The Spiritual Meaning of the Autumn Equinox

In his book ,”ThePath of the Spiritual Sun”, Mark Pritchard gives some wonderful information on the reasons for celebrating the solstices and equinoxes.

“These are times of connection between heaven and earth, the personal and the divine, the inner and the outer, the material and the spiritual, and even a time when contact through mystical experiences is made more possible. These are beautiful times that we as humanity have lost touch with.

“By taking part in ceremonies to celebrate the solstices and equinoxes, one is able to use the event for its higher purpose just as the ancients did – to connect to the cosmos, to understand eternal principles through intuitive experience and the cycles of nature, and to take the spiritual nourishment needed to help toward awakening. This is not simply the revival of something past, but the partaking in something eternal that permeates our lives, even if we pay little attention to it.

“The whole of creation has been formed to imbue the principles of spirituality, and thus these principles can not only be found all around us, but also within us, allowing us to understand our origins and the true purpose of life whenever we choose to look. This has allowed people throughout the ages to tap into the same universal spiritual knowledge.

“The path of the Sun, symbolizing the journey to enlightenment, starts as darkness begins to increase, three days after the summer solstice. This annual descent of the sun south into darkness is symbolic of the consciousness descending into the darkness of matter, of it coming into a body, into the darkness of the subconscious of the psyche, to join the process of life (referred to as the Wheel of Life in Buddhism). This darkness is necessary for spiritual awakening, as without darkness we would not know light, and it is from darkness (the subconscious) that light (consciousness) is extracted giving us the knowledge gained from experience.

“The message contained in the autumn equinox tells us that all things must die before they can be born, all spiritual ascent requires descent first, and all those who long for light must firstly face their own inner darkness and overcome it.”