Is it possible that Autumn is right around the corner? It’s still sweltering hot here in Georgia, and it will stay sweltering hot for at least this month. But every time the weather breaks, even if by a few degrees, it’s a reminder that longer, cooler nights are ahead and it’s time to start wrapping up our harvest for the year.
September is the 9th month of the year, but was named September (Sept=7) before the Julian calender added 2 months. It used to mark the beginning of the school year, but a lot of schools are going back to school much earlier these days. As for me, I still see September as a time to celebrate learning and going within. It’s just a good time to withdraw a little from all the activity of the Spring and Summer and think about what I want to do with my Autumn months. I study whatever I’m interested in, plan crafts to complete before Yule, and do a little nesting to make my house warm and cozy for the cooler months.
We’re still seeing the same critters we’ve been seeing all summer- toads, turtles, snakes, dragonflies, and cats. I haven’t noticed many birds except for doves and nightingales. The geese have been gone for a bit, but I’m sure they’ll be back soon as things cool down. We do have a new addition to the family. I took in a tiny gawky, crazy kitten that we named Lilith, Queen of Monster Trucks. We were all lucky to have found each other, though Minerva Fortuna kinda hates her. I’m hoping that will work itself out.
One of our hostas is still in bloom, but the rose of Sharon and apple trees are spent. There’s some magenta wild flower in the back 9, and I have no idea what it is. But we’ve been filling our house with lots of green things, and we’re really excited! Maybe in this new life I’ll have a green thumb. Who knows?
Birthstones: Peridot, spinel, sardonyx
Lunations:
September 14- Full Moon in Pisces, 12:32am EDT
September 28- New Moon in Libra, 2:26pm EDT
Astronomy:
September 1- Alpha Aurigids meteor shower begins
September 18- Saturn goes direct
Celtic Tree Month:
Hazel (August 5- September 1): Wisdom, intuition, studying ancient knowledge, fertility and good luck, divination (including hazel rods used for divining for water), poetry and science, playfulness and enchantment, healing arts.
Vine (September 2-29): Collaboration and networking, aligning your energy for the dark half of the year, resolving outstanding issues, completing projects, memory and concentration. Prophetic speech, truth, introspection, relaxation, depth, fruit harvest, finding balance between dark and light (Equinox), divination.
Ivy (Sept 30- October 27): End of the harvest, looking back at our successes and losses, strengthening our resolve to face the future, taking the long-term view, fidelity and fertility, protection, healing, good luck for women and brides, guards against negativity and disaster, reaches around and through obstacles to find light and nourishment, reaching out, expansion.
Holidays (non-Pagan):
September 1: Muharram (Muslim)
September 2: Ganesh Chaturthi (Hindu)
September 2: Labor Day
September 8: National Grandparents Day
September 29: Navatri (Hindu)
September 30: Rosh Hashana (Jewish)
Holidays (Pagan):
September 1-2: Greek festival honoring Athena
September 2-3: Greek festival honoring Aphrodite and Hermes
September 3-4: Genesia, Greek festival honoring the dead with offerings
September 4-5: Greek festival honoring Artemis
September 10-11: Demokratia- Greek festival honoring Zeus, Athena and Themis, as well as democracy, constitutional government, and justice
September 11-20: Greater Elusian Mysteries- where the grain harvest was honored as Demeter, the grape harvest was honored as Dionysos, and Persephone was honored as she returns to the underworld
September 23: Mabon/Autumnal Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere, Ostara/Vernal Equinox in the Southern Hemisphere
September 23: Slavic Dozhinki, where the god Jarilo as a grain god is harvested, and the mourning of his lover Morana creates Winter on Earth
September 25-26: Greek festival honoring Gaia and Nymphs
September 28: Feast of the Triple Goddess
September 29-30: Pyanepsion Noumenia- Greek festival honoring all the deities with offerings
Themes for the month: Back to school, harvesting the last grains, fruits, and veggies, planning for Autumn, the balance of night and day on the equinox, shadow work as we enter the dark half of the year, gratitude, gratitude, GRATITUDE!
General activities for the month: Canning and preserving food, starting to read again as the nights get longer, bringing in the last of the herb harvest, hanging those herbs to dry, planning Autumn crafts for Yule presents, creating a Mabon feast for friends and family to celebrate the abundant harvest, recording and celebrating our accomplishments for the year
Herbs I’m using: Basil (using the last of the harvest for a small batch of pesto), tea (This is year round, but my collection has really gotten out of hand. So I’m brewing as much iced tea as possible while the weather is still hot), mugwort (another favorite- I add it to most of my teas)
Stones I’m using: Garnets for passion and motivation, malachite for cleansing and clearing, sardonyx for soothing
Goddess of the Month: Ancient Goddess figures, including Venus of Willendorf and Venus of Laussel especially. Sometimes I really love connecting to the primal feminine creative energy instead of the refined, layered myth of later Goddess representations
3 card reading:
First, we start with the Two of Cups reversed. So we’re having trouble connecting with others on a one-to-one level. This can mean that a new romance isn’t getting off the ground, or that we’re having trouble empathizing with or feeling empathy from business partners, close friends, or family members.
Next, we see the Page of Cups. So it looks like because of this disconnection, we’re feeling pulled to go in new directions in our emotional lives. We’re looking for new ways to communicate and connect, and we’re looking outside of our immediate circle for people who just ‘get us’.
Finally, we have the Eight of Cups reversed. So instead of just cutting and leaving, we’re going to take the new things we learn about romance, friendship, and emotional connection, and bring them back to enrich our existing relationships. We aren’t looking for an out, we’re just looking for a way to make what we have better, but we’re going to have to learn from outside sources how best to do that.
Isn’t the end of Summer a great time to really examine our relationships like this before we spend the Winter locked inside with our inner circle? Let’s work through our problems now so we can enjoy each other more.
September
By Helen Hunt Jackson
The golden-rod is yellow;
The corn is turning brown;
The trees in apple orchards
With fruit are bending down.
The gentian’s bluest fringes
Are curling in the sun;
In dusty pods the milkweed
Its hidden silk has spun.
The sedges flaunt their harvest,
In every meadow nook;
And asters by the brook-side
Make asters in the brook,
From dewy lanes at morning
The grapes’ sweet odors rise;
At noon the roads all flutter
With yellow butterflies.
By all these lovely tokens
September days are here,
With summer’s best of weather,
And autumn’s best of cheer.
But none of all this beauty
Which floods the earth and air
Is unto me the secret
Which makes September fair.
‘T is a thing which I remember;
To name it thrills me yet:
One day of one September
I never can forget.
My personal tides: The month is starting with DragonCon, which is always exciting. I’ll be busy this year doing 4 days of readings and a class on tarot, and I’m excited, but also filled with self-doubt. What if I can’t do it all? What if I fall apart and can’t finish everything? Once we finished the move, we both kind of fell apart, so there’s a lot of that energy around. I’ll just have to do the best I can and become a human trash heap the week after DragonCon. Then I need to dust myself off and get back on track.
My personal goals: I’ve scheduled this ahead to post while I’m at DragonCon, but when I’m back and done with my breakdown, I’m going to concentrate on finishing some projects I’ve started. It’s time to publish things I’ve written, unpack boxes, paint the bathroom that I already bought the paint for, etc. I’m going to focus on success and on actually accomplishing things instead of eternally STARTING things. So I’m setting rest as my first goal for September, and then follow-through on half finished projects for the second half goal.
How is your September looking? Blessed be! <3