How the Equinox actually turned out

Last updated on: September 23, 2012 at 2:21 pm by Niki Whiting

How the Equinox actually turned out 2012-09-23T14:21:50-08:00 Niki Whiting

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

One of the things that I love about keeping this blog is that it helps me think about how and what I want to observe in my spiritual practice. So I plan ahead and write posts for holidays that then go up right before or as they are beginning. Then the actual observance occurs – and sometimes things don’t go according to plan. This is what it’s like being a householder, trying to create my own ashram in the midst of being a stay at home parent and partner and possibly make a little money here and there, too.

On Friday I had planned to fast, stay off the internet, spend a goodly chunk of time in meditation and find Balance. The reality was the baby was recovering from a cold and nursed like a fiend from 4am on. I woke up tired and very hungry when the boy wandered in at 7am saying the power was out. So we went out to breakfast, unshowered, and the boy got to preschool an hour late, which meant my entire routine was thrown off. I have discovered the key to parenting small children is routine. I sometimes think I need it more than they do!

I spent the afternoon making rabbit stock (we’d eaten rabbit earlier in the week) and I made a huge batch of tomatillo salsa. I felt very domestic and engaged with the late summer harvest. I know that salsa will be like a burst of sunshine when I pull it out of the freezer in the deep of winter!

I thought, not the day I was planning, but a successful day nonetheless. We’ll start over on Saturday, the day of the real equinox.

That night a transformer on our street blew up at 2am, waking me out of a dead sleep. Then the beeping trucks came to fix it. I woke later that morning groggy, tired, cranky. My period started, the boy came down with the cold, and the baby basically yelled at me all morning long. Balance seemed not to be in the cards for me.

So I did for myself what I sometimes do with my kids: I started the day over, rebooted myself. I put myself down for a nap. After that, I ate some healthy food. I took myself outside and sat in the back yard reading a good book. And the day ended with a nice dinner to celebrate a friend’s birthday.

In the end it was not the equinox observance I’d wanted, but over all it was entirely appropriate!

Looking ahead to October, it’s a busy month for holidays! Navratri, a Hindu celebration of the Goddess, is mid-month, and the Samhain (Halloween) season ends the month, which in my house is a collection of 3-5 different nights. We’ll see how all of these observances turn out….

family life

holidays

Uncategorized

Previous Post

September 21, 2012

Equinox

Next Post

September 24, 2012 Maxim Monday: Exercise Prudence

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Alaska altar altars Ana Ancestors Anderson witchcraft Arddu Bhairava Biography bodies books Christianity Christmas community current events death Delphic Maxims Dhumavati dual observance Durga Faery family life feminism Feri Feri tradition Feri witchcraft food ganesha gratitude Guest Post guru health Hinduism holidays Jesus Kali Lakshmi land links magic Many Gods West movie review movies music my heart mystery myth Navratri Orthodoxy pagan pagan culture paganism pantheacon parenting Place politics polytheism practice pratice prayer Red Goddess review ritual sacred arts Samhain Saraswati Shinto Shiva singing Star Goddess Tantra tarot the Gods theory Uncategorized values virgin mary wales washington winter witchcraft year in review yoga

Select a Month September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What Persian king chose Esther as queen?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Cyrus Xerxes (Ahasuerus) Darius Artaxerxes