Stillness
“Equinox” (n.) Latin for “equality between day and night”… between light and dark. Now, more than ever the meaning and significance of the word “equality” hangs heavily in those veritable Librian scales, and on so many minds. We are in a current crisis of extremes. The ability to differentiate between what is equal and what is equitable is necessary when faced with turbulance.
Now is a time of stillness, introspection, balance: poignantly exemplified with the ushering in of Libra season in a few days’ time. Less than 24hrs prior to the Equinox will be a partial solar eclipse in Virgo (a new moon)—closing the portal of the final eclipse season of the year, not with a bang but with quiet resolve.
I am witnessing, once more, the clash between folk traditional magic, and neo-WitchTokers, over what is to be done during this time, and understandably it can be confusing. There’s the energies of the new moon/ solar eclipse, yes, and the energies of the equinox to contend with. On one hand we’re being encouraged to “plant seeds” and “take steps”, to do-do-do! and on the other we’re being told to be still. Not to mention so many of us are still caught up in the frantic and anxiousness the lunar eclipse ushered in on the 7th—the momentum it’s generated is hard to step outside of. So which is it? How do we move forward? The old ways or the new?
Softly. We tread lightly, minding our steps, like a wolf padding through a forest: curious, attentive, shadowed. We embrace the pauses, and recognize when we’re meant to be still, and when we’re meant to progress. Equinoxes are not the time for “workings” and “weavings”, they’re a time for being. A time of embodiment. Embodiment of the light AND the dark—it isn't an either/or, it is a both/and. Hopefully these past few weeks since the lunar eclipse, you’ve discovered things have been shaken up and have fallen away for you: illuminating the path you’re meant to walk. If that’s the case, then yes, Sunday’s Virgoan eclipse should clarify which “i”s need to be dotted and which “t”s need to be crossed. That very awareness is the working. Knowing what you are meant to do and what is, ultimately, inevitably going to transpire. I’ve seen much talk about it being a “new timeline”. At the minimum, it is metaphorically. Allow yourself to be still and organize this new reality into the core of your being on the Equinox, before you plow ahead.
In the softness we’re invited to be quiet. Without intention setting, without taking action steps. Without actively releasing or inviting in or planning or scheming. Without invoking or evoking, petitioning or praying or meditating. Simply be. Let the scales find their balance betwixt and between the interplay of shadow and light—both in your environment and in your essence. Let nature be. Arguably, this is one of the hardest asks of modern-day people (from any walk of life): to simply be. And this is exactly where so many social media paganfluencers are missing the mark: creating content for content’s sake, being caught in the rat race of forced productivity, and contrived engagement—inevitably missing the cues and the signs calling for stasis. We’ve done enough shifting and stirring in the portal. The Old Ways understand this. Folk practices are rooted in a deep appreciation for the turning of the wheel and the measured rhythm of the Earth herself. We are not beginning autumn, we are IN autumn (here in the northern hemisphere, at least). The equinox is its peak, when we are invited to balance on the tip-top of that point, to find our own center, using it as a fulcrum for personal balance and equanimity.
