Sep 14, 2026 · 23 min · 11 segments
- Balance isn't a fixed point you reach and hold on to. It's a breath a moment of equilibrium, before the shift. In this solo episode, Eileen explores the autumn equinox through Celtic history…
If you've been journeying with me for a little while, you'll likely have heard me talk about the fact that the ancient Celts were aware of the solstices and the equinoxes.
There's no way that they weren't.
But we don't actually have evidence that they were celebrating these moments.
You'll have heard me refer to the fire festivals or those ancient Celtic festivals of Samhain, which is coming up right around the corner, Imbolc, Beltane or Béaltaine, and Lughnasadh.
And you may have heard me refer to them as cross-quarter days.
And what I came across as I was looking up the information to jog my memory to add to what I know about autumn equinox was this little bit of history that the solar moments, the equinoxes, the solstices, were termed quarter days.
In the, in and around the Middle Ages is when they started to be called quarter days, which was derived from the system in the British Isles where these days, these four days, because they're specific moments in the year, unlike those cross-quarter days or festivals, which are a bit more nebulous in their timing, right? We talk about that.
So these quarter days were times to collect rent, to hire new servants, to resolve legal matters.
They were originally pinned to the more Christianized versions of these moments, so Lady Day, Midsummer, Michaelmas, and Christmas.
And Michaelmas is actually the Christianized version of autumn equinox and the celebrations.
And so even though we don't have good evidence that there were big celebrations at these moments in the year, there are enough traditions that have been brought in and brought forward through Christianity that we know that people were celebrating these moments in some way or other.
Some of the moments more so than others.
And so we're never going to know exactly how these moments were marked, how they were celebrated.
In many cases, we're never going to know.
We're not likely to know when and to what extent they were marked and celebrated.
And likely it varied from town to town, from culture and society and land, geographical land-based practices were all what's part of these things, right? So they varied from people to people, but they existed and our ancestors were definitely aware of it.
If you've been journeying with me for a little while, you'll likely have heard me talk about the fact that the ancient Celts were aware of the solstices and the equinoxes.
There's no way that they weren't.
But we don't actually have evidence that they were celebrating these moments.
You'll have heard me refer to the fire festivals or those ancient Celtic festivals of Samhain, which is coming up right around the corner, Imbolc, Beltane or Béaltaine, and Lughnasadh.
And you may have heard me refer to them as cross-quarter days.
And what I came across as I was looking up the information to jog my memory to add to what I know about autumn equinox was this little bit of history that the solar moments, the equinoxes, the solstices, were termed quarter days.
In the, in and around the Middle Ages is when they started to be called quarter days, which was derived from the system in the British Isles where these days, these four days, because they're specific moments in the year, unlike those cross-quarter days or festivals, which are a bit more nebulous in their timing, right? We talk about that.
So these quarter days were times to collect rent, to hire new servants, to resolve legal matters.
They were originally pinned to the more Christianized versions of these moments, so Lady Day, Midsummer, Michaelmas, and Christmas.
And Michaelmas is actually the Christianized version of autumn equinox and the celebrations.
And so even though we don't have good evidence that there were big celebrations at these moments in the year, there are enough traditions that have been brought in and brought forward through Christianity that we know that people were celebrating these moments in some way or other.
Some of the moments more so than others.
And so we're never going to know exactly how these moments were marked, how they were celebrated.
In many cases, we're never going to know.
We're not likely to know when and to what extent they were marked and celebrated.
And likely it varied from town to town, from culture and society and land, geographical land-based practices were all what's part of these things, right? So they varied from people to people, but they existed and our ancestors were definitely aware of it.
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