Days of solstice and equinox table geography. In ancient times, our ancestors lived exactly according to the natural calendar. And with the onset of the autumn equinox, they began a new year. Usually the harvest festival takes place at the end of September, but sometimes it
On September 22 or 23, the autumn equinox occurs, when day and night last for 12 hours. The autumnal equinox is the astronomical beginning of autumn. After the date of the autumnal equinox, the sun enters the southern hemisphere. Since the autumnal equinox, the reduction of daylight hours seems to us the most rapid
Dates of the autumnal equinox for the coming years:
2017: 22 September 20:02 GMT (September 22, 23:02 Moscow time)
2018: 23 September 1h54 GMT (23 September 4h 54m Moscow time)
2019: 23 September 7h50 GMT (September 23, 10:50 Moscow time)
Pagan Celebrations of the Autumn Equinox
From the moment of the autumn equinox, the power of the sun decreases every day until the winter solstice, after which it will again begin to increase, bringing the new agricultural season closer. In the meantime, after a temporary balance, the time of the power of darkness comes.
The earth is preparing for winter: migratory birds gather in flocks and autumn leaf fall begins. The autumn equinox for our ancestors was a time of thanksgiving to the gods for harvest and prosperity, as well as honoring the dead and decorating graves. At the end of September, they went to the forests for mushrooms and medicinal plants, made wine from ripe apples and grapes (in southern Europe), and also marked the end of the harvest with thanksgiving feasts.
In philosophical terms, this is the time to take stock, to express gratitude for what we have, and to complete the annual affairs.
Mabon - Celtic festival of the autumnal equinox
On the autumn equinox, the ancient Celts celebrated Mabon - the festival of the second harvest and ripening of apples. Mabon traditions from pagan times are alive in many European countries, where harvest festivals are traditionally held at the end of September.
Often the Harvest Festival (Harvest Appreciation Day) is held on the Sunday following the full moon closest to the autumnal equinox. This full moon is called the Harvest Moon.
Usually the harvest festival takes place at the end of September, but sometimes it falls on the beginning of October. On this day, parishioners decorate churches with baskets of fruits and vegetables from their gardens, produce from farms, and fresh flowers. After the service, this food is distributed to those who need it. Make sure to donate to the local community.
There was a tradition among farmers of holding a special dinner to which everyone who worked on the farm during the year was invited so that the farmer could express gratitude to his helpers.
Sometimes these suppers were called the supper of the last sheaf: the harvest is over and the feast begins. Farmers competed among themselves who will harvest the fastest.
In the Middle Ages, the Roman Church replaced the ancient September festivals of gratitude with Michaelmas Day (the day of the Archangel Michael, September 29), the celebration of which inherited many of the traditions of the ancient festivals of the autumn equinox.
Veresen, autumn - ancient Slavic holidays of September
In early September, the Eastern Slavs celebrated Osenins (giving away Ovsen) - a holiday of the beginning of autumn and thanksgiving to the Earth for the harvest. Ovsen in Slavic mythology was a deity responsible for the change of seasons. By the beginning of September, the harvest in the fields was coming to an end, but garden work was still going on. After Osenin, hop harvesting began.
The sun in the view of the ancient Slavs (as well as other pagans) passed through different hypostases during the year, associated with the seasons. In September, the sun from the "adult" (from the summer solstice to the autumn equinox) state passed into the "senile" state, which lasted from the autumn equinox to the winter solstice.
On the day of the autumn equinox, the Slavs began the seventh month of the year, dedicated to the god Veles, who was called Veresen (Tausen, Radogoshch). The ancient Slavs celebrated this great holiday for two weeks - a week before and a week after the autumn equinox. Suryu honey drink was insisted on freshly harvested hops and treated to it during festive meals.
After the autumn equinox, the ancient inhabitants of Russia escorted the goddess Zhiva to Svarga (heavenly kingdom), thanking her for the donated harvest. Svarga was closed for a cold and dark winter period.
The opening of Svarga was celebrated on the last day of the festive week on Komoeditsa (Maslenitsa), which fell among the ancient inhabitants of Russia on the spring equinox - March 21.
Material: Oksana Jeter, CountrysideLiving.net
http://www.countrysideliving.net/cal_sep.html
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Only twice a year comes a special time when day and night are equal. When not only nature changes, but also the human worldview. Everything is saturated with unprecedented energy, a special period when daylight and darkness last the same amount of time - 12 hours each.
Knowing exactly what day the autumn equinox is in 2017, you need to stop the daily fuss, put your thoughts in order. The autumn equinox is the perfect time for positive changes in life.
Autumn equinox 2017: date and exact time
According to the astrological calendar, this is the time when autumn comes to the northern hemisphere, and spring to the southern. Sunrise occurs exactly in the east and sunset in the west. Although due to the refraction of the sun's rays, daylight hours last a little longer.
But after September 22, the day rapidly decreases, giving way to night. In autumn, the equinox will come when the celestial body crosses the equator and moves to the southern hemisphere. It is at this moment that a huge release of cosmic energy occurs. The most favorable period for new beginnings.
The date of the autumnal equinox, which is different every year, can be either September 22 or September 23.
The astronomical year is about 6 hours longer than the calendar year. Therefore, the shift occurs every year, and if it were not for the extra day in a leap year, which evens out the situation, then the shift would have gone further along the calendar.
In 2017, the autumnal equinox GMT will occur on September 22 at 20:02, Moscow time at 23:02. The time of the event in countries with different time zones is different. The offset occurs exactly as many hours as the country's time zone deviates from Greenwich Mean Time.
With the onset of the autumn equinox, the daylight hours are shortened, and the nights, on the contrary, become longer. The sun pleases us with the last warm rays, the second Indian summer begins. People call this time “golden autumn” and it lasts until October 14th. At this time, autumn leaf fall begins, and migratory birds fly south.
From an astrological point of view, the period of the autumnal equinox is indicated by the sign of the scales. This designation has been preserved since ancient times. Although the sun has shifted a long time ago, and now during the autumn equinox it passes into the sign of the virgin.
Astrologers consider this the most fruitful period for negotiations and reconciliation with loved ones. The main thing is openness in everything, in communication and thoughts.
It is necessary to express words of gratitude for all the good that is in life, and ask the universe for what is most important at the moment. During this period, a positive outcome in all endeavors is most likely.
Rituals for the Spring Equinox
In ancient times, our ancestors lived exactly according to the natural calendar. And with the onset of the autumn equinox, they began a new year.
They always celebrated the holiday on a grand scale, praised the gods, thanked for the generous harvest, sang songs, danced round dances. They also commemorated their ancestors, believing that on this day the connection between the living and the dead world is especially strong.
It is four times a year, during the autumn and spring equinoxes and the summer and winter solstices, that not only the seasons change, but unprecedented energy fills all living things.
People felt this and tried to live in harmony with themselves and nature. Making the most of these days.
Since those times, many holidays have come to us, which have somewhat changed at the moment. But the essence has not changed.
All over the world at this time they celebrate the harvest holidays, see off the summer and prepare for the winter. In China, the autumn equinox is a public holiday.
Using the knowledge of the ancestors, it is worth spending this day as fruitfully as possible. You can perform several rituals to bring good luck and happiness to your home.
The autumn equinox is the perfect time for meditation. Retire to stop the train of thought, let the energy of the cosmos through you and get answers to important life questions.
As the old belief says, early in the morning, after waking up, the first thing to do is to take a shower or bath. This will help wash away all the negativity, cleanse the soul and body. So that nothing welcomes the reception of new positive emotions and energy.
Water during the autumn equinox has a special power. If you wash yourself in the evening, this will help maintain attractiveness and beauty for the girl, and health for the children.
The autumnal equinox is primarily a harvest festival. To have prosperity in the house. You need to bake a pie with apples or cabbage. It must be round.
If the dough rises quickly, and the cake itself does not burn, then in the near future the financial situation will improve.
You can protect yourself and loved ones from the evil eye and everything unkind with the help of mountain ash. It has long been believed that the mountain ash is a kind of conductor between the sun and the earth, contains tremendous energy. It has healing power, and will not let evil forces on the threshold of the house.
In order for the fruits to have maximum efficiency, they must be plucked on the day of the autumn equinox. Freshly picked berries should be laid out on the windowsill. Or make several bouquets of mountain ash, viburnum and spikelets of wheat, tie them with a red ribbon and arrange them around the house. The protective power of amulets will be valid for a year.
If you want to end an unfavorable period in life, then you need to do a general cleaning in the house, then take all the old things outside and burn them. On the way home, it is best to look at your feet. There is a high probability that a “stone of luck” will fall.
You don’t need to specifically look for it, when your eyes fall on it, an inner feeling will tell you that this is exactly what you need. If you are lucky enough to find a stone, then it will become a kind of amulet, and a symbol of change for the better.
It is on September 22 that love energy is especially strong.
Auspicious time to marry, build relationships with your soulmate or to find your love. Single girls put a second pillow on the bed, and leave a second toothbrush next to theirs in the bathroom. Saying "my soulmate, come."
Also, with thoughts of imminent marriage, walnut branches are burned on a saucer, and the ashes are scattered on the street in the evening.
Equinox event occurs twice a year when the tilt of the earth's axis is determined to the sun, and the earth receives an equal amount of daylight at all latitudes. These events are called the equinox and occur on March 20-21 and September 22-23. Thus, on the day of the equinox, the length of the day will be about 12 hours and six and a half minutes at the equator, to 12 hours and 8 minutes at 30 degrees latitude, to 12 hours and 16 minutes at 60 degrees latitude.
Winter solstice marks the shortest day and longest night of the year. In the northern hemisphere, this occurs when the sun is directly over the constellation Capricorn, which is located 23.5° south of the equator and passes through northern southern Africa, southern Brazil, Australia, and Chile.
Summer solstice marks the longest day and shortest night of the year. The star is directly above the constellation Cancer, located 23.5° north of the equator.
Why the seasons change
Why the seasons change can be summarized as follows.
We all know that the Earth makes a complete revolution around the sun every 365 days in an elliptical orbit. This means that the distance between the earth and the star of the solar system, which is on average 150 million km, changes throughout the year. During the first week in January, the Earth is 2.6 million km closer to the sun. This is called perihelion. Aphelion, or the point at which the Earth is about 1.6 million km further from the sun, occurs during the first week in July. This fact may seem contradictory to what we know about the seasons in the northern hemisphere, but in fact the difference is not important and is not the reason why the seasons change.
The change of seasons is caused by the fact that the Earth is tilted on its axis by 23.5 °. The tilt of the orientation with respect to space does not change throughout the year, and as it orbits the sun, the northern hemisphere is tilted toward the sun in June and away in December.
Thus, the change of seasons occurs in connection with the rotation of our planet around the Sun in an inclined position and does not depend on the distance to the Sun.
Equinox and solstice as an event
Our ancestors accepted the equinox and solstice as events that occur during the yearly movement of the Earth's orbit around the Sun. Early humans spent more time in nature than we do and used the sky as a clock and calendar. The ancients could easily see that the path of a star in the solar system through the sky, the length of daylight, and the location of sunrise and sunset change throughout the year.
Our ancestors built the first observatory to track the movement of what they believed was the sun. One example is at Machu Picchu in Peru, where the Intihuatana stone was an accurate indicator of the dates of the two equinoxes and other significant celestial periods. 
Today we know that the equinox and solstice are astronomical events caused by the tilt of the earth's axis in its orbit around the star.
By the way…
- The earth's axis always tilts at an angle of about 23.5° with respect to the plane of the ecliptic, i.e. the imaginary plane of the Earth's orbit around the Sun.
- On any other day of the year, either in the Northern Hemisphere or in the Southern Hemisphere, our planet tilts towards the sun, but during the equinox, the tilt of the earth's axis is strictly perpendicular to the sun's rays.
- The equinox and solstice are astronomical events caused by the tilt of the planet on its axis and continuous movement in its orbit.
- The earth does not rotate vertically, it is tilted on its axis by 23 and a half degrees.
- During the equinox, the northern and southern hemispheres of the earth receive the rays of the stars of the solar system in the same way.
The spring and autumn equinoxes are an astronomical phenomenon in which day equals night, they mark the change of seasons. We know that the spring and autumn equinoxes occur at the moment when our Sun crosses the celestial equator in its annual movement along the ecliptic. These points, respectively, are in the constellations of Pisces and Virgo. The day of the vernal equinox is the beginning of astronomical spring.
On the days of the solstices, our daytime luminary reaches the extreme points of its annual path through the sky - in summer it deviates 23.4 degrees north of the celestial equator, in winter - 23.4 degrees south. Therefore, in June, the Sun illuminates the northern hemisphere of the Earth more - and at the time of the solstice summer comes here, - and at the end of December - the south, and at this time we have winter (and summer in the southern hemisphere).
Below you can see the exact dates of the spring and autumn equinoxes for the city of Moscow, just like the winter and summer solstices.
| event | date Time |
| spring equinox | March 20 at 13:28 mon |
| summer solstice | June 21 at 07:24 wed |
| autumnal equinox | 22 September at 23:01 Fri |
| winter solstice | December 21 at 19:27 th |
These dates were among the most revered in the pre-Christian period. Solstice, rotation, equinox, solstice - the names of solar holidays, which are also called the four hypostases of the Slavic Dazhdbog, which is the Sun itself - the son of Svarog.
Kolyada - winter solstice (December 21-22);
- Maslenitsa or Komoyeditsy - the day of the spring equinox (March 21-22);
- Kupailo (Kupala) - summer solstice (June 21-22);
- Radogoshch (Svetovit, Veresen, Tausen) - autumn equinox (September 22-23);
Kolyada is the winter solstice or the longest night of the year. During this period, the young sun Kolyada replaces the old sun Svetovit. Because the daylight hours from this day begins to increase. Replaced by the church on Christmas Day.
Maslenitsa or Komoyeditsy - the day of the spring equinox (day and night are equal in time), farewell to winter, burning of the effigy of Madder, meeting of spring and the Slavic New Year. The date March 21-22 is also the beginning of astronomical spring. From now on, the day becomes longer than the night. Yarilo-Sun replaces Kolyada and drives away Zima-Marena. Traditionally, this circle was celebrated for two whole weeks.
Kupailo is the day of the summer solstice. The longest day and shortest night of the year. The last day of the Rusal Week or Mermaids. Kupala is one of the oldest holidays that has preserved many traditions and customs unchanged to this day, for example: the funeral of Yarila, who is replaced by the God of the summer sun Kupala, the collection of medicinal herbs, the search for a fern flower, etc. Kupailo is also a great holiday, which is now replaced by the church on the birthday of John the Baptist.
Radogoshch (Svetovit, Veresen, Tausen) - the day of the autumn equinox (day and night are equal in time). On this day, the Sun-Old Man Svetovit takes over. The night is getting longer than the day. It is both a solar holiday and a holiday of the end of the harvest. Replaced by the church on the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Day of equinox and solstice by year:
