During the equinoxes, the day and night are of equal length. It is a time of balance and shifting.
In the U.S., the autumn equinox marks the first day of autumn. Here in Australia, the convention is that spring begins on 1 September. I live in Melbourne, Victoria, and I felt the seasonal shift in September—a mix of freezing nights, some hot days, a lot of rain, and even hail. I like to call this period “sprinter”, a word coined by Dr Tim Entwisle, director of the Royal Botanic Gardens in Melbourne, in his book Sprinter and Sprummer: Australia’s Changing Seasons. The spring equinox is the peak of the season and the beginning of spring/summer, or “sprummer”, as Dr Entwisle calls it.
During my first years in Australia, I struggled to adjust to the Wheel of the Year. It’s not just that the four seasons imported from Europe don’t seem to make much sense in Australia; it’s also that the overculture’s holidays remain fixed on the calendar. So, the Autumn Equinox appears along with Easter, Beltane with Halloween, and Midsummer with Christmas.
I understand why this happens. The Australian Pagans are sensible; the overculture doesn’t make sense (as usual). But I still couldn’t settle into the Southern Hemisphere’s Wheel. I have an internalised Northern Hemisphere Wheel. I’m also still profoundly connected to my U.S. Pagan communities.
Another feature of the Australian year that threw me off balance is the seasonal holidays against the calendar year. Spring, a time of growth, occurs in the final quarter of the calendar year. It’s midsummer at the end and the beginning of the calendar year. Summer is full of energy, a peak time for projects, festivals, and travel. Yet December and January are associated with closure and new beginnings.
Again, I could make sense of this in my head, but it didn’t feel right. But I’ve stopped trying to feel right. I’ve embraced my mixed-upedness.
I love this time of year. I mean the shift of September. I’ve integrated both the planting of the Spring Equinox the harvest of the Autumn Equinox.
I’m enjoying the sun and the returning warmth. I love seeing my husband preparing the grounds and planting new seeds in our vegetable garden. We’ve got a pair of Blackbirds that have returned to nest in our backyard. I love seeing them here, along with the local Magpies, Little Ravens, Red Wattlebirds, and others.
At the same time, as we enter the final quarter of the year and approach a time of celebration and rest, I look back at my year. I revisit the goals I set in January. I review my accomplishments, my spoils, and my lessons. That’s my harvest, and I use the spring energy to start getting the ground ready for what I want to grow in next year’s garden.
