Sacred Days of Autumn Equinox 2018 - September 18 - 29

[Nemia]

The wheel of the year rolls on and everything moves - our Earth rotates around the Sun, the Moon around the Earth, and our whole solar system travels through a galaxy. Humans have aways measured time by watching the celestial events. Four of them are especially meaningful - the two solstices and the two equinoxes that mark the beginning of a new season. Many festivals and holidays in different cultures reflect and celebrate their importance.

Let's enrich our lives by exploring each of these sacred events. Through twelve days, we draw a daily card from a deck chosen with love and care, and focus on the energies of each special day. Doing it as community gives special power to this personal ritual.

Day 1 18.9. Ludi magni games - Roman games in honour of the god Jupiter, celebrated with circus performances. This card reflects the spirit of celebration in your life, and how you can bring more joy and playfulness to yourself and others.

Day 2 19.9. Day of Our Lady of La Salette - an apparition of the Christian Mother of God/Holy Virgin. She brings message of hope to humanity. Where is your personal source of hope and spirituality?

Day 3 20.9. Sedna, Inuit Goddess of the Sea - This card asks you to address your fears and shadows before the winter comes, like the Inuit did in their Sedna festival.

Day 4 21.9. Eleusinia - an ancient Greek holiday, commemorating Demeter and Persephone. She has to leave the world of of growth and abundance and descend to the realm of death. This card reflects grief, sadness and the traces of tears in your life. Acknowledge and honour them.

Day 5 22.9. Rosh HaShana - beginning of the Jewish New Year. It's a Jewish custom to send greetings and good wishes to people in your life. Use this day to focus on the people who are important to you, what you can do to strengthen your ties to them, and contact at least one person you have neglected lately.

Day 6 23.9. Autumn Solstice - Libra - Mabon - the day of perfect equilibrium. A day for two cards. What is growing in your life, what is decreasing? This two-card reading reflects the balance of your energies and, if there is imbalance, what you need to address.

Day 7 24.9. Brazil holiday of Maiso, mother goddess - what is the role of your mother in your life, how do you mother yourself/father yourself? Reflect on the maternal/paternal archetypes within yourself, and how you can make them work for you, not against you.

Day 8 25.9. Greek holiday Pyanopsia - Thanksgiving for the fruits of the sun. Wind white or purple wool around a laurel or olive branch, and hang or arrange fruit around it. These don't have to be actual fruit - you can write on a paper things that you are grateful for. What is the fruit of your past action, ripening now?

Day 9 26.9. Holiday of Neptune - This is a card about anger and anger management. Contemplate about how you deal with negative feelings. Is there a way to tranform negative energies into positive ones, making your anger pull your carriage and drive you on?

Day 10 27.9. Vendémiaire - month of the grape harvest in the French revolutionary calendar month. Raise your glass to your big and small achievements in the last year, either with wine or grape juice, and enjoy your success.

Day 11 28.9. Maha Navami - a Hindu holiday celebrating goddess Durga's victory over a demon. Part of the celebrations is chanting. Reflect on a victory you want to win over the next three months, and devise a chant for it. Write it down where you can see it and envision the joy you will feel when you reach this goal.

Day 12 29.9. Meditrinalia - an ancient Greek holiday honoring the goddess of healing. Think about your healing process and how you can continue it. Where do you draw strength from? How can you heal and nurture yourself in the future? Pamper yourself today and close these twelve days of introspection with healing thoughts.



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Participants with decks and link to their reading:

Nemia, Nova Tarot

Seldes Katne, the Good Tarot

Stronglove - Carnival Tarot

Joan Marie - Haindl Tarot

Velvetina - Victorian Fairies Tarot

BreathingSince72 - Voyager Tarot and Druid Animal Oracle

Shadowrose - Chrysalis Tarot

CharlotteK - Wildwood Tarot

Byron - watercolour interpretation of the Visconti Sforza Tarot

I Sunshine - Tarot de St. Croix

Mabel - Sasuraibito Tarot

Chiscotheque - Shakespeare Tarot

Amoroso - Barbara Walker Tarot

[Nemia]

One more month to go! Let's start to prepare for this group reading. Think about how you want to conduct it - day by day card drawing or all in one. Which deck do you want to use? Is there a deck you'd love to use but didn't buy yet? Do you want to prepare a wheel to put your cards on?

Whatever it is, we'll be prepared next month!

If you want to participate, copy the above post into a new post of your own and add your daily card. That keeps your whole reading in one place.

[Joan Marie]

I'm really looking forward to this!

[BreathingSince72]

This looks like fun! I’m in.

[CharlotteK]

I've failed to complete each time I've attempted an Equinox challenge but I'm in again and hope to make it to the end!

[Nemia]

Even if you get just ONE card done - you have celebrated Euqinox or Solstice and received a message.

I'm still thinking which deck to use... there are some earthy ones I never touch.... hmmmm....

[I Sunshine]

I will participate, hopefully through the complete cycle! I love these seasonal tarot rituals. They can be extremely insightful!! (off to dig through my decks for the perfect one)

[velvetina]

I'm in!

It was really interesting working through the Midsummer one. I just need to settle upon the deck I'll choose.

[stronglove]

though i will spend most of this cycle abroad, on a retreat in Bath with Meghan Genge, i will take my carnival at the end of the world tarot with me, and will try to participate as much as possible!

[shadowrose]

wow! this sounds very interesting.

[I Sunshine]

wow! this sounds very interesting.

Shadowrose, you can look at how our Mid Summer reading went, if you have never seen this done before. Honoring the 4 seasons can be a powerful way to grow during the year!
PS: still haven't decided on what deck to use.

[shadowrose]

thank you, I will!

[shadowrose]

Okay, I want to jump in on this. I ordered the Chrysalis deck, it should be here Friday

[Joan Marie]

I'm in too. I'll be using the Haindl Tarot.

I'm really looking forward to this.

[shadowrose]

One more month to go! Let's start to prepare for this group reading. Think about how you want to conduct it - day by day card drawing or all in one. Which deck do you want to use? Is there a deck you'd love to use but didn't buy yet? Do you want to prepare a wheel to put your cards on?

Whatever it is, we'll be prepared next month!

If you want to participate, copy the above post into a new post of your own and add your daily card. That keeps your whole reading in one place.

The wheel idea sounds interesting but I wouldn't know how to make one....

Okay, I'm not sure I completely understand how this works. Are we able to edit our post through the month, do I just wait and post everything at the end in one post?

[Joan Marie]

If you want to participate, copy the above post into a new post of your own and add your daily card. That keeps your whole reading in one place.

That really is an excellent idea.

Sounds like a good way to keep everyone's "journey" together. It'll be nice for going back to look at later. Thanks for that.

[Nemia]

I find it easier to update one basic post whenever it fits - it's much easier for later reference than having to scroll through the thread to puzzle together your reading.

You can always edit your posts, it's easy.

It's totally your decision when you want to draw your cards. Day by day, everything before we start, every third day, irregularly, whatever fits into your routine. If you want to do only one or five cards, then that's what you do.

The important thing is tuning in at all. If it turns into another duty, you won't enjoy it. So just go with what feels right. The only tarot rule I really respect

I will write something about how to make a wheel. If I can do it, believe me it's easy. And it's nice to have (I don't have to write anything about it - Youtube shows you how to do it. It's so easy that I found out myself when I just started playing with the compass.) (Then, all you have to do is add some inner circle and write what you want to write there - date, title of the reading etc)


ETA: I've been doing these readings since summer solstice 2017, i.e., this is my sixth time, isn't it? and I love it.

the Scrabble magnets don't mean a thing, I had no others

[shadowrose]

thanks! that helps.

[CharlotteK]

I am so doing a wheel this time. What a great idea Nemia!

I have just re-bought the Wildwood Tarot after trading it away and regretting it. So that's what I am going to use.

[Nemia]

The Wildwood, the Wildwood... was that a trade with me...? (too lazy to look up my old trades and swaps) NO it was not!

I'll be abroad for the reading so I guess I'll take my little Nova tarot with me. Somehow it seems the right choice. I'm traveling extremly light this time

[CharlotteK]

The Wildwood, the Wildwood... was that a trade with me...? (too lazy to look up my old trades and swaps) NO it was not!

I'll be abroad for the reading so I guess I'll take my little Nova tarot with me. Somehow it seems the right choice. I'm traveling extremly light this time

No definitely not you. I can't remember what I traded it for now. Something I no longer have probably!

[Nemia]

I checked it. It was not you. I don't use the Wildwood often but I'm glad I swapped the Hudes away for it

[Mabel]

I would like to participate, but I don't know which deck yet. I don't have that many, but I see the draw to match a deck to a season.

[Nemia]

Three more days and we start! The Nova tarot is my choice for this year's reading. Everything's ready

Day 1 18.9. Ludi magni games - Roman games in honour of the god Jupiter, celebrated with circus performances. This card reflects the spirit of celebration in your life, and how you can bring more joy and playfulness to yourself and others.

Two of Cups


The person that brings most joy to my life and whom I want to make happy most of all is my husband. We travel through this life for three decades together, and he is the center of my world. Do I take him for granted? I hope I don't. Do we have joy and fun and harmony and laughter? Yes. He can still make me laugh like crazy at least once a day. A great and wonderful gift. He is my Magister Ludi without a doubt. Nice to start with the Two of Cups, isn't it?

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Day 2 19.9. Day of Our Lady of La Salette - an apparition of the Christian Mother of God/Holy Virgin. She brings message of hope to humanity. Where is your personal source of hope and spirituality?

The Moon


I didn't plan it like that but this day turned out to be a deeply moving spiritual experience - and the Moon brought me to this day with deep feelings and dreams. I was well prepared and acted with good instincts. So this was a card not only for a signpost of the year reading - it was spot on for the day. But also in a larger sense, the Moon is a good symbol of my spiritual search. Looking for clarity but also depth, and leaving behind me the illusions and self-lies that served me not so well in the past. I'm still a seeker but the Moon brings hope and spirituality - with its connection to the unconscious, the not-really-understood and the stories that shine up when we glide into sleep.

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Day 3 20.9. Sedna, Inuit Goddess of the Sea - This card asks you to address your fears and shadows before the winter comes, like the Inuit did in their Sedna festival.

The King of Swords


The King of Swords, I fear him. I fear his cold, I fear his logic, I fear his ability to assert himself in discussion, to judge me, to make me feel small. I'm working on my ability to learn how to assert myself. But I guess I'll always fear the merciless eye of the King of Swords.



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Day 4 21.9. Eleusinia - an ancient Greek holiday, commemorating Demeter and Persephone. She has to leave the world of of growth and abundance and descend to the realm of death. This card reflects grief, sadness and the traces of tears in your life. Acknowledge and honour them.

Page of Cups


Now this is again such a meaningful card for me. I've been working through sadness and loss all over the last few months, and it's such an intense feeling. I bring all the love of the Page of Cups to it, I try to integrate Death and the Dead into my life in a way I never tried before. It's a process I've just started, and it's a labour of love that will grow. No card could be more fitting than either the Page or the Ace of Cups. THis will be very important for me in the future, too.

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Day 5 22.9. Rosh HaShana - beginning of the Jewish New Year. It's a Jewish custom to send greetings and good wishes to people in your life. Use this day to focus on the people who are important to you, what you can do to strengthen your ties to them, and contact at least one person you have neglected lately.

The World


Again, a wonderfully fitting card. For the last year, I have begun to contact people whom I neglected, and I started new relationships with old acquaintances and relatives. Rosh HaShana (which was earlier this year but that doesn't matter, it's around these days always) and the World fit together very well. The last link of the old cycle is the first of the new cycle.

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Day 6 23.9. Autumn Solstice - Libra - Mabon - the day of perfect equilibrium. A day for two cards. What is growing in your life, what is decreasing? This two-card reading reflects the balance of your energies and, if there is imbalance, what you need to address.

Hanged Man


What a confusing card for this day - the Hanged Man. Stagnation, forcing me to change my point of view. Punishment for not-acting instead of acting. It all sounds pretty spot-on. Although I did try to introduce some change into my life. But not enough, not enough.

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Day 7 24.9. Brazil holiday of Maiso, mother goddess - what is the role of your mother in your life, how do you mother yourself/father yourself? Reflect on the maternal/paternal archetypes within yourself, and how you can make them work for you, not against you.

Three of Pentacles


What a wonderful card. When I saw it, all I thought was: let it go, let it go. Old anger, old dependencies, the complications as daughter in relation to my parents, as mother in relation to my children. Forgive hurts, work hard to make it better, but accept that it will always change and evolve. And let those children go their own way.


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Day 8 25.9. Greek holiday Pyanopsia - Thanksgiving for the fruits of the sun. Wind white or purple wool around a laurel or olive branch, and hang or arrange fruit around it. These don't have to be actual fruit - you can write on a paper things that you are grateful for. What is the fruit of your past action, ripening now?

Ten of Wands


There are many fruits and consequences of my former actions, and many of them weigh me down. I'm grateful for everything my life has brought me, and I hope I can lift my head up to take pride in them, too. I'm too easily dragged down by worry or despondency, and I can't enjoy success without spoiling it. My husband claims that I'm successophobic. It's true. I should take good note of that card!


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Day 9 26.9. Holiday of Neptune - This is a card about anger and anger management. Contemplate about how you deal with negative feelings. Is there a way to tranform negative energies into positive ones, making your anger pull your carriage and drive you on?

The Fool


I look at this card and what jumps to my view? The word ZERO. Anger management skills: ZERO. I really don't have any. I eat my anger slowly and patiently, I swallow it, i turn it against myself, I cut myself from people, I find it difficult to stand up for myself. There's a cheeky side to ZERO because I know that sometimes, I can manage conflicts amazingly well. I have to find the key to my ability - I guess it's when I'm not emotionally involved that I really deal well with my own anger. But too often, I punish myself and let others who caused my misery go scot free. The Fool also encourages me to take risks - the risk of telling the truth, of voicing my anger. Very good card again. Precise and tells me all I need to know... oh, and it also tells me that my work concerning anger management has just begun, no matter how old I am.

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Day 10 27.9. Vendémiaire - month of the grape harvest in the French revolutionary calendar month. Raise your glass to your big and small achievements in the last year, either with wine or grape juice, and enjoy your success.

Ten of Pentacles


Oh dear, where is all that lovely money? My achievements have been strictly in non-material realms! But I can raise my glass to them. I had some. And I hope to have more in the next year.


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Day 11 28.9. Maha Navami - a Hindu holiday celebrating goddess Durga's victory over a demon. Part of the celebrations is chanting. Reflect on a victory you want to win over the next three months, and devise a chant for it. Write it down where you can see it and envision the joy you will feel when you reach this goal.

Nine of Cups


What a beautiful card. I want to give and get more love. that's an easy chant. Give and get more love. I'll write it on a piece of paper and put it above my desk.


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Day 12 29.9. Meditrinalia - an ancient Greek holiday honoring the goddess of healing. Think about your healing process and how you can continue it. Where do you draw strength from? How can you heal and nurture yourself in the future? Pamper yourself today and close these twelve days of introspection with healing thoughts.

Ace of Wands


The Ace of Wands as healing card - and again, just look at that card. Writing is healing for me, very simply. Writing as in journaling, writing as in sending off some very important letters, writing as in finishing a writing project that needs to be finished, writing as in reflecting. A wonderful card - it means keep on working. And I will.



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That was my Autumn Equinox reading for this year. It was less intense than in other years because of my travels and Internet problems, but it gave me a lot of food for thought. These 12 days were important days for me in many ways, very intense, filled with emotion and memories and meaningful discoveries and re-discoveries.

I'm grateful for this practice and will now read what everybody wrote. I missed doing that because, as I said, I didn't have ideal circumstances. And that's a pity because one of the perks of this practice is the group feeling.

Thank you everybody for participating. See you for the Winter Solstice

[Joan Marie]

I would like to participate, but I don't know which deck yet. I don't have that many, but I see the draw to match a deck to a season.

So glad you are joining us Mabel! I had a look at your deck list in your profile and I'll bet either your Gilded Tarot or Sasuraibito Tarot would be great for this.