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This Monday, 22 September, was the day when the amount of light and darkness in the day was exactly the same. For a moment, light and dark were balanced – and now we in the Northern Hemisphere begin tipping slowly towards the darkness.
In traditional British culture, the Autumn Equinox is one of the Eight Celebrations of the year. The traditional name for this day is Mabon. The name ‘Mabon’ comes from the Welsh god who is the son of the Earth Mother. Most of the stories about him are about him being put in prison and then escaping.
This is a parallel of the Greek story of Persephone. Persephone is the reason why, in Europe, we eat pomegranates at the Autumn Equinox. Like Mabon, her mother is the Earth Goddess (in Greek mythology, her name is Demeter). Like Mabon, she becomes imprisoned – the Lord of Darkness, Hades, takes her away from the world of sunlight and life, and down to the Underworld. Now, as most people know, if you visit the Underworld (or the Fairy World or the Spirit World), you are free to come back whenever you like – unless you eat the food there.
When Persephone is in the Underworld, she eats some pomegranate seeds – which means she cannot leave...can she?
To find out more about Persephone, you can check out my version of the story here.
The idea of being imprisoned in the darkness is directly related to the growing hours of darkness in the daytime. As winter comes, we reach a point of stillness, where nothing grows. If we wait until the Earth swings round the sun again, we will be rewarded by release.
To learn more about traditional British festivals you can check out my videos here and here.
You can also book a British Culture class with me to learn about British Culture ‘beyond fish and chips’ in a fun and relaxed way ;)
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