The meaning of Autumn Equinox (9/22)

Autumn Equinox's ancient spiritual meaning | Fall traditions, rituals, celebrations, sites

(Sakro Sawel1) Sept. 19, 2024: Let's take a stunningly deep dive into the traditions, ancient sites, and myths of the fall season, which begins with the autumnal equinox. It is recognized and celebrated around the world. Let's uncover the deeper spiritual meaning of this shift and its relevance today.

The autumn equinox is when day and night are equal (equi + nox = "night"), after which nights become longer than the daylight hours, and darkness becomes greater than light each day.

It was celebrated by ancient peoples for millennia and is still one of the most celebrated religious times of year. Why is the autumn equinox such an important religious event? What is its spiritual meaning?

To answer these questions, we delve into its celebration throughout history. We explore the autumn equinox tradition of Durga Puja (devotional ritual dedicated to Ma Durga) in India, which is celebrated by over a billion people, and the Persian festival of Mehregan.

We also look at the meaning of the legend of the Minotaur, the Eleusinian Mysteries (entheogenic drug rituals), the descent to Earth of the feathered serpent (reptilian raja-naga) at Kukulkan (Quetzalcoatl) in Mexico, the hanging of the Norse god Odin on the World Tree (axis mundi), the journey of the Egyptian sun god Ra, and the crucifixion of Jesus [an element of astrotheology], which are all connected to the fall equinox.

CONTENTS

• Introduction 00:00
• What is the fall/autumn equinox? 01:55
• Symbols of the equinox 02:59
• Journey of the sun god 03:47
• Autumn equinox traditions 06:19
• Sites with fall equinox alignments 10:49
• Great Pyramid symbolism 12:18
• Sphinx Temple meaning 18:18
• Ahu Akivi alignments 21:53
• El Castillo solar serpent 23:45
• Palace of Knossos Significance 27:50
• Death, descent, Jesus, and Odin 34:59
• Meaning and purpose of darkness 39:26
• Conclusion 42:52

We explore the alignments of some of the world's most enigmatic sacred sites to the autumn equinox to interpret their symbolic spiritual meaning, including the Great Pyramid and Sphinx Temple in Egypt, Ahu Akivi on Easter Island, the Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent in Mexico (El Castillo at Chichen Itza), and the ancient Greek Palace of Knossos in Crete.

We also explore one of the main themes of the autumn equinox, which is the worship of a great spiritual Mother Goddess (like Ma Durga, Guanyin, Mother Mary, Inanna, and many other names).

We uncover how the beliefs and traditions of the autumn equinox are connected across cultures and how celebrating the equinox was an important component of an ancient religion of the sun that spread to different parts of the world in prehistoric times.

As part of this video, we discuss some original theories I put forward as does my husband Mark Sawel, including:

• How the autumn equinox reveals the important role that darkness plays in life and creation
• How the annual journey of the sun was used in ancient religions to symbolize the path to enlightenment (our Sacred Sun Path Theory)
• The symbolism of autumn equinox alignments at the Great Pyramids and Sphinx Temple in Egypt, Ahu Akivi on Easter Island, Chichen Itza in Mexico, and Knossos in Greece, which encode a spiritual meaning connected to the theme of descent on the path of enlightenment to confront one’s own inner darkness before being spiritually reborn [like Siddhartha did under the Bodhi tree before becoming the Buddha]
• That these ancient sites and traditions were connected as part of a now lost [worldwide] religion we call the Religion of the Sun
• The origin of dragon and serpent (reptilian, naga) slaying myths and how their symbolism was seen by the ancients in the stars
• The deeper meaning in the pattern of descending into the earth, underworld, matter, body, tomb, subconscious, and womb, which can be found in the life of sun gods such as Ra, Rama, Odin, Jesus, and Osiris
• An interpretation of the story of Theseus, Ariadne, the Minotaur, and the labyrinth and how it likely derives from Minoan initiatory rites conducted on the autumn equinox.

We first published these ideas between 2011 and 2016, where more details can be found in our book Ancient Solstice, which discusses the spiritual meaning of the fall/autumn equinox and ancient sites aligned to it, as well as how to celebrate it: sakrosawel.com/ancient-solstice.

NOTE ABOUT ATTRIBUTING OUR WORK

The information in this video is the culmination of years of work and research. It contains our unique interpretations of ancient sites and traditions. If anyone likes it and wants to share it, do so without plagiarizing it, please. Please share the video while giving us due credit as the source (Sakro and Mark Sawel).

This video is part of a series about the spiritual meaning of the solstices and equinoxes. Watch the other videos in this series:

• Winter solstice: • WINTER SOLSTICE Ancient Spiritual Mea...
• Spring equinox: • SPRING EQUINOX Ancient Spiritual Mean...
• Summer solstice: • SUMMER SOLSTICE Ancient Spiritual Mea...

WEBSITE: sakrosawel.com. To make sure to keep receiving content from Sakro Sawel, sign up for this free newsletter at sakrosawel.com/newsletter. X/Twitter: sakrosawel.

• Sakro Sawel, (Sakro Sawel1 on YouTube, Sept. 20, 2024); Pat Macpherson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly