Last weekend we celebrated Alban Elfed/Autumn Equinox in the Grove. It was a beautiful autumn day, with barely a breeze and the sun was warm but not too harsh. Of course, being sun conscious Druids we all donned sun hats for our trek outside.
Our Grove had been attended to by Les, who had mowed to grass and redesigned our centre altar using our old brazier. We decorated it with bounty from our harvest, wine and bread.
We came together to celebrate the balance of light and dark that is present at this time of year. The evenings are starting to get darker earlier as we begin to move towards winter. Pamela spoke of how this year, on the actual Equinox we can celebrate the balance of femininity and masculinity as we celebrate the male energy with the sun as it enters the 3rd quantrent of it’s cycle, and on the 21st the moon, who we honour the female energy, enters the 3rd quantaint in her monthly cycle.
Tom and Richard spoke of how Autumn looks in New Zealand with the trees. Most of our trees are flowering at this time, and they don’t shred their leaves for winter. Tom shared some science with us to help is through the winter – when stressed find 5 minutes to spend watching birds play.
We also talked about healing, calling in energy and atua to help with the healing of a few members of our Grove or extend families who are in need of it at the moment. Moria spoke of connecting with the roots of trees that go deep into the earth and connect with each other to help with healing. She recalled an earlier conversation which talked about drawing energy from natural things like glass windows and wooden furniture in sterile environments like hospitals. Anne chipped in that glass is something that uses all the elements to create – sand from the Earth, added to the hot Fire, blown into shape with Air and cooled in Water. What a beautiful object to pull energy from!
While we were having eisteddfod I noticed a tried bee crawling along the blanket, as a sad reminder of summers end.
~ Mary
Under the Summer Stars 