Autumn Equinox: an Impromptu Altar

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close view of rocks and leaves on wooden bench. The bench is grey brown with prominent grain, this part is covered in a thin layer of water reflecting bright highlights from the grey sky. A handful of smallish rocks lays in a singler layer in several types and colours- light textured grey limestone, a dark smooth one, a reddish granite with fine darker crystals, another with variable bands of darkish purple and tan, a brighter red mottled with white and gold. A single willow branch is laid across the stones, it has very narrow leaves with have turned gold-green with black spots, but most of the leaves are curled in so we mostly see their waxy light coloured undersides and just a suggestion of the coloured side.. the stem is red and next year's buds can be seen in the leaf axils. The image is faded adn blurred top and bottom and framed with dull green-gold with a black frame outside that. The text "Autumn Equinox:"(large informal script font) "an impromptu altar" (smaller plain font) crosses the middle of the image in the same colour as the frame, "cohan magazine" below (still smaller script)

 Autumn Equinox is a significant time for me: in this climate, autumn is already underway ( see previous post for Mara's Day) but depending on the timing of frosts things may be reaching a peak or about to really get going! Some nights are already cold, and much colder days are not far away. Summer tasks need to be wrapped up and preparations for winter need to move along.

There's beauty to the season and spriritual symbolism, as for all the seasonal changes, and a reverence for the natural world. I'll be working on an altar, along with a longer blog post about the day(s), the Latvian traditions, my remembrance of my Mother's death which coincides with this time- and of course photos and videos of all the aspects of my observances and thoughts.

Yesterday was the actual Equinox, but with threat of rain, I decided to put off the main altar laying until today. Instead I went for a walk along the gravel road then into the wetland and woodland on the farm. Of course I took photos and video (all to come) and picked up some rocks that caught my eye and some branches showing the colours of the season.

Looking across a wetland areas. Foreground is grasses and sedges, partly fallen and cow trampled, a mix of green-gold and straw dry. Behind and around are many small willows and dwarf birch, cow and moose pruned to mostly no more than a metre or two tall,still lots of dull green with gold, orangey and dark spotted leaves scattered throughout. Farther back willows to several metres then birch (some turning gold) tamrack and poplar (mostly to fully green) and spruce. The sky behind is grey with some cloud texture, and light is gloomy.

 

When I got back I decided to make a little display of my finds, and used a wooden bench that was already covered with nice pieces of wood left over from last season's firewood cutting.

A wooden bench, a couple of feet tall, not quite so wide, and twice as long. We are looking at it from slightly above and extending lengthwise left to right. The bench is a weathered grey brown with prominent grain, and rain spotted.The top is covered with many pieces of wood of various shapes and sizes- some nearly flat pieces of inner wood, some bits of bark with moss on the rough surfaces, small sections of logs etc. A few have visible fungi growing out of them.

 

It was raining very lightly, off and on, but not quite enough to rinse the clay and sand from the rocks, so I took a bucket that had caught a little rain water (and a shield bug- which I later saw perched safely on one of the rocks on the altar) and poured it over the them. This turned out to have the added benefit of some lovely reflections of light on the surface...

Close view of rocks and leaves on wooden bench. A small somewhat rounded stone pink red mottled with white and gold sits among several other stones in varying grey tones, stripes of purple and tan, reddish etc. A willow stem crosses them, it has very narrow leaves with have turned gold-green with black spots, but most of the leaves are curled in so we mostly see their waxy light coloured undersides and just a suggestion of the coloured side.. the stem is red and next year's buds can be seen in the leaf axils. Stones and leaves are shiny wet, and the wood bench surface has a a thin layer of water reflecting bright highlights from the grey sky.

 

So, here are the images, and soon I need to get outside!

Full view of the bench -same as earlier photo above, but the wood pieces have been moved to the sides a bit to leave a space in the centre where a handful of stones have been laid, along with several branches and leaves in fall colour- mostly willows of various sorts- and a few green leaves also. Water has been poured over, leaving everything in the centre shiny wet. It is raining lightly so the afternoon light is rather dull. Behind/below the bench is a mix of grasses and many kinds of native plants, mowed low mostly some longer grasses under the bench where mower has not reached. The vegetation is a mix of gree and some golden leaves here and there.

A couple of small stems with willow leaves, etc, in autumn colour- various orange to red and gold shades. The several leaves in centre in full focus are narrow, bright gold with patches and spots of orange, red, and brown.Below the leaves are several rocks and to one side a piece of weathered grey wood- a chunk from a large branch, barkless with lots of linear texture including a deep groove with slight bark remnants and a bit of debris in it.

More narrow bright leaves from gold to quite red, over a number of stones in grey and tan colours, a bit of wood, a few green leaves and everything is wet.

A fist sized lump of rough stone, irregular vaguely pyramidal in shape, lightish warm grey with patches of dark grey, covered in a fine film of reflective water. To one side a small reddish browh shield bug with light and dark markings is perched on the stone. A bit of wood visible behind to one side, to the other is a blurred background of mostly green vegetation.

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As usual, if you love an image, it could be loaded to any of the print on demand sites as cards, prints, mugs, clothing etc. Haven't played with any of those for a while, hope to get back at them soon.


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