from my compost, and cleverly positioned herself behind one of my camellia trees, which she’s now climbed to reach the sun. Her enormous green leaves face the sky like giant lily pads, and her fat fruit dangle sturdily from the vines like bowling-balls. Needless to say, I’m besotted.

One of my aerial pumpkins in her purpose-built safety harness 😍

Emotionally the equinox calls us to balance, which is incredibly interesting when you reflect on global events right now, and the fact that so many people are being pushed back into their homes. Perhaps it’s an opportunity to assess the balance of time you spend at work vs at home, or reflect on the balance in your home itself, and how you use your time there. Have you carved out space in your routine to nourish yourself? If you’re not going into your workplace every day, could that unused commute time be used to do some of the things you know deep down you should be doing for yourself? Could you even use it to do something fun?! Something that you deeply enjoy, whether it's drawing, reading, gardening, writing, painting, singing, cooking, dancing around your house however you want because no one can see you, or playing the bagpipes in the damn park (real example: I literally saw someone playing the bagpipes in my local park yesterday and it was amazing). Perhaps a two-minute meditation, to ground and centre yourself in your own deep wisdom, might also be in order?

And of course, there’s the matter of The Feast. At one of the most abundant times of the year, naturally it's traditional to have a mighty old cook up of everything that’s seasonal and delicious right now. This is where America's Thanksgiving stems from - a thanks to the earth for the harvest that occurs in their autumn, featuring all the warming autumn foods that are abundant at at that time. Hence the proliferation of pumpkin pies (yesssss pleeeeease!!!!!).

If you’re wanting to observe the autumn equinox, you could make something delicious featuring some gorgeous autumn produce, serve it to some lucky bellies, or enjoy it all on your own. As you eat, spend a moment reflecting on balance in your life. Are there any areas that feel out of balance, and what could you do to change that? You can also save a juicy morsel from your feast and make an offering to the earth to thank her for all the deliciousness she’s provided through this year’s harvest. I do this by leaving a lovely little bowl in a special spot in my garden, but you could also offer it to the earth in a pot plant, or a local park - whatever feels right to you.

So a very blessed equinox to you all my darlings - may you enjoy many mellow autumn days of harmony and balance in the weeks to come.

Love, Rachel xxx

PS If you’d like to go deeper into the European traditions of autumn equinox, the wonderful Rebecca Dettman of Wishing Well Women is holding a virtual Autumn Equinox Sacred Circlethis Sunday 22 March where she’ll explore the equinox traditions of ancient Europe and the British Isles. It’s all done online and I personally can’t think of a lovelier way to spend an hour of your Sunday 🍁