Communicating Authentically

Twilight has always been my favorite time of day; when the sun has set but it’s not bedtime yet; neither dark nor light; neither day nor night. The sky is neither purple nor blue but casts a hue of muted indigo. We put away the cares of the day and prepare for the darkness to fall. We begin to speak more softly and light our lamps, moving with just a bit more care in the dimming light. It’s a little bit magical.

September 22 is the first day of autumn in 2023, otherwise known as the autumnal equinox. September 21 is also the pagan holiday of Mabon, one of the eight Wiccan sabbats. In these 24 hours, the hours of daylight are equal to the hours of darkness. After this day, the days will grow shorter and the nights longer, until the winter solstice descends.

The trees are starting to react to the reduced light by producing less chlorophyll, unmasking the dormant carotenoids and anthocyanin. For a few weeks, these will spread through the leaves in a celebration of color.

We, too, will respond to autumn’s approach. We will celebrate with our pumpkin and spice, our apples and cider as we store away the pleasures of the summer day and start preparing for the long winter’s night. We’ll bring out our sweaters and cold-weather clothes and begin lighting our fireplaces.

Like twilight, autumn is a balance – holding a paradox of day and night, shadow and light, awake and asleep in a long, lucid dream. It’s a state in which all elements of the spectrum are present and accepted, as though the dimming light illuminates a softer, more thoughtful reality. Autumn is also magical, as though the veil between the real and the imagined is just a bit more permeable.

On this equinox, be grateful for the warmth, light, and color that remains. Welcome the chilling, the dimming, and the fading that will come, and give yourself permission to do the same. Allow yourself to be that much less harried, less busy, less vibrant. Welcome the rest and the stillness. 

Fall into the peace that the autumn twilight brings.

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