As in the old days, today pumpkin is used as a material for depicting relatives, making toys for children and gifts for neighbors. The holiday has another name - Chunichi, which means "average day". This name is due to the fact that the day of the autumnal equinox falls in the middle of the week called higan.


In the days of Higan, Higan-bana (spider lily) blooms - "the flower of the autumn equinox".

Moreone name for the flower is "manjusage", which means "heavenly flower"
.

In Buddhist sutras, there was a mention of bright scarlet flowers falling from the sky, foreshadowing happy events.

Thus, in the minds of the Japanese, the image of the Higanbana flower began to be identified with a certain Buddhist afterlife or the world of the dead. The higanbana flower has many other names: a flower of ghosts, a lily of demons, a flower of the world of the dead, a flower of the underworld, a fox grass, a flower of the western paradise of Buddha, a heavenly flower, a flower of the heavenly land ... danger and sorrow, this flower is considered a symbol of death and sorrow, and is shrouded in many legends. It is said that Higanbana loves to grow up on the battlefields where the blood of warriors has been shed ...

In one of the legends, this flower is called majusage or heavenly flower. This story tells of two natural spirits who patronized different parts of the same plant. Manju took care of the flowers, while Syage was the keeper of the leaves. One day they decided to meet and for the sake of this meeting neglected their duties. They fell in love with each other at first sight. But because they acted contrary to their purpose, the Gods cursed them - separating flowers and leaves: when flowers bloom, leaves fall; and by the time the leaves grow, the flowers wither. The stems of this flower emerge from the ground in the fall and bloom with bright red flowers. Then the flowers wither and leaves appear, which remain until the beginning of summer. So flowers and leaves can never be seen together. This flower is called the manjushage, in memory of two lovers who will never see each other again. They say that when they met in the afterlife, they vowed to find each other after reincarnation, but none of them kept their promise. According to legend, these flowers grow in the underworld along the paths by which the souls of people go to rebirth ...

The sun will once again cross the celestial equator and move from the northern hemisphere of the celestial sphere to the southern one, and the day of the autumnal equinox will come, or astronomical autumn in the northern hemisphere and spring in the southern.

On this day, the duration of the day and night throughout the Earth is the same and is equal to 12 hours.

The autumnal equinox is one of the sacred holidays that has been venerated and solemnly celebrated since ancient times. It was a time of gratitude to the gods for the harvest and prosperity, as well as honoring the dead and decorating graves.

Autumn equinox day in Abkhazia

In everyday life among the Abkhaz, the day of the autumn equinox was celebrated in a peculiar way.

"On this day, Abkhazians say" atska antskybbua ", the time when a calf is released for a walk with a bull, considering it large enough to graze with adult animals. Even the name of the month" tsybbra "(September) is precisely because of this," - notes the folklorist Esma Todua.

According to Todua, the ritual of "removing the bottle" also dates back to the autumn harvest.

"After the family prayer, when only dishes from the new harvest were put on the table - mamalyga, the meat of a sacrificial animal, in the corner of the apatskhi (wicker house-kitchen among the Abkhaz - ed.) They hung a bottle of grape vodka in order to open it at a similar holiday a year later, and then fill the container with a young drink, "Todua said.

Autumnal equinox day among the Celts

On the autumn equinox, the ancient Celts celebrated Mabon, the festival of the second harvest and ripening of apples. The traditions of Mabon have been alive since pagan times in many European countries, where harvest festivals are traditionally held at the end of September.

Autumn equinox day in Japan

In Japan, Autumnal Equinox Day is considered an official holiday and has been celebrated since 1878. On this day, the Japanese celebrate not so much a unique astronomical phenomenon as they perform the ancient rituals of the Buddhist holiday Higan, when, according to tradition, it is customary to remember deceased ancestors.

Before the start of the holiday, they thoroughly clean the house, especially the home altar with photographs and accessories of departed ancestors, refresh flowers, display ritual food and offerings.

On this day, they cook exclusively from beans, vegetables, mushrooms, plant-based broths, as a reminder of the Buddhist prohibition to kill a living creature and eat the meat of a dead person. In the days of Higan, Japanese families go to venerate the graves of their ancestors, order prayers and perform the necessary ritual honors.

Autumn equinox day in Mexico

In Mexico, on the day of the autumnal equinox, many try to visit the famous pyramid of Kukulcan (in the Mayan language - "feathered serpent") in the ancient city of Chichen Itza.

The pyramid is oriented in relation to the Sun in such a way that it is on the days of the vernal and autumnal equinox that the rays project the shadows of the platforms onto the edge of the main staircase in the form of alternating triangles of light and shadow. As the sun sinks lower, the shadow takes on the more distinct contours of the writhing snake. Her tail is on the upper platform, her body stretches along the stairs and ends at the very ground with her head. The illusion of light lasts exactly 3 hours and 22 minutes, and according to legends, at this time you need to be at the top and make a wish.

Autumn equinox day in Russia

In Russia, the day of the autumnal equinox was also considered a holiday and was always celebrated with pies with cabbage, lingonberries and meat, as well as folk festivities. On this day, in the evening, rowan brushes were inserted between the window frames along with leaves, believing that from that day, when the sun began to wane, rowan trees would protect the house from the forces of darkness. The people believed that a branch of a mountain ash plucked on this day saves from insomnia and night suffocation, which is sent by evil spirits.

The day of the autumnal equinox - the beginning of the autumn blues

According to the doctor Khersina Gulia, the day of the autumn equinox is especially difficult for meteosensitive people.

"For some, this is an ordinary day, but someone is fully experiencing its influence, it really is. Exacerbation of chronic diseases, emotional depression and loss of strength, weakness, increased blood pressure and dizziness," said the doctor.

Khersina Gulia noted that the equinox is a conditional beginning

“Therefore, in order not to let the seasonal depression roam, it is worth radically changing the daily routine today. This is such a seemingly ordinary day, but it can pretty much ruin the state of health,” said Gulia.

On the day of the autumnal equinox, the sun once again crosses the celestial equator and passes from the northern hemisphere to the southern. On September 22, the duration of daylight hours and nights throughout the Earth is the same and is equal to 12 hours.

An interesting fact is that autumn and winter in the northern hemisphere is a week shorter than the autumn-winter season in the southern hemisphere: the number of days from the spring equinox to the autumn equinox is 186, and the time interval from the autumn to the spring equinox is 179 days. In the winter of the northern hemisphere, the Earth moves around the celestial body faster than in the winter of the southern hemisphere. In January, the globe passes the orbital point closest to the Sun - perihelion and its linear velocity increases.

Signs on the day of the autumnal equinox

• What is the weather on this day - so will the autumn.
• If there are few berries on the mountain ash, the autumn will be dry and not rainy.
• To secure wealth, you need to celebrate all week.
• If the birds fly away in flocks, expect a cold winter.
• Whoever saw the wedding procession on this day will be happy for a whole year.

"Both heat and cold - until the days of Higan." So they say in Japan during both the autumn and spring equinox days. In the calendar, this day is designated as the Autumnal Equinox Day (Shu-bun-no Hi), but Japan celebrates not so much a unique astronomical phenomenon as it performs the rituals of the Buddhist festival Higan that go deep into history.

According to the Law "On National Holidays", the corresponding meaning is embedded in the day of the autumnal equinox: "To respect ancestors, to honor the memory of those who have passed away." The legislative day for the celebration was established in 1948, and it falls, as Japanese sources say, "around September 23". The exact date of the day of the autumnal equinox for the next year is determined by the National Observatory on February 1 of the current year, making the corresponding celestial measurements and calculations. Astronomers have already calculated that until 2011 inclusive, the Autumnal Equinox Day will fall on September 23, and from 2012 to 2044: in leap years - on September 22, and in ordinary years - on September 23.

But back to the Higan holiday, the customs of which fill the life of the Japanese in these autumn days. The Buddhist concept "higan" can be translated as "that shore", that is, the world where our ancestors left and where their souls settled. Autumn Higan Days is a week that includes three days before and after the Autumn Equinox and the Autumn Equinox itself.

Before the start of Higan, the Japanese thoroughly clean the house, especially the home altar with photographs and accessories of departed ancestors, refresh flowers, display ritual food and offerings. In the days of Higan, Japanese families go to venerate the graves of their ancestors, order prayers and perform the necessary ritual honors.

The ritual dishes are prepared exclusively for vegetarian purposes - a reminder of the Buddhist prohibition against killing a living creature and eating the meat of a killed person. The menu is made up of beans, vegetables, mushrooms, broths are also prepared on a plant basis. Inari-sushi is also on the table, which these days are stuffed with carrots, mushrooms and beans. For sweets - traditional ohagi-mochi or simpleohagi. In the old days, they were served for a meager afternoon snack in peasant families, and in our time they have become a favorite dessert of the Japanese.

It seems that until recently we were happy with the onset of summer and warmth. But summer is fleeting, and now autumn has come. The leaves on the trees seem to be woven into a red-yellow-crimson carpet, and the sun is getting less day by day.

It is at this time that we celebrate the Day of the Autumnal Equinox - what date will it be in 2019 and how is it celebrated? Read about all this in the article.

To begin with, let's define what the autumn equinox is. The answer is very simple, because it is contained in the word equinox: day is equal to night, that is, the duration of daylight and darkness is the same.

Distinguish between the autumn equinox, which is celebrated in September, and the spring - in March. Some also talk about the autumn solstice, but this is not correct. After all, there are only summer and winter - in June and December.

The date of the holiday in different years falls on different days: September 22 or 23. The exact date depends on the year, it's all about the shift in the calendar due to leap years.

In 2019, the autumnal equinox will occur on September 23 at 10:50 am Moscow time. If you live in another region, you can calculate the time yourself, knowing Moscow time.

After this holiday, the night becomes longer than the day. Watch the video, which reveals the astronomical essence of the equinox phenomenon:

On September 22 or 23, the Sun passes from the Virgo zodiac sign to the Libra sign, and the astrological autumn begins (the period of the Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius signs).

Since the sign of Libra is associated with harmony and prudence, at this time you should impartially evaluate your life. What did you manage to achieve, what goals to achieve? It's time to take stock.

On the day of the autumnal equinox, there is no place for passions and adventures. On the contrary, it is important to take a sober look at the present moment and thank the Universe for the benefits that it has given you.

Autumnal equinox table until 2025

Rituals

The day of the Autumnal Equinox is a time of powerful energetic influences. It's a great time to lead the rituals.

Leaf fall

Prepare everything you need for the ritual: a bunch of bright autumn leaves, a heat-resistant pot, and a marker (black or blue). Let's get started:

1. Calm down and tune in to contemplation. To do this, you can listen to music with sounds of nature or meditate.
2. Think about what you would like to get rid of.
3. Write each such item on an autumn piece of paper with a marker. Keep it short - just one or two words. The main thing is to make it clear to you.
4. When you write, try to think about it in a detached way, as if what you are writing is not happening to you.
5. Light the leaves in turn, let them burn in the fire. Burn them in a saucepan. Remember safety. When the leaf burns out, mentally say goodbye to the bad event or character trait.
6. Blow the ash from the burnt leaves in the wind when finished.

Abundance

There is a wonderful ceremony that can attract benefits into your life. It consists of expressing gratitude to those people who helped you this year.

You need to bake pies and distribute them to selected people with words of sincere gratitude:

• meat pies will attract good luck in a career;
• cabbage - money abundance;
• fruit and berry - happiness in family life.

Give a few pies to the poor, as well as to relatives and neighbors, even if they did not help you. In the new year, goodness will return to you threefold.

To get married

Girls who cannot find a groom in any way turned to this ritual:

1. you need to wear a red dress or skirt;
2. write a wish on a piece of paper;
3. bury a leaf under a mountain ash;
4. to pick a branch from that mountain ash and bring it home;
5. put it under the pillow at night;
6. take out and dry in the morning;
7. store until a groom is found.

Raising money

Since the holiday of the Autumn Equinox is associated with abundance in every sense of the word, rituals for money are becoming important. Here is one of them:

We will need a large amount of cash. One that you can live on for at least a week. If you don't have that much cash, withdraw money from your bank account in advance.

On a holiday, take the money in hand and count it. Take your time, enjoy the feeling of money in your hands. You need to count the bills three times.

Do not ask for anything. Just thank the Universe that gave you this money so that you can provide yourself with everything you need. Perform the ritual and your income will increase in the new year.

Video rituals

Folk omens

There are many signs on the Autumn Equinox. Here are some of them:

• What the weather will be on this day, such is the whole autumn.
• If there are a lot of berries on the mountain ash, autumn will be rainy, and winter will be harsh.
• If there are few berries on the mountain ash, autumn is expected to be dry, little rain.
• It takes a whole week to celebrate to ensure wealth.
• If the birds fly away in flocks that day, the winter will be cold.
• Those who have met the wedding procession will be happy for a whole year.

The wisdom of generations is collected in folk signs. Therefore, perhaps, it is worth listening to them.

The festival of the autumn equinox among different peoples

The autumnal equinox is celebrated all over the world. Different peoples celebrate this day in different ways, but they all have similar features - people rejoice at the end of the agricultural season, a bountiful harvest. They also honor the ancestors of the clan.

Autumn among the Slavs

The Slavs celebrate three holidays with this name. The first are autumn - September 14. The second - September 21. Still others - September 27. We will talk about the second autumn, which falls just on the Autumn Equinox.

On this holiday, there was a tradition of honoring older women. In the morning, women gather on the shores of lakes or rivers, bring oat bread and greet Mother Osenina with it.

The oldest woman carries the bread in her hands. And the young sing songs around her. Oat bread is broken into as many pieces as the number of women participating in the ceremony. Later, this bread is fed to livestock.

Another custom on Oseniny is visiting newlyweds. Young families invited relatives to visit. The hostess fed everyone with a hearty dinner and showed the household, all this was done with a touch of bragging. Relatives praised the hostess and taught wisdom.

The owner took the guests into the courtyard, showed the barn with supplies for the winter, sheds with harness. Then he led everyone into the garden and treated them to beer from the keg, saying:

Not only the young, but also all the villagers had a feast to mark the harvest and the end of agricultural work. If the harvest turned out to be rich, then the festive table was bursting with food.

After the adoption of Christianity, the holiday began to be associated with the Nativity of the Virgin - September 21. Believers turn to her with requests for prosperity and good luck, health and a rich harvest for the next year.

Childless couples prayed for the birth of a child. A young woman wishing to become pregnant laid a rich table and called the poor and needy to pray for the health of future children.

Celtic holiday Mabon

A great holiday celebrated at the Autumn Equinox. It is usually celebrated between September 21st and 24th. Sometimes the celebration lasts three days.

The holiday got its name from the character of the same name in Welsh mythology, which symbolizes male fertility.

Mabon is characterized by three main aspects:

1. Liberation from all unnecessary, obsolete and obsolete. You must leave it in the past.
2. Honoring all female ancestors, a reminder of their services to the family.

Family celebrations were held on Mabon, everyone gathered together, distant relatives often came to visit. The time is right, because the crop has already been harvested and you can leave the fields for a few days. Of course, at the solemn feast, they remembered the ancestors, especially the female.

1. Gratitude to nature for the harvest, collecting the "second harvest" - apples, as well as bragging about reserves for the winter.

It was customary to decorate the house with autumn leaves, pine branches, acorns, wheat straw, ripe ears of corn, cones, and corn.

On this day, we definitely went to the forest, closer to nature. So, druids climbed to the top of the mountain to touch the Sun, which will lose its power day after day. They strove to feed on his energy so that they could last for a long winter.

However, wandering through the autumn forest alone was considered dangerous. The lords of the fairy kingdom also go out for a walk on the days of the autumnal equinox. If a person walks in the autumn dew, bathes in a lake or river, he will cease to belong to himself. Soon he will yearn for an incomprehensible melancholy.

On Mabon, it was customary to show off the harvest and supplies for the winter, and then eat the best vegetables and fruits. This was a magical effect that should protect against a hungry winter and help preserve the harvest.

It was customary to demonstrate the gifts of nature on the main square. And immediately after the holiday, autumn fairs opened and festivals were held.

Magic practitioners carved out new tools: runes, brooms, staves, wands. Druids had a strong connection with the tree world, so their tools were usually made of wood.

I suggest you watch a video that conveys the mood of the autumn holiday:

Food on this holiday is plentiful and appropriate for the season:

• pumpkin and zucchini;
• corn;
• apples;
• grape;
• beans.

It is customary to bake bread and tortillas from corn flour, to prepare various dishes from beans.

Traditional drinks:

• compotes;
• homemade wines, especially cherry wines;
• barley beer;
• apple cider.

Higan in japan

I already wrote about Higan na. But his autumn brother is more ambitious and beloved by the Japanese. It is usually celebrated on September 23, but in some years the date may shift to September 22. In Japan, this is an official day off.

Higan is a Buddhist holiday associated with the veneration of deceased ancestors. The name "higan" is translated as "the other side". That is, the place where people go after death, where their souls move.

In advance, the Japanese do general cleaning at home. Particular attention is paid to the home altar, where there are photographs of ancestors. Fresh flowers are brought to them, special ritual food is displayed.

On the day of the Autumnal Equinox, the Japanese eat only vegetarian food, recalling the prohibition of killing animals in Buddhism.

On the holiday menu:

• vegetables and vegetable broths;
• beans;
• mushrooms;
• gomokuzuki - rice with vegetables and spices;
• dessert ohagi - rice balls with bean paste.

And in Japan, just on the autumn equinox, a beautiful fiery red flower called Higanbana blooms:

Sede in Zoroastrianism

One of the most important holidays of the year for the Zoroastrians. On this day, they say goodbye to the warmth and the sun, which from this day shines for a very short time.

Winter was perceived as the death of nature, the triumph of the forces of Evil. And the autumnal equinox is the time when the planet goes to the dark side. Despite this, a divine particle of the Sun - Fire - remains on Earth.

Japan, "Bit of Life!" - Miraslava Krylova.

"Both heat and cold - until the days of Higan." So they say in Japan during both the autumn and spring equinox days.

In the calendar, this day is designated as the Autumnal Equinox Day (Shu-bun-no Hi), but Japan celebrates not so much a unique astronomical phenomenon as it performs the rituals of the Buddhist festival Higan that go deep into history. According to the Law "On National Holidays" on the day of the autumnal equinox, which is a public holiday, the corresponding meaning is also embedded: "To respect ancestors, to honor the memory of those who have passed away."

The legislative day for the celebration was established in 1948, and it falls, as Japanese sources say, "around September 23". The exact date of the day of the autumnal equinox for the next year is determined by the National Observatory on February 1 of the current year, making the corresponding celestial measurements and calculations. Astronomers have already calculated that from 2012 to 2044, the Autumnal Equinox falls: in leap years - on September 22, and in ordinary years - on September 23.

But back to the Higan holiday, the customs of which fill the life of the Japanese in these autumn days. The Buddhist concept "higan" can be translated as "that shore", that is, the world where our ancestors left and where their souls settled. Autumn Higan Days is a week that includes three days before and after the Autumn Equinox and the Autumn Equinox itself.

Before the start of Higan, the Japanese thoroughly clean the house, especially the home altar with photographs and accessories of departed ancestors, refresh flowers, display ritual food and offerings. In the days of Higan, Japanese families go to venerate the graves of their ancestors, order prayers and perform the necessary ritual honors.

The ritual dishes are prepared exclusively for vegetarian purposes - a reminder of the Buddhist prohibition against killing a living creature and eating the meat of a killed person. The menu is made up of beans, vegetables, mushrooms, broths are also prepared on a plant basis. Inari-sushi is also on the table, which these days are stuffed with carrots, mushrooms and beans. For sweets - traditional ohagi-mochi or just ohagi. In the old days, they were served for a meager afternoon snack in peasant families, and in our time they have become a favorite dessert of the Japanese.

Much of the Buddhist concept of Higan acquired a special meaning in Japan, but the tradition of remembering ancestors has remained a saint for the Japanese for many centuries.

By September 23rd, the peak of summer exhausting heat and daytime heat passes (remember that "the heat is until the days of Higan"), and the blessed sunny season of "Indian summer" begins. In Japan, there is a saying: "Autumn Higan is like the spring Higan."