Contrary to the "official" seasonal beginnings, most of us experience the equinoxes and solstices as times when the season that is "beginning" is well established-we feel its presence fully. The very first sense of impending change, of onset and transition, comes at the cross-quarters, the points midway between the equinoxes and solstices that are known in Wicca as the Greater Sabbats. At Lammas, the first harvest of the grain, we celebrated the onset of autumn. Now, at Fall Equinox, in the ways of the ancients, we bring in and celebrate the full-fledged autumn Harvest in thanksgiving for the abundance of the Earth Mother. We might enact and sing the legend of the sacrificed grain as John Barleycorn. Or, we may ritualize the hunt, depicted as a priest with a crown of antlers who is chased and falls. We honor his spirit and thank him even as we mourn him, symbolic of both the sacrificed and resurrected God and of all animals who fall to feed the people. At this Sabbat, the Mother Goddess who reigned as Queen of Summer takes on the dark mantle of Crone, the old and wise one who stands at the crossroads of life and death, all-seeing and all-knowing.

In the agricultural cycle, we are now at the 7th stage. Seeds that once germinated in the womb of Earth, unseen in the long dark night of Winter Solstice (Yule), sprouted at Candlemas, grew strong with roots, stems and leaves by Spring Equinox (Ostara), and formed buds at Beltane that bloomed to full flower by the longest day at Summer Solstice (Midsummer). At Lammas, the first harvest, fruits and grains have formed, some ready to eat. Now at Fall Equinox (Harvest), the plants, trees and vines are heavy with fruits that must be harvested or they will fall when the plants wither or die and drop their seeds to Earth once again at Samhain. Samhain is the 8th and final phase that is not as final as it may seem for it is only that dark time of chaos out of which the new beginning will emerge and be seen as the Bright Lord of waxing light, reborn at Yule, as the Wheel of the Year turns again.

This 7th phase of Harvest has mythical and symbolic correspondence to the Last Quarter phase of the 8-fold lunar cycle, called by the late astrological philosopher Dane Rudhyar, the "crisis of consciousness." It represents the phase in any cycle of activity where even though continued success in what has been may be what we see on the surface (akin to the Harvest feast), within our deepest inner thoughts a period of soul-searching, the "crisis," begins. There is the recognition that something is ending, and we begin to let go of the old in mind and heart, as we silently contemplate what we might do next. At some point during the phase, the changes that are occurring deep inside may begin to visibly manifest, just as the leaves change color in autumn, or the Moon shrinks from half light to the thin, waning crescent.

Many ancient and medieval cultures celebrated the festival of seasonal transition through myth and legend, depicting similar themes of death and of passing into the underworld for the time of winter, followed by a birth and the return of light and spring. Among best loved and often enacted tales of winter's death and spring's rebirth is that of Demeter and her beloved daughter Persephone, who was abducted by Hades to reign as his queen. Demeter, in despair and mourning for her lost daughter, cast winter over the Earth and refused to allow spring to come again until an agreement was finally reached for Persephone to return to Earth. And so it has been ever since that when Persephone makes her yearly descent to her Underworld realm, winter comes, and when she rejoins her mother, then Mother Earth blooms with the flowers of spring.

Because ancient people had no means to exactly measure the time of equinox or solstice, the corresponding festivals tended to be on set days of the calendar. The ancient Celtic celebrations of Harvest were traditionally held on September 25. With the dominance of Christianity, this holiday like so many others was Christianized and became Michaelmas, in honor of the archangel Michael. One Celtic legend gave root to Mabon as an alternate name for modern Wiccan/Pagan Harvest festivals. Mabon was born of Modron and taken after three days (some versions say three years) to dwell in the womb of Earth Mother where he gained the wisdom of the animals, notably Stag, Blackbird, Owl, Eagle and Salmon. Once freed from Earth's womb, he returned to his mother's womb and was reborn as her champion, the Son of Light.

There's another myth of a Celtic God of Light that is markedly astrological and clearly derived from the zodiacal sign of Fall Equinox and those signs adjacent to it. Lugh or Llew (Light), who reigned at the early harvest of Lammas, is said to be at his most vulnerable at Fall Equinox-the only time, in fact, that he can be defeated. He stands over the Libran Scales of Balance with one foot on Cancer (Summer Solstice) and the other on Capricorn (Winter Solstice.) Bloderweld the Virgin (Virgo, zodiacal sign just before Libra) betrays Llew, causing him to be defeated by Goronwy (God of Darkness) and turned into an Eagle (Scorpio, zodiacal sign following Libra, and the sign of Samhain). Goronwy then mates with the Virgin and waits to be crowned Dark King at Samhain, the onset of winter. His dark child will be born nine months later at Summer Solstice, marking the point of transition in the solar year from waxing to waning light.