A better way to imagine the seasons can deepen your connection to home.
In the USA, we mark the beginning of the seasons with the equinoxes and the solstices. The Celts looked with a different eye. They looked at light.
The equinoxes of March 21st and September 21st mark the time when the days and the nights are of equal length. And the solstices mark the longest day of the year in summer or the longest night of the year in winter.
Find the halfway point between these events and you find the true beginning of the seasons. August 1st is coming up, and it marks the beginning of Autumn. It marks the beginning of the first harvests. In the northwest, the days are noticeably shorter, even as the temperatures continue to rise.
When you pay attention, you can feel autumn. Football fans notice teams reporting to practice.
Three of the other four season beginnings have made it into modern times, barely.
- Groundhog Day
- May Day
- Halloween/All Saints Day/Dia de los Muertos
Shakespeare used the Celtic seasons. His beloved play A Midsummer Night’s Dream – takes place on Solstice which is midsummer not, the beginning of summer.
In our flat, we get no direct sun from Halloween until Groundhog Day. We live on the north side of a big hill. We welcome Groundhog Day.
You can play with your senses by tuning into these markers. Listen to the subtly of the seasons and you may find yourself more deeply at home.
