Today is the Autumn Equinox, the official shift in seasons from Summer to Fall.
The Equinox represents the time when the sun crosses the celestial equator, and the daytime and nighttime are roughly equal.
It’s a season of change.
Earth’s Energy Aligns With Ancient Wisdom
The concept of balance is prominent in the theme of this day and the weeks surrounding it, across both nature and the ancient wisdom traditions. I love geeking out over the synchronicity of how this all fits together.
At the Equinox, light and dark are in balance.
Today’s Autumn Equinox also welcomes the new astrological sign of Libra, whose symbol is the scales of justice.
In the Chinese Medicine 5-element system, Autumn brings us the metal element, and the dominant trait of judgment or discernment, sorting the pure from the turbid.
In the metaphor of farming, autumn is the time to reap the fruits of the labor we invested over the summer, evaluate what we harvested, separate the wheat from the chaff, and release what no longer serves us.
The Jewish New Year offers a spiritual approach to this process. On Rosh Hashana, also known as the Day of Judgment, we stand trial before God to give an accounting of our days. Our merits and our sins stack on the scales of justice.
Which side weighs heavier? How can we bring them into balance, or tip the scales of justice in our favor?
The week between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur is a time to reflect, repent, restore balance, and return to our natural wholeness.
A Practical Guide to Working With the Equinox Energy
To take it out of the esoteric and into the practical, this is an opportune time for a quarterly review. Or, if you follow the Hebrew calendar or the school-year calendar, this might be the beginning of your year-end review and visioning process for the new year.
As the Earth slows its rotation, the invitation is for us, too, to slow down, review what we’ve been doing, reap our rewards, attune to the rhythms of the season, realign with our vision and values, and restore balance.
Similar to how you might evaluate your financial asset allocation and rebalance your investments, this is a time to evaluate how you are investing and allocating all of your assets and resources — time, money, energy, attention, and focus — and rebalance the portfolio of your life.
Reflection Questions For Guidance
A guiding inquiry to use in your review is to consider, for each area of your life — i.e., work projects, physical practice, relationships, sleep schedules, play time, hobbies, etc:
- Where are you out of balance?
- What do you need to adjust to regain balance?
- What is causing the imbalance?
Course correcting now can help you stay on track toward your vision and outcomes.
Consider the balance between
- effort and grace
- giving and receiving
- work and play
- spiritual and secular
- light and dark
- yin and yang
- linear and cyclical
- movement and stillness
Consider that these are not dualities, but that true balance is attained when we find one within the other.
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