The Autumn Equinox: A Moment of Balance
Photography by Missy Moo
Today is the Autumn Equinox.
The equinox isn't a whole day. It's a single moment, one instant when the centre of the Sun crosses the Earth's equator. It happens at the same time everywhere in the world. Here it came at 01:06, while most of us were asleep. The whole planet paused in balance, and it happened whether anyone was watching or not.
For a moment the Earth leans neither towards the Sun nor away from it. The Sun sits directly above the equator, and day and night are almost equal everywhere. This happens twice a year, in March and in September. It's a quiet reminder that balance isn't something we have to work at. It's already part of how life moves.
Some call this time of year Mabon, and the full moon nearest to it is the Harvest Moon. It's a season of gratitude, gathering in, slowing down and letting go. As the darker half of the year comes closer, nature turns inward, and you may notice the energy shifting. There's nothing to fix in that.
Just notice it.
So pause for a moment and look at what this year has brought you. The blessings, the growth, the things you achieved, and the harder moments that shaped you too. Let yourself feel grateful for all of it, without needing it to have been different.
Then, like the trees, ask yourself gently what you no longer need to carry. The trees don't struggle with letting go. They don't hold on to their leaves out of fear or cling to who they were in summer. They trust the rhythm, let go and rest. What if you could do the same? What if the old stories, the worries and the "should’s” were only leaves, and letting them fall is simply what comes next?
There's a softness waiting in this season. Woolly jumpers and warm hands wrapped round a mug of tea or cocoa. The smell of freshly baked cake. Crisp walks in cooler air. The crackle of an open fire. The glow of the village pub, with good food, a pint and good company. None of these are small things. They're invitations to come home to your senses and to this moment.
You don't need to mourn the season that's ending in order to welcome the one that's beginning. Both can be true. Both were needed.
Nothing is missing. It never was. Every season, the light and the dark, the growing and the resting, belongs to the whole.
It’s time to slow down.
Love from Missy Moo x
Comments