autumn

Autumn Equinox 2025

~ Ashley ~ 44 Comments 

The autumn equinox;
A festival of thanksgiving,
A gateway into winter.

Hokku and photographs by Ashley

Can you believe it’s the autumn equinox?  It’s that time when day and night are of equal length and the earth is in perfect balance, but from today, daylight reduces and the nights grow longer.

The flowers in our garden are showing their autumn colours, and some are already closing down.  Winter is before us, and I am stepping back from blogging for a while, taking some time to reflect on my next steps.  I’m sure I will still publish at Samhain (end of October/beginning of November) and at the winter solstice (21st December), so until then, thank you for following my blog and making all your wonderful comments.

Here’s a short verse I found on the internet, which says so much about celebrating this ancient festival:

Blessed be the turning wheel,
Blessed be the waning sun,
Blessed be the harvest of soul and soil.

Ashley 🙏

Lammas 2025

~ Ashley ~ 10 Comments
Red Admiral on Buddleia


Butterflies,
Flitting from flower to flower;
Peace.

 

The end of July and the beginning of August, is the traditional festival of Lammas, a time of abundance and in the pagan calendar, seen as the beginning of autumn.  There are so many flowers in our tiny garden but this Buddleia, a dwarf variety, is a favourite.  Known as the butterfly bush or shrub, we can see why it is so called. I didn’t manage to capture on camera the other butterflies in the garden but I am working on a further linked post with some artwork which I shall publish shortly. 🤞🤞

Ashley

Autumn Equinox 2024

~ Ashley ~ 57 Comments

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Night and day,
Near perfect balance;
Equinox.

The equinox, simply put, is when the sun is positioned exactly above the equator, so for a moment both night and day have equal length.  A moment of harmony.  Here in the UK that moment will be at 01.43 pm today, Sunday 22nd September.

From today, here in the northern hemisphere, the days will grow shorter, as the earth transforms towards a new season.  The autumn equinox opens the doorway to winter.  Are you preparing for the change of season: to rest, recharge and dream?

Happy autumn equinox.

Ashley

Early September

~ Ashley ~ 39 Comments

The temperature is currently 22c and it is expected to rise by at least another 2c this afternoon!  That is hot for this part of these islands!  According to the traditional pagan calendar that I follow for my seasonal writing, the autumn began in early August, whilst meteorologists claim the 1st September as the start of autumn!

There is another calendar, of which I no very little, the astronomical calendar, & that has autumn starting around the 21st September.  My dear WordPress friend Marina, at

https://wordpress.com/read/feeds/2091483/posts/4877388110

will have to fill me in on the meaning of astrological autumn, however, after I complained about the miserable summer we were having here in July and August, she did offer to send me some warm sunny Mediterranean sunshine.  It has surely arrived, & Marina, I can only say thank her for her sunny uplifting wishes!

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These photos are from a day out to Groomsport on the north coast of County Down.  The little harbour sits facing into Belfast Lough & the Irish Sea & I love it there!  If I could live there (in my dreams) I would be in heaven: very few people except in summer, one pub, a small supermarket, a restaurant & very accessible to the usual amenities that an older person like me would need!  It was so warm I had to wear my shorts!  Sorry!  No photographs! 🤣  But it was the best day out that we’ve had in months!

The problems of the world, the Earth’s climate, the war in Europe & various other negative personal stories, did not go away, but I’m refreshed & renewed, simply by visiting the coast!  Thank you, Marina! 🤗🌹🙋‍♂️