Celebrating the Equinoxes

by Cayelin K Castell

The equinoxes are the seasonal time of balance and harmony when the days and nights are equal in length. During the equinoxes, the Earth’s auric or magnetic field is affected by the Sun’s alignment with the Earth’s equator. Twice each year, at the equinoxes, the Sun rises and sets exactly over the equator remaining closely aligned there for approximately 48 hours. The equinox solar affect produces a reduction in the magnetic field of the Earth, allowing us to connect more easily with other dimensions. This article has a general description of the equinox energy and a section on the individual equinoxes.

Chant of the Priest~esses In Honor of the Equinox ~Ancestors of Avalon by Diana L Paxton

Let Day be bounded by the Night…
Dark be balanced by the Light.
Earth and Sky and Sun and Sea,
A circled cross shall ever be.
Let sorrow make a space for joy,
Let grief with jubilance alloy,
Step by step to make our way,
Till Darkness shall unite with Day…

Each season by the next is bound,
Meetings, partings, form the round,
The sacred center is our frame,
Where all is changing, all the same…
Moving, we become more still,
Impassioned, we are bound by will,
Turning in perpetuity

While Time becomes Eternity…

The Sun and the Solar Gateways

The Sun is the seasonal metronome of the Earth. Metronome comes from the Greek word metron meaning measure and nomos meaning rule or defined. Metronome then is a definite measure of time. The dictionary definition says it is a device used to mark time by means of regularly recurring ticks or flashes at adjustable intervals. Each year the Sun rises or sets along the horizon reaching due east and due west at the Equinoxes. At the Winter Solstice the Sun is rising and setting as far south as possible and at the Summer Solstice is rising and setting as far North as possible. Thus the Sun is seen swinging up and down the horizon according to the season. It tells us what time of the year it is.

There are four primary Solar Gates each year when the Sun reaches the Solstice and Equinox points. Ancient cultures understood the importance of these gateways and aligned with them through ceremonial intent. As we remember our place as conscious co-creators it is vital we find ways to acknowledge and honor these ceremonial solar gates. This doesn’t mean adopting old ways. Rather it is about finding the ways that have value and meaning now and utilizing the energy of the Sun and the information coming in through these solar gates. The Sun is the source of light, life, energy, and health. We have been programmed to fear the Sun and how it ages us and causes skin cancer. However, the Sun caries vital life force and light information to our bodies and it is important to take time to enjoy the Sun at least a few minutes a day whenever possible. Sunlight helps to attune (or entrain) our bodies to the light frequencies of planetary ascension. It also aids in dispelling depression when used wisely.

The Equinox at Sacred Sites
The ancient architects and builders of Chaco Canyon (in New Mexico) were inspired to build what is essentially now explained as some sort of equinox corridor in their main building complex. This corridor marks the equinox Sunrise, tracks the Sun’s journey through the sky, and then marks the equinox Sun set. This corridor was designed to capture the So Below experience of this As Above bi-annual event, giving us another potent clue about the importance of this seasonal timing. This understanding may inspire each of us to tune in and discover what significance the equinox timings represent for us individually and collectively.

The Mayan Pyramid at Chichen Itza known as Kukulkan (feathered serpent) was built in part to track the equinox Sun and the creation of specific shadows illumintating an undulating serpent traveling down the steps of the pyramid lighting up the serpents head.

There is another Mayan Spring Equinox Temple located Near Merida, Yucatan, Mexico called Dzbilchaltun (Zi-bil-chal-toon which means place with writing on Stone). At Sunrise on the Equinox, the light of the Sun passes through special openings in the temple illuminating the center of a column of stone about a hundred yards away.

This phenomenon occurs only at the Equinoxes and was used by the ancient Maya to determine the exact day of the Equinox.

If there is a Full Moon within a couple of weeks of the Equinox it will rise as the Sunsets in close alignment with where the Sun rose on the Equinox. When this happens the Moon (acting as a transmitter) again illuminates the Equinox mysteries when we are open to receive them.

The equinox effect begins around 24 hours before, and ends around 24 hours after, the exact Equinox point. Thus, the Sun’s annual rhythmic cycle is intimately wired to our experience of the seasons. Certain seasonal cycles are optimum timings for connecting with Earth’s sacred sites all over the planet. Doorways into the mysteries are more easily accessed during this time and when we consciously engage this energy we have an even greater opportunity to activate our own experience of these sacred timings and what they have to offer us.

The ancient architects and builders of Chaco Canyon (in New Mexico) were inspired to build what is essentially now explained as some sort of equinox corridor in their main building complex. This corridor marks the equinox Sunrise, tracks the Sun’s journey through the sky, and then marks the equinox Sun set. This corridor was designed to capture the So Below experience of this As Above bi-annual event, giving us another potent clue about the importance of this seasonal timing. This understanding may inspire each of us to tune in and discover what significance the equinox timings represent for us individually and collectively.

March Equinox and the South Galactic Pole

The Spring Equinox occurs when the Sun enters Aries and is seen rising due East and setting due West on all points of the Earth. The Aries Equinox point is currently located in the constellation of the Fish (a.k.a. Pisces the constellation not the sign). This seasonal point is currently approaching the boundaries of the constellation known as the Waterbearer (a.k.a. Aquarius the constellation not the Sign) though depending upon how you divide up the sky may not enter this constellation for another couple hundred years. (See Difference Between Signs and Constellations)

This means if we are measuring ages from the Aries Equinox it is not easy to determine when the next age begins. However, if we are measuring the Turning of the Ages by the Solstices now aligned at the exact intersection of the plane of our Galaxy and the plane of our solar system (a.k.a. the Galactic Cross to Earthlings) we know we are at a Grand Turning of the Ages much BIGGER than moving into the Age of Aquarius. This is the Great Turning of the Cosmic Wheel of Time marking the end and beginning of a Galactic Year that lasts about 26,000 years. We are essentially in a Galactic New Year that lasts many Earth years.

http://www.rasnz.org.nz/Stars/Sculptor.htm

Sculptor

This Southern Hemisphere constellation was named in 1752 by Abbe Nicolas Louis de Lacaille and is bordered by the constellations of Cetus, Fornax, Phoenix, Grus, Piscis Australis and the Waterbearer (a.k.a. Aquarius the constellation NOT the sign). The stars of Sculptor are dim and not that impressive to look at with the naked eye. However because it is where the South Galactic Pole is located when looking toward Sculptor we are looking at “at right angles to the Milky Way and deep into space, unobscured by stars or gas. Many galaxies both bright and faint are visible. Many are members of the Sculptor group.” This image is from NASA’s Galaxy Evolution Explorer shows a young galaxy, NGC 300, located about seven million light-years away in the constellation Sculptor. (c) NASA, JPL-Caltech, Las Campanas

The word sculptor comes from the Latin scalpere, and may be linked with a shell or two halves of a known as shellsculpere. Interestingly Venus known as Aphrodite to the Greeks is said to have risen from the foam of the sea on a scalloped shell that took her first to the island of Cythera and then to Cyprus thus linking this constellation to the planet Venus. Considering Venus can only retrograde over this area of the sky at the most every eight years and th00 years we get the sense that there is even greater importance to the passing of Venus thrat Zero Aries Spring Equinox point is located here only for a specific span of time in 26,0ee times over this area of the sky since February 2.

Accessing the mysteries from this multi-dimensional perspective enhances our ability to consciously dream the dream onward. There are no rules about how to engage this timing. Indeed, it may be time to create new ways that are alive and significant for us now when we ceremonially participate with the mysteries of the turning of the seasons. Tuning into your own guidance is the best way to align with what is true for you at this time and how best you can connect with these mysteries.

http://www.constellationsofwords.com/Constellations/Sculptor.htm
http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/S/Sculptor_Dwarf.html

September Equinox Details

It is fascinating to note that the Zero Libra point, marking the September Equinox, is currently aligned with the North Galactic Pole. The North Galactic Pole lies 90 degrees north of the Galactic Plane in the constellation of Coma Berenices.* This particular near exact alignment only happens for 144 years, during a 26,000 year cycle as the equinox and solstice points move one degree every 72 years. The exact alignment is happening now. One interpretation of the constellation Coma Berenices is that it represents long beautiful hair. Anne Wright’s website on Fixed Stars gives this mythic description. This is a classical story concerning the hair of Berenice, the wife of Ptolemy III of Egypt.

“It happened that Ptolemy had to fight against the Assyrians. Berenice feared for his life and went to the temple to pray that her husband would emerge

victorious from the fray. In her anxiety she promised to sacrifice her hair to Venus, the Goddess of Love, if Ptolemy were to return safely.

Berenice was very famous for her beauty. She had beautiful long amber-colored hair which she was very proud of. She asked the royal oracle, Conon, what to do. Conon advised the queen to offer her beautiful hair to Aphrodite (Venus, the goddess of love and beauty) for the safe return of her husband. Berenice did not hesitate, she was willing to sacrifice anything for her dear husband. After weeks of tension and waiting Ptolemy returned safe and sound. The nation rejoiced but when Berenice told Ptolemy about her promise to sacrifice her hair, Ptolemy was very upset because it was the crowning glory of his queen; it was looked after with loving care by Berenice’s ladies-in-waiting, it had the admiration of the nation, and it gave inspiration to the poets.

Nothing, however, would change Berenice’s mind. She went to the temple where her beautiful locks were cut off and laid on the altar by the priests. The next day when the king went to the temple to have a look at his wife’s hair, he was furious to find the hair had been stolen. He summoned the priests and would have put them to death, then and there, had not the court astrologer intervened in the nick of time. “No, no, your majesty, do not blame the priests, it is not their fault, wait until it is dark and I will show you where your wife’s hair is.”

So when day turned into night the astronomer took the king to look at the night sky. “Look! Dost thou not see the clustered curls of thy queen, too beautiful for a single temple to possess, placed there by the gods for all the world to see? Look! They glitter like a woven net, as golden as they were on Berenice’s head.” And there, between Canes Venatici, Bootes, Leo and Virgo, twinkled a mass of very faint stars.

The astronomer declared that Jupiter had descended from Heaven the night before to take the golden locks up to the heavens where they could be admired by the whole world, not only by one nation. The king was satisfied with this explanation and Berenice was delighted that Venus had so honored her.

There’s more:

Coma Berenice seems to have been first alluded to by Eratosthenes as Arladne’s Hair in his description of Ariadne’s Crown. It was not known till about 243 BCE, in the reign of the 3rd (Euergetes), the brother and husband of Berenice, whose amber hair we now see in the sky figure. It was the happy invention of this constellation by Conon of Samos (the royal astrologer) that consoled the royal pair after the theft of the tresses from the temple of Arsinoe.

The word Berenice is from the Macedonian form of the purer Greek – Victory-bearing. Christians also called this constellation “The Veil of Veronica,” probably because the Herodian Beronica has a Latin name that is equivalent to Berenice (“v” and “b” are closely related). Some Christians saw it as Flagellum, “The Whip,” the Latin word from which the English word flagellate is derived, which describes the instrument used to whip Christ.

Bayer also mentioned Rosa, a Rose, or a Rose Wreath; but he figured it on his plate of Bootes as a Sheaf of wheat, in reference to the Virgo Ceres close by; indeed, Karsten Niebuhr, at Cairo in 1762, heard it called Al Rusat, the Arabic term for that object, or for a Pile of Fruit, Grain, or Wood. The Dresden globe has it as an Ivy Wreath, or, just as probably, a Distaff held in the Virgin’s hand, which has been designated Fusus vel Colus, Fila et Sta,nina, the Distaff, Thread, and Wool.

The Arabian astronomers knew Coma as Al Ralbah, or Al Dafirah, the Coarse Hair, or Tuft, in the tail of the Lion of the zodiac, thus extending that figure beyond its present termination at the star Denebola. Coma probably was known in early Egypt as the Many Stars. The naked eye can really see a wealth of glitter in the area of Coma Berenices, but a small telescope reveals an even more glorious display of astral abundance.” Source: http://users.winshop.com.au/annew/ComaBerenices.html

The rising Sun at the September Equinox obscures our view of this constellation and the North Galactic Pole. Astronomers consider this region of the sky one of the best for studying other galaxies, because the conditions here are favorable, in essence creating a clear window to see other galaxies. This gives us further clues about what we can tune into during this timing as the brightness of the Sun, also seen as a “doorway (or window?) into the knowing” according to the Upanishads, activates the North Galactic Pole and the constellation of Coma Berenices. This timing then may be an excellent opportunity to more clearly experience our intergalactic connections, and to receive a greater understanding of our relationship to time and space.

The constellation of Coma Berenices also gives us some important clues about this area of the sky. The symbol of hair conjures up many images and mythical stories. In some traditions hair symbolizes our connection to personal power, life force, and strength, i.e. Samson. In the story of Rapunzel her hair symbolized a link to the outside world, and the sacred masculine (Prince) who intended to free her from her prison tower. Other traditions see hair as a symbolic link to the power of thought, spiritual knowing and inspiration, and higher powers. The black hair of Kali symbolizes Time, the matted hair of Siva symbolizes the ascetic, the curled hair of the Buddha symbolizes mastery of life force in a tranquil and serene state. (Sourced from An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Traditional Symbols by J.C. Cooper)

Picture from www.pa.msu.edu/…/coma_berenices.htm

These images provide additional dimensions to the significance of the Autumnal Equinox (as it is experienced in the Northern Hemisphere, or the seasonal point of the year marking the crossing of the return threshold from the journey that began at Winter Solstice, and the seasonal time of final harvest and preparation before a new cycle begins. In essence, this begins an in-between the worlds experience (represented by crossing through the return gateway), not of the world of the previous quest and not fully of the world where the quest began because so much has grown and changed.

The alignment of this seasonal point with the North Galactic Pole lets us know that we are truly becoming more multi-dimensional, as we learn how to consciously exist in many realms simultaneously. Accessing the mysteries from this multi-dimensional perspective enhances our ability to consciously dream the dream onward. There are no rules about how to engage this timing. Indeed, it may be time to create new ways that are alive and significant for us now when we ceremonially participate with the mysteries of the turning of the seasons. Tuning into your own guidance is the best way to align with what is true for you at this time and how best you can connect with these mysteries. Blessed Be!

*Note: An original source for the information about the September Equinox Alignment comes from Raymond Mardyks blog at www.myspace.com/galaxyray

The Galactic Poles

The Galactic Poles are angular to the Galactic Plane where the Solstices are currently aligned. The North Galactic Pole is pointing toward the constellation Coma Berenice and the South Galactic Pole is pointing toward the constellation Sculptor.