I mentioned in my previous post that Autumn Equinox is a significant time for me. Firstly, the season itself- living in a northerly climate, and in the country, you have to be aware of the changing seasons: work that needs to be wrapped up, work that needs to be started. Also, of course, this is a beautiful season here- green growth and flowers are ending but the myriad shades of leaves as they change is a dramatic and prolonged time of marvel. It begins and ends with the shrubs, forbs and grasses of the understory and open areas, and the drama of the changing trees sweeps through several species over many weeks.
Beyond the busyness and colour of autumn, there is a hint of darkness as well- the cold days to come can be hard (in a practical sense) and austere, even though with their own wonder and beauty. So it's not surprising, perhaps, that various cultures have found that the time at the edge of winter is a time to remember the dead. Halloween, Samhain, Dia de Muertos, Latvian Veļu Laiks (Time of Spirits) all suggest that there is a time when the separation between living and dead is weaker or lifts.
In some cultures this may be a scary time when spirits may cause harm. In Latvian culture this is mainly a time when lost loved ones are remembered, celebrated, visited, fed! (I think the intention may be more like the Mexican celebration, though I think not so festive!). Regional practises- and names, apparently, it could be Time of Ghosts, for example- vary within Latvia, and the time of the observance does as well. It is not one or two days, but rather a period somewhere between the end of harvest and beginning of winter. For some it begins with the Autumn Equinox/ Apjumības for others several weeks later. The equinox timing works for me for two reasons: first is climate- it's moderate to to warm at the moment, but at this point in late September, the weather can easily go the other direction and we can have snow, certainly frosts. So, edge of winter, indeed. Secondly, my mother died at this time several years ago, and I have been combining my observance of the Autumn Equinox with remembrance of her, along with her twin, also deceased, and other family members, friends, neighbours who have passed, so this is my personal Veļu Laiks.
[Note: there is overlap and some confusion in the Latvian harvest festivals. Traditionally celebrations would have been around the Equinox, but modern observances may take place at the end of September or October 01. This event is called Miķeļi (often used for any of the Equinox/harvest celebrations) and has been conflated with the Archangel Michael in Christianity. Nonetheless, Miķeļis does exist in Latvian mythology prior to Christianity. It's been suggested he was a nature spirit which hints at an ancient origin. In the Indo-European pantheon he is described as one of the sons of sky-god Dievs, associated with astronomy, abundance, divination. His exact nature and distinction from Jumis is not clear to me, so I'll just leave him at this note for now!]
As I've been looking into the Latvian traditions around the equinox a bit more, I've noticed another parallel to my situation. Jumis, the god of fertility/harvest is a twin god, represented by paired grain flails, twinned stalks of grain, any twinned fruits etc. It's harder to find information on the god himself- sometimes he's portrayed as having two heads/faces, or to having a twin, Jumala, though she may also be described as his mother, wife or betrothed. This vagueness or variability probably reflects the varying traditions from one place to another and across time, consider that mythologies may have come in waves with various migrations/cultures overlaid one on another, mixed with local preferences and variations/mutations.
This variability also, I think, shows the wisdom of traditional cultures in not trying to delimit divinity too precisely. I've discussed this a bit before when talking about the most ancient goddesses, but I think it applies as well to these later Indo-European gods. Nature is cyclical, mutable, complicated- from death comes life, from decay growth; harvest is an ending that feeds life. One may be child mother sister at different moments or even at the same time! Our ancients did not worry too much about the consistency of a single narrative throughout their mythologies. And neither should we- the idea that one thing may be several things seems much healthier than our insistence that things, environments, people have a singular immutable character.
Usually I'm more interested in the pre-Indo-European deities, but this idea of twins/duality seems likely to be very ancient as well. Birth /death, night/day spring/autumn, and so on. Things can get very tangly when we look at twin gods The Indo-European cosmology in Latvia includes several-distinct or overlapping? - 'Sons of God'(male-Dievs) and 'Daughters of Sun' (female- Saule), often twins on both sides, who may have been betrothed at various times (complicated stories with issues of incest- various symbolism there, and perhaps this also relates to incest in ruling classes as discovered not long ago in pre-historic Britain? and the balance of power between male/female heavenly/earthly, old [Old European] Earth goddesses, new [Indo-European] Sky gods etc). This layering of twin stories, however, just reinforces the importance of the concept of dualities.
There's an important thread in this world of dualities: it is not black and white, good against evil. Rather, the opposing characteristics are often seen as aspects of one whole. Surely a more resilient adaptable worldview than our typical yes/no us/them in/out attitude.
So I've been thinking of twins this Equinox: my mother and my aunt, both passed away, were identical twins. The same yet distinct. So this celebration of a twin god, coupled with remembrance at the entry to the Time of Spirits seems a great time to remember them. I added an extra element in the altar- 'twin' Mexican ceramic birds, tiny planters. I brought them from Mexico long ago, and when I moved east, left them with Mom, who painted them. A nod to the twins and to Great Mother/ primal Bird Goddess the essence of Nature/Earth at the centre of every season.
As always at this time, I've also been thinking of Autumn: nature still alive yet dying, the most vibrant colour of the year building to a climax which will be followed by the bleeding of colour from the landscape. Warm days and cold nights. Joy tinged with foreboding.
And the greatest lesson I've taken from close observance of the seasons: every season is beautiful and none of them last!
For several days I walked in the woods, made altars (see my previous post for the first altar), photos and videos. This post has a summary of all of that. The embedded videos will be the YouTube versions, Spectra/Peertube links will come after.
1-Short Walk on Equinox Day Talking about Time of Spirits (short)
2- Same walk in light rain with chickadee sounds, and then 2 days later in sun; no talking; showing the changing colours, relaxing music.
3- Short of my altar to the season and remembrance, mellow music
4- Longer video, wide format, laying the altar, bird sounds, relaxing music.
The same videos on Spectra- a Fediverse, non-corporate platform. I generally post smaller files there.
1 Equinox Walk short
2 Equinox Walk wide
3 Altar short
4 Altar wide
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