🌿Elderberry Eclipses🌖
💜plus some musings on an Autumnal Aster🌼
Hello friend,
Welcome to another bumper edition of Moontime Musings. Appropriate in that today we celerbate the second of the 3 harvest festivals in the Wheel of the Year - Mabon. Also known as the Autumn Equinox this is the fruit harvest - the time when apples, pears and other delicious fruit is being gathered across the Northern hemisphere after ripening over the Summer.
With the Wheel of the Year having turned once again, this edition is open to everyone, with five more in the archives for this year so far. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to receive all editions by clicking the button below. Thank you.
If you’re new here, I always begin my newsletters with upcoming seasonal dates to orientate you for the weeks ahead. Here’s what’s coming up for the rest of the month and into October:
20-29 September: Great British Beach Clean (U.K)
22 September: Autumn Equinox/Mabon at 13:43 BST (Pagan)
22 September: Sun moves into Libra
29 September: Michaelmas Day/Feast of St Michael (Christian)
2 October: New Hunters Moon in Libra (19:49 BST)
2 October: Annular Solar Eclipse (19:46 BST)
2 October: Orionids meteor shower begins
3 October: National Poetry Day (U.K)
1-31 October: Dip a Day (U.K)
31 October: Rituals for Rest begins
🌍The first half of this newsletter looks at the terrestrial - the news and events that are happening on Earth over the next few weeks. The second half looks at the celestial - what’s going on up in the skies.
🕯️Rituals for Rest
In my last newsletter I shared that as the days grow shorter, and the weather chillier, I turn to rituals to keep me grounded and rested. Over the past couple of weeks I’ve created a new offering for you to spiral down into the darker months with a series simple but magical rituals which can be woven into the weeks leading up to the shortest day.
We’ll begin on the next sabbat of Samhain (31 October) and spiral together down into the depths of Winter to Yule (21 December) and out again to Imbolc (1 February_. Each week of this 3 month journey, you’ll receive a voice note with a ritual suggestion to practice that week, with the opportunity to layer each ritual for rest as we wind down into the darkness together. We’ll also meet in online circle 6 times with the option to gather together at a sacred site on the Winter Solstice IRL!
Doors open on the Libra New Moon on 2 October.
If you’d like to be kept in the loop, please join the waitlist via the link above.
🌿Elderberry recipe
Last Friday I collected my first Elderberries in a little while. In previous years, a ritual of mine has been to make Elderberry and Echinacea tincture to ward off Autumn colds as we approach Winter. I wanted to reconnect to this ritual this year and have created a resource for you on how to turn foraged Elderberries into this magical Autumn medicine to keep us thriving as the darkness approaches.
💜Michaelmas
I’ve noticed so many Michaelmas Daisies (Aster pyrenaeus) this year. These are late blooming Asters named for the feast of St Michael the Archangel on 29 September and a vital source of Autumn nectar for insects.
According to National Trust for Scotland, there are some interesting traditions associated with Michaelmas Day (or Là Fhéill Mìcheil in Scotland):
There is a tradition that you must not harvest brambles after September 29th as this is the date that it is said that Lucifer was expelled from Heaven in retaliation for his evil deeds, landing in a bramble bush. He could have spat upon them, so do not pull a bramble after the 29th!
On Michaelmas Eve, it was a strange legal custom steal your neighbours horse, as long as it was returned by the next night. Perhaps don’t try that one out anymore!
It was also a custom to give a Michaelmas Daisy as a present, because its pretty colours and daintiness protected against the advancing darkness of autumn and winter.1
✨Now onto one of my favourite parts of Moontime Musings - the segment where we look at what’s happening in the skies over the next few weeks.
🌖Eclipse Season
If you’re a regular reader of Moontime Musings, you may remember that back in March, we had the first eclipse season of 2024 starting with a Solar Eclipse in Aries.
Well we’re now 5 days into the second (and final) eclipse season of the year which began with a Parital Lunar Eclipse on Wednesday coinciding with the Full Harvest Moon in Pisces. There are three types of Eclipses: Total, Partial and Penumbral. Follow this link if you want to geek out more on this topic!
There are usually two eclipses in a season with one of each type: Solar and Lunar. This second Eclipse Season of 2024 started with a Lunar Eclipse which means we’ll see a Solar Eclipse on the next New Moon on 2 October at 19:46 BST. Unfortunately, this eclipse won’t be visible for those of us in the U.K, but if anyone is in Southern North America, South America, or Antarctica (!) on 2 October, you may be lucky and get a glimpse!
⚖️Libra Season
Libra is an air sign representing balance and peace-making. As a cardinal sign of the Western Zodiac, Libra season always begins on or around the Autumn Equinox (in the Northern Hemiphere) which is apt since this is a time of equal daylight and darkness. Libra energy invites us to confront conflict, address indecision and make space to stand up for our truth. Use this season to turn inwards and take some time to reflect on any goals you set over the Summer which may have got lost along the way. At this time of year, as the light wanes and nights draw in, it’s an opportune moment to consider how to bring more balance into your life as we spiral into the darkness of Winter. If you want to find more balance through rest, I’d love to tell you more about my upcoming offering: Rituals for Rest. Click the button below and leave your email to find out more.
That’s all from me for this sixth free edition of 2024. Please consider sharing this newsletter with anyone who you think would like it. Your reciprocity is greatly appreciated 🙏
The next edition of this newsletter comes out in the week of the the next New (Hunters) Moon on 2 October 2024 and full access will be for paid subscribers only. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber for less than the price of a good coffee each month (£3.50) or £35 a year.
Thank you so much and Mabon blessings.
Love,
Charly x
St Michael’s Day and Michaelmas… | National Trust for Scotland (nts.org.uk)