Fall Equinox Issue

the change of seasons

The Moon

The Moon card in the Rider Waite Smith deck shows us thirty two leaves falling, some say from the Kabbalist Tree of Life. On the card they are falling from the Moon which is embedded in the Sun. A wolf and a dog are baying as a crayfish emerges from the ocean ready to walk the path over the mountains, maybe shedding his exoskeleton as he grows. Two pillars stand to either side, representing strength and solidity in what is a period of change.

I was talking to a friend the other day about how people seem to have their preferences when it comes to the Sun or the Moon card. Although I mostly look at them in the context of other cards, I have to admit the Moon is my friend. It reminds me of my subconscious desires, my need for balance, the inevitability of change, the beauty of ambiguity.

Falling In

I’ve always associated Fall with back to school, even though I am not a traditional student any more, and both my kids have graduated from college. But our bookstore is a block from the University of Washington campus, and after three seasons of covid madness, the students will be back in full force next week. There is a real shift for me, though the weather may still be warm, and there are still a few tomatoes to pick in the garden. There is a hunkering down, a seriousness as we move into the darker time. I must admit a bit of ambivalence as well, as I envision getting closer to the end of the year, the holidays, the busyness of retail, less time for myself.

This past weekend I helped lead a Fall Equinox gathering, and one of my jobs was to speak to a few myths and legends which serve to explain the change in seasons. I dug in pretty deep to the myth of Persephone, which I will argue might well be named the myth of Demeter, Persephone’s mother.

A quick story line for this myth follows:

• Persephone, the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, is the goddess of Spring and vegetation. Demeter is the goddess of nature.

• Hades, ruler of the underworld, decides to abduct Persephone and keep her as his wife down below.

• Demeter completely loses her mind with grief at the absence of her daughter and causes lands to be barren, famines ensue and many lives are lost.

• Zeus intervenes and makes Hades return Persephone to her mother, but not before Hades tricks her into eating some pomegranate seeds (fruit of the dead), which will make it impossible for Persephone to not spend some time in the underworld.

• An agreement is reached by which Persephone spends eight months a year up above and four month a year down below, during which time the land will be cold and barren and nothing will grow, winter.

I relate so much to Demeter, having myself almost lost a child to the underworld of cancer. The sheer almost madness of no control resonates with me so much. Perhaps Demeter has captured my imagination, strong and powerful, a goddess not to mess with, but also a completely devoted mother, loyal to a fault perhaps, as her loyalty takes her eye off her duties and plunges the world into famine.

Reading This Week

I just received a gift from my friend Erin Jean, The Contemplative Tarot, a book that seeks to explain how we can use tarot as visio divina, as a visual tool for prayer. Digging in, very interesting.

The Contemplative Tarot Brittany Muller

Continuing my very slow reading of How to Do Nothing by Jenny Odell. Perhaps required reading for all of us who spend a lot of time on line.

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