Your Collective Reading for the Autumn Equinox & Libra Season
Balance, abundance, transitions, and gratitude.
Blessed Mabon! I hope you’re celebrating by making something warm and nourishing, like your favorite soup or a cleansing kitchari. The days are slowing and the light is changing, and I am so ready for a new pace of life.
This equinox, rife with transition, gratitude, and balance, signals the beginning of our descent into the dormant months—a period of rest, recovery, and introspection I always wholeheartedly embrace. This is my second favorite time of the year, just behind beloved Samhain, a magical time when the veil is at its thinnest, and the spirit realms are said to mingle with the waking world. Ed proposed to me on Samhain last year, and we intentionally chose to get married around this time because I love it so much. Our wedding date is fast approaching and it feels surreal.
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Persephone, goddess of the underworld, is closely tied to the Autumn Equinox, as the Northern Hemisphere mirrors her descent into shadow. Her return in the Spring (Ostara) signals a renewal, with the earth bursting into bloom once more. Demeter, the goddess of the harvest and Persephone's mother, also presides over this season. Farmers once prayed to Demeter, often depicted with a bundle of grain, a symbol of abundance. This is our final opportunity to gather the fruits of the summer’s careful tending before the earth begins its shift. Soon, the flowers, fruits, and vegetables will toughen, bracing for the frost. The tender sweetness of summer—peaches, nectarines, raspberries—will greet us again in the new year.
A Collective Reading for Libra Season
This season’s theme — Nine of Swords
In a world so full of chaos, finding peace for our anxious minds can feel nearly impossible. We might catch ourselves spiraling, imagining worst-case scenarios, and preparing for disasters that may never come. Yet, this card isn't all despair—it serves as a warning, reminding us of the dangers we face when we let fear and anxiety govern our thoughts. These negative thought patterns, if left unchecked, weaken the function of our pre-frontal cortex, which is responsible for emotional regulation, decision-making, and impulse control. This is why even simple decisions, like choosing what to eat for dinner, can feel overwhelming when we're anxious, stressed, or afraid. In those moments, we often default to takeout or processed foods, as if the weight of our emotions overrides our ability to make mindful choices.
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In traditional Ryder-Waite illustrations, the card depicts a man who appears as if he’s just woken up from a terrible dream, holding his head in his hands. Nine swords loom large above him—but note, they are not pointed downward, ready to fall and impale him at any moment. They are horizontal as they float in the dark background, suggesting this turmoil may be more internal than external. These fears may loom large, but they are not necessarily grounded in reality. Granting ourselves ample time and space to calm our minds is essential for the season ahead.
Where do I need balance? — Seven of Pentacles
Recent months may have felt unreasonably difficult, particularly regarding your material possessions, finances, or career. You may feel compelled to keep your head down, working twice as hard to mitigate the instability—but we must remember that this phase of the year implores us to slow down, or at least begin pumping the brakes, giving our bodies the rest and recovery they so desperately crave. Your inner monologue may be shouting at you to keep pushing, but you have to remember that your inner monologue is not the voice of reason. Our inner monologues are shaped by our traumas and experiences and, therefore, do everything they can to keep us safe from harm, usually to the detriment of our well-being. Peacemaker Libra, a sign associated with balance and harmony, reminds us that our periods of hard work must be punctuated with rest. You have proven yourself and put in the work; there is little more you can do now to hasten the process. All that remains is to wait for the seeds you've sown to take root.
What can I embrace & integrate? — The Fool
I’ve become more inclined to nurture my inner child this year. The older I get, the younger I feel inside, perhaps because I’ve embraced the beginner’s mind with age. Wisdom often arrives unexpectedly, and like the Fool, we understand that knowing nothing can be a gift. What joy it is to remain open, hopeful, and unjaded. When we harden, our perceptions are blunted to the wonder around us, blinding us to the quiet magic threaded throughout our lives. I often think about the last time I truly played as a child—though I can’t pinpoint it, I know it happened. But that doesn’t have to be final. We still have full lives ahead of us, and we can choose to play again. The Fool invites us to rekindle that sense of innocence, suggesting that our inner child is still there, waiting for us to rediscover the incandescent joy of play.
What can I release? — Ace of Swords
Success is on your mind, and it might be hard to think of anything else. You have spent so much time dreaming of your triumph that you’ve forgotten that softness is a necessary part of that triumph. Not everything needs to feel Sisyphean—good work can still be done with rest and breaks. There may be new ventures or ideas rekindling your creative imagination, and it might be difficult to put those ideas down, but emptying your mind is an essential part of the creative process; you need space for new thoughts to emerge. If you resist slowing down, you might find yourself overwhelmed by mental clutter that depletes you. Time may feel of the essence here, but you can afford to take a few moments to breathe deeply, close your eyes, and touch some grass. As the old Zen saying goes:
You should sit in meditation for 20 minutes a day. Unless you're too busy—then you should sit for an hour.
Whatever grand schemes you’ve dreamt up will await you on the other side, once your mind is clear and your energy restored.
What can this season teach me? — Seven of Cups
You are Esther Greenwood at the fig tree, and your inability to make a decision has inadvertently led to a choice: nothing. Our modern lives are plagued by decision paralysis, effectively freezing us in time and inhibiting our progress. If there is one thing this season can teach you, it is that agonizing over a decision is just as detrimental (if not worse) than making an “incorrect” decision. I use quotation marks here because I don’t think our decisions can really be incorrect, and that every choice we make ends up informing our path. I suppose this is heading into determinism vs. free will territory, which I do not want to tangle with because it makes my head hurt, but I most likely fall somewhere optimistically in the middle: whatever is truly meant for us will still be there regardless of the choices we make. The things we often perceive as failures will go on to inform our next decision, pushing us further along on a path that is uniquely ours. The medicine of this season lies in surrender—not in giving up, but in trusting that our lives are unfolding exactly as they should, and that is enough.
A Moodboard for Mabon ~
This is the atmosphere I’m calling in.
Book a Reading ~
If you'd like a personalized reading, you can always book a session with me. I offer one-on-one sessions and written readings.
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Some birthday reflections upon turning thirty-one.
I've been feeling more childlike and playful the older I get as well! Nurturing the inner child and allowing for imagination has allowed me to feel much for flexible and less prone to stress response.